If you are interested and would like to order my booklet, please, click on the yellow tab of my Etsy Store here on this website.

But first some pictures showing some new work from this nice, warm, hot, humid, with sea breeze and warm, clean sea SUMMER!!!

First, for an order in San Diego: A Kamakura-Red “Japonica” Vase. Size: H24″/60cm x W16″/40cm.

Then I made a big plate with a sculpted wave “nami” on it. The drying was difficult, but the result is beautiful!
The Kamakura-Red “Nami” Plate. Size: H 3,5″/9cm, W 16,5″/42cm.

And I made some small incense boxes.

This is the Kamakura-Red “Marguerite” Box. Size: H 0.75″/2cm x W 1,5″/4cm.

The Kamakura-Red “Line” Box is H 1.5″/4cm x W 3″/7.5cm.

And I made more work, but those pictures you will get later. Hope you enjoyed it!

It was held in the museum “Het Valkhof” in the city Nijmegen. This museum houses a major collection of Roman antiquities, old masters, and modern art. It is located at the edge of the historic Valkhof Park, which was once the site of a Roman encampment and, many centuries later the residence of Charlemagne. Today, you will find an excitingly modern structure for art and archeology. A long glass gallery with its undulating ceiling offers a panoramic —-My uncle busy in his workshop.—– view of the grand river landscape beyond.

My father was also born in the city Nijmegen and as young as 18 years old and later becoming a historian, he was already a tour guide for the “Valkhof Park”. And now I have some of my work in the museum!

For five generations we have artists in the family and it started with my great-grandfather Herman Arens, who was a photographer and art drawing teacher and his brother Arnold Arens, who moved to Antwerpen (Belgium). He invented and had a patent on a machine for a copperplate press for decorations.






The 3 sons of my great-grandfather worked together in a guild of the “Brothers Arens”. My grandfather, Rudolphus, was the oldest, Albert was the painter and drew a lot of the designs and Johan, also a goldsmith, was the youngest. They made a lot of art for churches of which you can see a photo in my blog of February 2, 2010.

A special necklace made for the mayor of the city Huissen in 1948 by the “Brothers Arens”.

My uncle and godfather, Rudie Arens, who is born in 1918, and the 5th child out of 6, first wanted to become a doctor, but then chose to follow in his dad’s footsteps. He went to the appropriate art schools and had practical experience with a lot of artists. He also became an art teacher and in his workshop he taught over 80 students for their practical year. Some of his work:

A silver seahorse on precious stone.

He crafted lots of sigilla/signs for university student organizations.

The design of a commemorative “Spoon” for the birth of “Prins Bernard”, one of the sons of Princess Margriet, sister of Queen Beatrix of The Netherlands.

Of course, I have to show you this swan, which he crafted beautifully on top of a leftover medieval staff.

This is another drawing of some fine jewelry, so beautiful that it almost looks real.

The granddaughter, Charlotte Rombouts Arens, the fifth generation, will continue the goldsmithing art.

My brother Ruud-Jan Kokke, who is a designer, my sister Alida Kokke, who is a floral artist and I are the fourth generation participating in this exhibition.

My sister Alida with “Primula” flower prints surrounded by “email” (color glaze) floral primula jewelry of uncle Rudie.

The cane and stool are designed by my brother Ruud-Jan and acquired, shown and sold in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
Then my work: the “Angle” Kamakura Red Teapot and cup, the “Toward the middle” plate and an engraved white slip plate.

So, here we go!

This teapot was inspired by the tea set of my grandfather (see the blog entry of February 2nd).

Kamakura-Red “Angel” Teapot, 18,5cm x 10cm x 15 cm high, 7,5″ x 4″ x 6″.




“Wave” Kamakura-Red Bowl, 12cm X 7cm high, 4,5″ x 2,5″.




“Toward the Middle” Kamakura Red Plate, 21cm x 5,5cm; 8,5″ x 2″.

“Four Season” Kamakura Red Vase, 10cm x 10cm; 4″ x 4″.

“Circle of Life” Kamakura Red teapot, 22cm x 12cm x 14cm high; 8,5″ x 4,75″ x 5,25″.

“Moving Line” Kamakura Red Cup, 7,5cm x 8,5cm; 3″ x 3,25″.

“Owl” Kamakura Red Vase, 7cm x 11cm high; 2,5″ x 4,5″.

“Abstract Line” Kamakura Red Cup, 9,5cm x 8cm; 4″ x 3″.

“Lucky #8″ Kamakura Red Plate, 20cm x 20cm; 8″ x 8″.

“Lucky #8″ Kamakura Red Chalice, 12cm x 12 cm x 14cm high; 4,5″ x 4,5″ x 5,25″.

Showing some engraving.

Showing how to throw a bowl.
















Taking the bowl from the wheel.

The Special Judges’ Award Horsehair Vase from the Mashiko Competition 2006 and the Cosmos Horsehair Plate from the  Mino Competition from 2008.

In the back a Kamakura Bori Plate and in the front my version of the use of the bori technique texture decoration.

AND NOW THE YOU TUBE MOVIE of the BROADCAST!





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This is my grandfather Rudolphus Arens playing his cello, painted by his brother Albert Arens.

In this church he crafted the pulpit. Incredible!





This Art Deco style beautiful owl is standing on the corner of the pulpit.









Kind of interesting how I come back to my family via the research of Kamakura Bori all the way in Japan: life makes a full circle!







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In the beginning of November

Only in the beginning of November and New Year’s time are you able to access the grounds and view the Temple’s treasures. But even then after paying 500 yen, there is a rope hanging around the structure and going inside it is not permitted. So, this is my picture and as close as I could get. So, I saw this altar only from far away.

This picture shows the Shariden in the snow and clearly the special architecture.
The existing structure was first constructed in the early 15th century as the main hall of Taiheiji nunnery. After the abduction of the head nun, the Temple took over the structure in the latter half of the 16th century. The steep slope of the two double-decks roof with shingles indicates a Sung-style Chinese architecture. This Shariden is the oldest Chinese-style building in Japan and that is the reason for being enrolled on the list of National Treasures. The principal object of worship is a statue of Birushana Butsu. Birushana is the transliteration of a Sanscrit word vairocana, meaning the sun and the light of grace. Vairocana Buddha is sometimes called the supreme Buddha, representing the wisdom of “emptiness”. He is considered a personification of the everything, unmanifested, free of characteristics and distinctions.

Shari denotes sacred ashes of Shaka (Sakyamuni). Shariden, therefore, means a hall that is dedicated to the ashes of Sakyamuni. However, there is no such ashes any more.

The Engaku-ji is one of the most important Zen Buddhist temple complexes in Japan and is ranked second among Kamakura’s Five Mountains. This is a system, a network of monastic offices, developed in China to bureaucratize and to control the Zen temples. In Japan it prospered thanks to the countries military rulers in Kamakura first and Kyoto later.
The temple was founded in 1282 (during the Kamakura Period) by a Chinese Zen monk at the request of the then ruler of Japan, the regent Hojo Tokimune after he had repelled a Mongolian invasion in the period 1274 to 1281. Tokimune had a long-standing commitment to Zen and the temple was intended to honour those of both sides who died in the war, as well as serving as a center from which the influence of Zen could be spread. According to the records of the time, when building work started a copy of the Sutra of Perfect Enlightment (in Japanese, engaku-kyo) was dug out of the hillside in a stone chest during the initial building works, giving its name to the temple.
(Also, see my blogs from May 14 and 16, 2006 or click on the tag “Temple”).

It talks about my red shiny Kamakura Red! They explain who I am, that I come from Holland and that I burn Horsehair on my pots, that I won several awards for the horsehair technique especially the Special Judges Award for the Mashiko Ceramics Competition in 2006.
And that I had my exhibition in the Ginsuzu
Gallery in Kamakura.

It is situated on the Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine grounds in a beautiful setting surrounded by lots of trees and of course, the autumn colors were astounding, especially the yellow from the Gingko tree.


The featured exposition is about The 800th Memorial Anniversary of Honen Shonin (1133-1212), who studied Buddhism and found the true way of universal salvation through the practice of nembutsu revealed in the Buddhist scripture text by Shan-tao. Honen established the nembutsu as an absolutely independent practice. In the spring of 1175, he founded Jodo Shu, or the Pure Land Denomination, in Japan. The center of his teaching was at Yoshimizu, where Chion-in, the Head Temple of Jodo Shu, now stands.
Masako, wife of warrior Minamoto no Yoritomo, the first shogun who founded the Kamakura government shogunate, was a follower of Honen. And so the center of the Jodo Shu sect is established at the Komyoji, the temple in my neighborhood. Look also at the following blogs: Oct. 18, 2009; April14, 2009; July 31, 2008, and Sept.23, 2007.

This is Yoshitada Shonin a treasure from Kamakura City and sculpted from wood in the 12th century here in Kamakura, in the time when all the sculpting and carving of wood started because all of the temple building and developed into the Kamakura Bori.

They also had some wonderful maps hanging from the Komyoji.
I was allowed to take some picture from a book, because it was sold out.

This map is made in 1720. To the south is the beach with some some greenlands and to the north it is build against a rocky hill.
A lot of temples in Kamakura protect themselves in that way with their back against a hill.

This second map was drawn in 1850 and again you can clearly see the hills surrounding the temple and a small river flowing in to the sea. This map was about 2 by 2 meters big!






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