first firing

Today we loaded our first kiln. There were a lot of cooks in the kitchen as everyone participated in bringing in the work, stacking the shelves, prepping posts, making wadding… I got in there with Nick to load the last shelves, and he is a pro at tumble stacking. After the door was sealed all of us gathered for a ceremonial prayer which included pouring some sake out on the kiln, throwing some salt around, two claps all together, and then our heads lowered as we prayed to the kiln gods. We’ll be firing over the next two days with everyone working shifts throughout the day and night. This is my first wood firing ever so I am anxious to see what comes out!

craft show

This weekend is my favorite show of the year, the Palo Alto Clay and Glass Festival in California. While my sister, Brena, ran my booth at Palo Alto, we were at a craft fair in Japan. As tourists and buyers, that is! There are really no differences between an American craft show and a Japanese one. There is some beautiful work, some clever and unusual design, interspersed with some serious crap. I felt right at home. I was really only interested in the pottery, and there were a lot of ceramic artists there with their work.

I was captured by several artists, and I was so aware as I picked up their work and checked it out how they must be feeling. There were a lot of people at the show, but not a lot of people carrying shoppping bags, and sales seemed a bit on the slow side.

I bought several things. Two beautiful pieces of porcelain work from a woman named Takahashi Masako. You can see Royoji posing with the pieces here. He thought I was crazy buying pottery when I can just make it myself! Like at a craft show in America, people were saying how expensive everything was. I thought differently; I thought the prices were very reasonable. The delicate porcelain platter I bought with a beautiful and subtle decoration was only $40, and a matching cup with little pointy feet for $16. From another woman I bought what I would describe as an altar piece. It looks to me like a little fort or a hut that a tribe in a remote desert might live in. The artist who created the piece is pictured at the top. It was $20. Her business cards were all written by hand on a little piece of paper, it was a tiny work of art in itself.

unloading a kiln

Everything in these kilns? Sold already!

one minute

Our wonderful host, Riyoji, is a master potter. Late at night, after he is done running his small empire and making sure the needs of all his guest artists are met, he throws pots. Tonight myself and a few other resident artists were privileged to watch him throw plates while he also answered our questions with humor and good nature. His studio is always filled with laughter, and intense concentration. Riyoji threw each platter in one minute. My camera could barely keep up.

first days

I am living in unimaginable luxury here at Rioji Matsumiya studio/compound with some of the most amazing artists I have ever met. I will post more later about the setup here, but I’ll just share with you now what I have been doing. The first few days… not much. The jetlag was difficult and my brain was not fully operational. I was also coming down off all the stress from the last orders I shipped before leaving the States. I finally made a vase, a very typical vase for me, the cherry blossom branch one you see here. I hated it. It was so boring, but I made it and put it aside. That night, after drinking too much whiskey with my new pals, I went to bed thinking about how much I didn’t like this vase I made. It seemed like a fussy old lady. I laid in bed and couldn’t get to sleep, imagining cutting up this vase into pieces. Finally I realized I could get up and go to the studio (it’s open 24 hours) and cut it up if I wanted to. After all, that’s what I’m here for and I have nothing else to do but stay up all night cutting up vases if that’s my thing! So I went down to the studio, cranked up some Led Zeppelin, and went at the vase with a razor blade. The vase was already to too hard and dry to cut up much, so this is what I did, and I love it now!

countdown to japan

In less than 24 hours I will be on a plane to Japan! The last couple of days have been totally hectic as I try and sew up the studio and prepare Sara to take over while I’m gone. But I’ve finally had time to start getting excited and look forward to some serious clay time. I will be posting about all the people I meet and the things I see while I’m there, so check in on me and send me your comments and emails.

I still haven’t finished packing…

online sale this week

There’s the leaf platter again. I pulled myself together yesterday and managed to take pictures of some work and post it on my new etsy shop, where one of the first leaf platters is for sale. So as it turns out, I will be having a sale this week after all! I’ll be posting new work everyday through Friday; some one-of-a kind pieces, some discounted work, and some just plain old beautiful things. Check it out!