Most mornings at the Jalan Bahar Clay Studios, Iskandar Jalil sits at his table, patiently transforming a lump of mud into a thing of beauty. All is calm at 7am in this small compound in the forested fringes of Jurong. The breeze is cool and the soil is still damp from the previous night’s rain; overhead there is only the sound of birds chatting amidst the thick greenery that hides this place from everything else. Civilisation – and the rest of Singapore – seems so far away. 

Which is precisely why this renowned ceramic artist likes it so much. ‘The area is so quiet and remote,’ Jalil says as he kneads clay on wood. ‘It’s an escape from the pressures of everyday life. I spend four days a week here – this is my second home.’ 

Jalil’s colleagues undoubtedly share the same opinion. For many of Singapore’s top clay artisans, the JBCS has been a refuge, a hang-out and a one-stop pottery shop combined. Established in 2004 through a Singapore Tourism Boardfunded initiative, this compound is dedicated to helping ceramic artists develop their craft. 

One can see just how serious this place is about promoting fi ne-art pottery by the way it was constructed with the artist in mind. At its main building, the JBCS houses an expansive workshop with enough space and equipment (potters’ wheels, sculpting tools) for 40 practitioners, aside from an additional eight private rooms for those wishing to work in isolation. In a nearby room sit half a dozen firing kilns of different shapes and sizes, and there’s also a roofed exhibition area. All these are arranged around the compound’s centrepiece: an antique dragon kiln, similar to the kind used by southern Chinese potters more than 2,000 years ago. Constructed in 1958 to service a rubber and resin factory, this massive brick-and-earth tunnel is so large, you can walk through it. Today only two such structures remain in Singapore – a distinction that has led this one to be preserved by the National Heritage Board. The other kiln can be found next door at the Thow Kwang Pottery. 

Despite the JBCS’s history, though, Jalil laments that Singaporeans underuse the venue – many have never even heard of the place. Indeed, on most days there are just a few creative souls at the tables here. They work silently with heads bowed, their hands restlessly moulding the soft earth. Drop by for a visit, though, and you could fi nd yourself chatting with established artists like Jason Lim, who spent weeks here building his masterpiece for the Venice Biennale; or the Yugoslavian-born Delia Prvacki, whose sculptures can still be seen at East Coast Park, Fort Canning Park and One-North Park until 31 October. There are also up-and-coming artists like Todd, who is currently exhibiting at The Esplanade. 
‘It is so easy to get inspired in this place. Sometimes I come here just to hang out and exchange ideas,’ he says. ‘The community of resident artists is open to everyone – beginners, amateurs, even artists who don’t work with clay are welcome to try their hand at pottery.’ If luck permits, you might even end up watching an impromptu lecture by Jalil himself – considered by many to be one of Singapore’s pre-eminent ceramists. 

On this particular morning, the old mentor explains the art of pottery to a group of visiting teachers. 
‘It is good to have a dialogue with the clay,’ Jalil says rather cryptically, as he softens a chunk of it with water. ‘You do not tell it what you want it to become, but rather it tells you what it wants to become.’ Soon after, he proceeds to create a shape on the potter’s wheel, the whole time commenting to his audience about his artistic philosophy and the process of pottery making. ‘A pot should be beautiful not only on the outside, but on the inside as well – just like a woman!’ he jokes to the flock. 

When asked by a teacher about how an artist can make a decent living in Singapore, Jalil answers with an equation so useful, it should be heard by every young Singaporean artist: ‘Before you are 55, 80 per cent of your work should be bread and butter and 20 per cent should be art. When you pass 55, 20 per cent of your work should be bread and butter and 80 per cent should be art.’ 

Words of wisdom aren’t the only reason to visit JBCS – the sheer variety of finished and unfinished works on display here (by both established and unknown artists) is impressive, and one can watch as a masterpiece is conceptualized, created and completed, a privilege that even the best art galleries cannot offer. Also, much of what you see can be bought, sometimes before it’s even exhibited, and at prices that have minimal commission rates from the JBCS. (Next month, on 1, 2 and 8 September, the studio will host open days of activities as part of the Singapore Art Show.) 

But Jalil, ever the philosopher, has the single best reason for visiting the Jalan Bahar Clay Studios: ‘If you are stressed out or have many problems, this is a good place to be. If you want to escape your wives or your husbands, this is a good place to go. You come here, do your pottery and the problems go away.’ 
Jalan Bahar Clay Studios, 97L Lorong Tawas (6777 1812, www.jbcs.com.sg). MRT: Boon Lay, then taxi.