My day was phenomenal! It started with a nice long walk. Sensei told me about a temple down the road and a waterfall. I wasn't entirely sure where to find the waterfall so I walked to the temple, which, was located on a nature trail! I had no idea there was a nature trail so close by! The morning was beautiful and sunny. I saw a lot of tiny creatures as well as hidden treasures of Japan along the nature trail. Absolutely perfect start to the day. Here's a picture of one of the scenes I saw along the way.
When I got back to the studio, I had just enough time to finish preparing my work to be glazed and eat lunch before starting the second adventure of the day! Sensei picked up a friend who wanted to come visit and go see an exhibition, so we made a afternoon out of visiting museums, galleries, and studios. There needs to be a word to describe what happens to your brain when it gets so exhausted from seeing so much awesome art work and then trying to work these inspiration s into your own work. It was amazingggg!!!
First we went to the Seto-Gura museum. There it was set up to show you the history of Seto ceramics. They had an old studio set up where every single thing ran off of one motor. My mind was blown when they told me that. We saw how the kiln was set up and used, ancient wheels and tools, and! we even saw a couple videos staring Sensei the great! The museum also had a gallery which presented the ceramics of Seto in a timeline, from the very early starts to more contemporary exports.
First we went to the Seto-Gura museum. There it was set up to show you the history of Seto ceramics. They had an old studio set up where every single thing ran off of one motor. My mind was blown when they told me that. We saw how the kiln was set up and used, ancient wheels and tools, and! we even saw a couple videos staring Sensei the great! The museum also had a gallery which presented the ceramics of Seto in a timeline, from the very early starts to more contemporary exports.
The white and blue vessel was huge and the story behind it was quite entertaining. It turns out that it was in the World's Fair in Philadelphia at one time and it got purchased by Germany. After many years Seto found out that they were using it just to store wine and they purchased it back from Germany. There is so much history within Seto, I knew there would be a lot but I had no idea the extent of it.
After the Seto-Gura Museum we went to the Seto City Art Museum. There there was a phenomenal show up of potter Okabe Mineotoko. His work was just.... that thing that happens when you just catch your breath because it's so good. I was in ceramic heaven.
After that wonderful exhibition we went to the Aichi Prefectural Ceramic Museum. This place was huge and we didn't have time to see it all unfortunately, but we mainly went to see the Koie Ryoji show. There was also an exhibition of his friends' works. So much good art! In the museums permanent collection they have a contemporary section which was filled with amazing pieces. I didn't recognize a lot of the names but the work was just phenomenal and I will be looking those artists up. There was a Kenneth Price piece which was pretty cool.
We were lucky enough to be able to go visit another local pottery. Teppei Terada and his father have a pottery that allows them to support their love for fine art pieces by doing production ware as well. When we arrived, they were in the process of building a small wood-fire kiln. We got a tour of their studio and gallery space. It is so inspiring to be around such amazing successful potters.
After the Seto-Gura Museum we went to the Seto City Art Museum. There there was a phenomenal show up of potter Okabe Mineotoko. His work was just.... that thing that happens when you just catch your breath because it's so good. I was in ceramic heaven.
After that wonderful exhibition we went to the Aichi Prefectural Ceramic Museum. This place was huge and we didn't have time to see it all unfortunately, but we mainly went to see the Koie Ryoji show. There was also an exhibition of his friends' works. So much good art! In the museums permanent collection they have a contemporary section which was filled with amazing pieces. I didn't recognize a lot of the names but the work was just phenomenal and I will be looking those artists up. There was a Kenneth Price piece which was pretty cool.
We were lucky enough to be able to go visit another local pottery. Teppei Terada and his father have a pottery that allows them to support their love for fine art pieces by doing production ware as well. When we arrived, they were in the process of building a small wood-fire kiln. We got a tour of their studio and gallery space. It is so inspiring to be around such amazing successful potters.
To end this wonderful day, we had a BBQ party and invited Teppei to join us as well as another friend of Sensei's. It was a full house for dinner with the four of us from the program, Sensei, Sensei's friend Hirosh Sato who came to visit for the day, and the two local friends. It was a beautiful evening filled with laughter, great discussion, delicious food, and a musical performance from Sensei. absolutely perfect!