just a few things to get done. no big.
i’ll just knock some important computer work out of the way.
and read a few books on professional practices, technique and conceptual development. they didn’t just sit there in a pile. that would be crazy.
i drew some….i just used invisible ink.
my work table was sagging under the weight of all my productivity.
in my imagination anyway.
wow, after a day like that i’m gonig to need an additional ware cart.
not.
some of the work i was pleased with from the last firing. this work was heavily influenced by my summer in japan and further informed by the amazing workshop by bryan hopkins that i was lucky enough to assist with this summer at arrowmont.
getting ready to fire up the alpine. i have an evaluation at the end of next week. lots of experiments in here, colored clays, feldspar inclusions and tessellating tiles. yay.
meal that another american artist and i threw together the other night.
i’m on a mission to learn some proper japanese cooking, this is my attempt at miso soup.
some in progress works, i think i will have a pretty substantial installation or these by the end…
saturday i headed out to kyoto with 2 of the other artists. i had seen some of these sites before (with parents, benny, masa) but despite the droves of us tourists they are still amazingly beautiful and great to see again.
kiyomizudera, i think that translates to pure water temple, but don’t hold me to it. you can, intriguingly, pay a couple hundred yen to take off your shoes, walk into the temple and into complete blackness (you have a rail to hold which leads you around), around a spiral and into a room with a large stone. if you place your hand on this stone you can make a wish. this dark place is considered the womb of the temple. 🙂
star leaves.
turtles.
shopping street.
meaghan, an artist from cali, with some maikos on the streets of kyoto.
shizuka, who is working at the togei no mori for a whole year, modeling a hat in a small shop.
kinkakuji, the golden temple.
ship shaped giant bonzai…
cool trees.
after the golden temple we went to another famous site, ryoenji, which is a temple and a zen rock garden. i didn’t take any pictures, because i was busy talking with shizuka about art and happiness. i hope to post pics and some discussion with several of the artists working at the togei no mori in this blog so keep an eye out.
anyway, on the way back to the car…wait for it…..
2 words, cat cafe.
CAT CAFE!? i didn’t go in. but i wanted to …..
making work, museum and wondering around the grounds. day two felt busy, but i also feel like i got a lot done. one of the other residents commented on how fast i was working and as those who share a studio with me in florida know, that doesn’t happen often!
yesterday i arrived in shigaraki japan where i will do a one month residency at the shigaraki ceramic cultural park.
after taking the shinkensen from tokyo to kyoto, i transferred to a local train and then to two buses. the bus ride was long and curvy, so i wanted to vomit a little but was eventually distracted by the amazing view out the window.
my view had been particularly beautiful for a good deal of my journey but soon after boarding the second bus i was literally awestruck. i am sure that these pictures, taken from my phone, through a rainy window, while the bus barreled upwards and around curves don’t do the scenery justice but my chin was on the floor. this might be the most breathtaking place i’ve ever been.
mountains! trees!
clouds
once i arrived at shigaraki, i was shown my room, introduced to the staff and several residents and taken to the grocery store to get provisions.
i unpacked my stuff, wondered around a little and in the evening there was a little welcome party. one of the women here is from the gunma prefecture and had several types of pork from her family’s farm.
meat! from kumie’s famliy.
amazing spread.
this morning i woke up early and met with the staff to discuss my clay needs.
serious business.
then we went off to the clay store, where i purchased some black clay, which you can see (ish) in the test tiles above.
everything everyone has said is completely true. it was totally overwhelming choosing clay. i haven’t been to the tool store yet but i’m planning to be blown away.
i’m really into the fact that there are entire stores dedicated to clay.
anyway, finally back to the studio and getting to work:)
new studio project. these are going to hang on the wall. update on this project after nceca.
My collaborator and I plan to intervene in this space in some way this week. It’s currently a large ashtray/garbage can with a very attractive bench attached. Our survey shows that people spend time there waiting for class to start and perhaps reading. Survey also says that nothing has been reported to grow in this space for quite some time. Some feel it would make a good garden. One soul has attempted this task planting what looks to be a small avocado tree.
school is in full effect and it was a great first week back. i’m really amped about all my classes. they are all studio courses (ceramics seminar, sculpture seminar and performance and installation a.k.a. intervention).
i had a great meeting with my professor to talk about my research plan for the semester. as mentioned earlier i’m planning to tackle philosophy of aesthetics and beauty. i also plan to explore the idea of wonder and how it relates to art and science. i’m getting really excited to read about what all of these great thinkers believe and eventually be able to articulate my own position.
for my intervention course i’m going to be working collaboratively on several projects, one of which we hope to be able to share with people at nceca…..will keep you posted.
as for sculpture seminar, which is focusing on relational aesthetics, i’m not sure quite what i’ll be tackling. i’m interested in challenging myself to work outside of the ceramic medium and….. i signed up for a february 1st crit so…….i’m going to get cracking!