At the moment, there is also the Toki Ichi, the yearly May Pottery Festival in Mashiko from about 400 potters. We were amazed to see luckily so many tourists visiting this festival. But they were mainly all Japanese; no blue-eyed people around.

First, we arrived at the Togei Arts Center from Furuki-san. He made beautiful renovations at the Minshuku which had fully survived the earthquake, but the kilns were all damaged. Euan’s kiln was already repaired so people can start firing, and next will be Kusakabe-san’s kiln. His anagama was completely destroyed.

We had some lunch and met with Euan Craig who was manning his booth. He will help me still with the tour and interviews on May the 19 and the 20st of the Dutch journalist/magazine writers Yna and Mels and consequently, an exhibition in the Netherlands. But after the earthquake it takes on a whole different meaning and we are looking for other possibilities to make people aware of what happened in Mashiko and how to help them survive and continue the legacy of this incredible potters community.

Then we met with Ken Matsuzaki-san. I introduced Adriaan and he explained his idea how to help Mashiko and bring them out into the world. Luckily, Koi-san and one of the students helped with the translation.
After that, we went to Hamada Tomoo, the grandson of Hamada Shoji, and explained the same idea. They are very supportive but have to get used to the ideas.

A big shard pile at Matsuzaki-san’s place.

In the meantime, we saw the destruction of the kilns. Some were already cleaned up, but there was so much damage. Hamada Tomoo showed us the devastation of the Reference Museum of Hamada Shoji. Some potters were cleaning the bricks of the broken-down Noborigamas. So, much to do and the rebuilding of the treasure houses. The whole walls shifted. And so many of Hamada’s pots broken. But they had that all cleaned up and refreshed with other works from Hamada Shoji and Tomoo-san also had repaired some important plates from the collections.

Tomoo-san’s damaged salt kiln is already all cleaned up. Ready to build a new one.

Today, we met Fujiwara-san, Baba Yuchiko-san, the mayor Ohtsuka-san, and of course, Tsukamoto-san from the Toko Gallery and some other friends. So, we had quite a lovely day. We returned with the bus to Utsunomiya. We caught at 3:15pm the 2pm bus! Traffic was completely blocked in Mashiko.  It was that busy. The weather became cloudy and everybody of course started to leave at the same time. We got of the train in Tokyo to stay with my friend Lara and her wonderful family.

I was not able to write about this exciting workshop, because a lot happened last week with the preparation for my “Sakura” exhibition at the end of this month and my 2-week trip to the US.

On March the 4th and 5th I attended a Master Class Ceramics Workshop given by David and Margaret Frith at the International School of the Sacred School in Steve Tootell’s ceramics room and organized by Steve Tootell and the JapanASCD (Assoc. of Supervision and Curriculum Development).

David and Margaret are potters in stoneware and porcelain. They set up their first workshop in 1963. Their reputations are well established. David with his mastery of the potter’s wheel makes majestic pieces decorated with his personal style of waxed motifs under heavy reduction over- glazes and glaze trailing. Margaret concentrates on individual porcelain with carved decoration or colored glazes as well as producing a comprehensive range of domestic ware and decorative stoneware. Their pottery is housed in an 18th. century woollen mill which was later used as a brewery hence the name The Malt House. The mill is situated on the banks of the river Ystrad, on the outskirts of the market town of Denbigh, in the beautiful Vale of Clwyd in North Wales, UK. Their website is: http://www.pottery.demon.co.uk/

They taught us all kinds of throwing techniques and personalized it for each attendee. They showed us their way of throwing and trimming pots and the next day talked about decoration. For me some things were very familiar and I learned some different techniques especially for throwing big pots. They have 48 years of experience in making pots! I will add some YOU TUBE videos I took at the end of this blog, but next time it will be one movie. I have to learn to edit movies and put them together as one.

Steve introducing Margaret and David.

Margaret throwing.

David pulling up the clay for throwing a big platter.

David throwing a big vase in two parts. The base he threw the day before and the top he threw first separately and then turned it around and put it on the base. He is finishes it directly.

Some YOU TUBE MOVIES:

1. David and Margaret both throwing a plate:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_QJUsxzu08

2. David pulling up clay: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=td5GNJoX2P0

3. David throwing a big vase: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzn4t5Gf-I8

4. Margaret explaining decoration: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzEE0hR3qaE

For 3 days I participated in The 10th World Art Educators’ Workshop featuring IKUZO FUJIWARA and coordinated by Steve Tootell, ceramic art and performance art director from the International School of The Sacred Heart in Tokyo and facilitated by Euan Craig, a Mashiko woodfire potter for 20 years. Please, see the following LINK.


Fijiwara-san sculpting on his “Jaki”.

It was such an interesting workshop. Seldom did I meet such a nice and interesting man. He is wonderfully creative and artistic in so many ways. He is a ceramic mural artist and the only one left in Japan in these difficult economic times. He also is a landscape artist and sculptor. Please, also see his website: www.ikuzo.com

His reputation is established with more than 500 installations in major buildings throughout Japan. They can be as high as 4 stories, colorful and creative and incredibly complicated in design. At a school he installed a multi-dimensional mural, which students can view from left, right and head-on. Each view presents a different picture.




Fujiwara-san overcame the challenge of creating landscape-scale ceramic artwork with scientifically developed techniques and clays that allow for exceptional strength, durability, and massive size. He has revolutionized the large art form with precision engineered plans and modern electric kilns. He has a great, big, well organized, clean, workshop and design studio. All is very impressive.




He uses a Japanese convection kiln, the ancient oven from the Nara period from 1500 years ago, stoked with wood, to fire his gargoyles or “Jakis”: spirits from the natural world, objects of fear and respect.








Fujiwara-san and a very big “Jaki”.

He lives in Mashiko, the pottery and ceramics town that was the focal point for the renaissance of Japanese folk art under the guidance and leadership of Hamada Shoji, one of Japan’s greatest ceramic artists.

So, it was great to be back in Mashiko and to stay at the Mashiko Ceramic Art Center of Furuki-san.

Please, watch the following movie made by Steve Tootell of the 3-day workshop!

Steve explains how the procedure goes.

Steve starts the gas firing.The temperature will be at 900 Celsius in 1 hr.

Almost ready for take out.

Jennifer taking out pots.

You put the pots in a trash can. There was lots of paper in there. When it starts burning you quickly close the lid to get the reduction going, which affects the glazes.

Still some burning  and flames.

The pots were taken out, put in water and put on a ledge to cool of further and look at the beautiful colors!

We raku fired the big bowls and finished the workshop with a tea ceremony in our chawans and admired Tatsuo Shimaoka-san’s teabowl which Euan owns.

Thank you Steve, Euan and Kusakabe-san for the wonderful, interesting Art of Tea workshop!

Kusakabe-san showed us how.

In the evening we enjoyed our last dinner together in a Balinese restaurant.

Milan, Ixchel, Euan, Jennifer, Helen, Catherine, Kasakabe-san, Steve, Micha and Titus.

Lisa, Laura, Marianne, Swanica, Heather, Rebecca, Debi, and Jennifer. Unfortunately, Amber is missing, but with her due date for her pregnancy almost being up, she always went home to rest after our full days.

He starts out trimming with a bamboo stick to make it even and to clearly mark the beginning of the bottom part of the bowl.

And of course every foot has a different name with the specific type of bowl.

Then we went to the Nihonbashi district in Tokyo to the Toyoda restaurant from Master Chef Touru Hashimoto-san.

Hashimoto-san shows us how the old restaurant looked like.

You have all kinds of different tea ceremonies. One of them is very elaborate and starts with a dinner. The food is very specially prepared and also the service ware is specifically chosen. Very important is to choose foods from the season as well as the dinnerware has its specific seasonal colors. Hashimoto-san prepared the dishes for this ceremony.

It all tasted very delicious and is exquisite to eat food prepared in such a caring way.

The 2nd day started out with a demonstration of Euan Craig to make different kinds of ceramic ware for the food part of the tea ceremony: “Chakai seki dori”. They were all busy throwing or making slab plates or using plaster molds to make plates.

Then, after eating a delicious bento box lunch, we went to see the Tea Master Saito Noriko.
We’re waiting for the train to Kita-Kamakura, an one hour train ride.
We divided in two groups and I took 8 participants to the Engakuji Temple (see blog 5/14/06 or Kamakura/Temple category) and the Kamakura Old Pottery Museum, which I just had visited last week (see blog 10/17/08 or category Kamakura).

It was pouring, but that gave a special, wonderful, mystic atmosphere.

A  lantern on the Engakuji grounds.

Saito Noriko-san and her team of helpers. In the back ground the Tokonoma with a scroll “Kakemono”. I wrote earlier about the teaceremony (see blog 2/9/07 or category chanoyu tea ceremony).

When we arrived again at the International School of Sacred Heart, Kusakabe-san showed us how to make teabowls other than throwing.

Here he makes a coil tea bowl.

He makes a tea bowl by carving out a block of clay. First, he made a texture on the outside and trimmed a foot. Then you empty the block with a carving tool.

Euan drying a textured, slip colored block of clay with a torch. Debbie throws it on the floor to make it a slab from which she later made a vase.

Jennifer making a vase out of the torched slab and working on a coil pot.

Helen and Milan both working on a block chawan.

Steve Tootell, the organizer and camera man and everything else. He made everything possible. Thank you.

Steve Tootell was the organizer of the workshop. The two Master Potters were Euan Craig and Kasakabe-san, the Master Chef was Hashimoto Touru and the Tea Master was Saito Noriko. I helped with setting up and with throwing: anything what needed to be done.

Kusakabe-san is throwing teabowls “Chawan” and tea caddies “Chaire”.

I had turned the camera vertically, but understand now that you can’t do that. But it shows very well what they are presenting.

Euan throws teaceremony food dishes “Chakai seki dori”.

A small example with drawing explanations of the many chawan and chaire Kusakabe-san threw.

Please, click on the image for the right dimensions.

I donated some art work to Steve Tootell, a ceramics educator and potter in Japan for the past 23 years, who is a member of ‘Artists Without Borders” which includes artists; musicians; entertainers and other creative professionals who support “Artists Without Borders”.
http://www5a.biglobe.ne.jp/~artWB/e16.html

In 1999 a new humanitarian organization was founded by Hector Sierra and by foreign and Japanese artists in Tokyo.
This organization works to give the real pleasures of childhood back to kids in war torn areas of the world through art.
Volunteers travel to areas like Afghanistan/ Chechnya/ Kosovo New York/ Armenia/Georgia/Abkhazia/East Timor and Colombia and creating life-changing situation for desperate kids using simple art projects and materials.
Steve is collecting work from potters around the world for a group charity exhibition to be held in Tokyo by the end of 2008 called “POTTERS WITHOUT BORDERS JAPAN”.
Over the past 20 years he has raised over 35,000 US Dollars selling his own work helping kids projects and various organizations around the world.
POTTERY HAS POWER!

This exhibition will be unusual in that it will be a group exhibition for the first time.
The current members of the exhibition:
Lisa Hammond (U.K.) ; Kusakabe Masakazu (Japan-“Japanese Wood fired ceramics”); David Frith (U.K.); Margaret Frith (U.K.); Ruthanne Tudball (U.K.); Euan Craig (Australia); John Dix (U.S.A.); Kelvin Bradford (New Zealand); Wali Hawes (U.K./India/Spain/Japan); Roni Ohara (Hawaii); Daniel Rosen (U.S.A.); Swanica Ligtenburg (Holland); Steve Mills (U.K.); Eric Wedemeyer (U.S.A.); Osni Branco (Brazil); Jenny Thomas (Australia); Pat Southwood (U.K.); Nycole Gagne (Canada); Catherine Powel (U.K.); Daniel Seko (Czech); Nikola Seko (Czech); David Telke (U.S.A.)

Steve Tootell’s website:http://www2.gol.com/users/tootell/Steve1.html

It was difficult for me to take pictures while working, but Steve made a video of it.

Please, enjoy watching. We all had fun and made great pieces. Thank you Steve for this wonderful opportunity!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zOUff-Qvrvg

“Thunder” Off-Center Horsehair Plate