It was in 1850 that it all began, with Efisio Usai, Walter's great-great-grandfather and great-grandfather of Elvio, Walter's father, who as a child undertook the activity of "Strexiaiu", literally stovigliaio *, (* from "strexiu", stoviglia, for the production that was done at the time mainly of everyday and domestic artifacts, scivedde, jugs for water, vases for flowers, jugs for olives, objects that over time have remained immutable), that is of ceramist to all effects.
Hard work that of the ceramist, as Elvio Usai, Walter's father often tells, strexiaiu since he was a child, historical memory of this ancient and noble profession;
"what the devil has forgotten,
it is remembered to the potter "
a phrase that gives a very good idea of how much, especially before the advent of some "modern" objects (gas oven, electric lathe, etc.), this job was particularly tiring starting from the processing of the raw material, the clay of countryside, called terra 'e strexiu, which was painstakingly searched for in the land, extracted and brought to the surface with "sa tallora", the pulley, after being pierced by the workers or by the strexiaiu himself.
The Sardinian land offered clays of great value, of which the territory of Assemini was very rich, had a very particular color, due to the presence of iron and other minerals and also differs for the excellent yield, ideal to prepare and shape. but fragile in firing, making Assemini's "strexiaius" real masters in firing these beautiful materials.
The firing of the ceramics before 1972 was done in kilns set up outdoors, in which innumerable pieces were inserted, which constituted the work of several weeks; it was necessary to have a good knowledge of the weather, and before setting up the kiln, it was necessary to know how to read what the sky could communicate in terms of weather changes, if the rain came the work of days or weeks would be lost forcing the ceramist to start again all over again.
This tells very well how the relationship with nature was always very important and alive in the traditional crafts of our land.
In 2002 Walter's work officially began as a master ceramist, who grew up in his father's laboratory, learning from an early age to work the Sardinian land, after a period of personal research, he reappears in 2002, to the family profession, in which 5 generations of Usai have succeeded, thus continuing the important cycle of heritage of the profession.
A profession that Walter, under his father's advice, has always carried and continues with a lot of passion, mastering the production of traditional artifacts up to more modern interpretations, born from the love for this ancient craft, which continually needs research that adapts to the needs of our days, both from an artistic point of view and from the use made of ceramics in everyday life.
This continuous stylistic renewal leads Walter to important collaborations with numerous artists and designers.