NEW STUDUO: DISTRICT CLAY

Me and my family moved from NYC to Bethesda, MD. Naturally, I had to look for a new clay studio, and District Clay in DC was it! My wife and I separately found this place online. My friend, Shino Takeda, had a connection to this place. So, it was meant to be. :)

ニューヨークからメリーランドのベセズダ市に越してきました。当然、作陶の場を探すことになり、ディストリクト・クレーというスタジオをDCに見つけました。妻と友達の紫乃ちゃんの協力により見つけられたところです。感謝、感謝：）

So here are some links to my friends and old and new studios:

ということで、感謝の気持ちを込めて、前のと新しいスタジオ、それと、お世話になった作陶家のリンクです：

Shino Takeda 竹田紫乃　She looked for my new studio via Instagram and connected me to Pegah! Thank you, Shino chan!:)　紫乃ちゃんはインスタグラムで僕の新しいスタジオを探してくれました！紫乃ちゃん、ありがとう！！：）：）

Togei Kyoshitsu of NY Many many thanks to Mako san and Risa sama from Togei Kyoshitsu of NY!!　ニューヨーク陶芸教室のマコさん、リサちゃん、お世話になりました！！

District Clay The owner Cass is awesome! And A few of studio mates I met are great too! Here are couple of them below:　ディストリクト・クレーのオーナーのキャスさんはとても気の良い人です！下記の人たちは、ここで出会った作陶仲間：

Pegah Shahghasemi　ペガ

Lisa Ramber　リサ　ランバー

My most recent works from District Clay.

最新の作品群.

The left one will have gold lacquer, the middle and the right ones will have handles.

左のやつは、金の上絵付けをします。そして、他の二つには、取っ手wお付ける予定。

test pieces

テストピース。

In addition, my new look with my wife'd flower arrangement.

ついでに、僕のニュールックと僕の愛妻のフラワーアレンジメント。

New Blood

It's been more than a year since the last entry, I experimented a bunch with my work but I was not convinced with any of them until now. This kind of work I present here is not actually new to me. But yet I am very thrilled to be making things like this. In the past year, I struggled with my identity as an object maker and realized I have none. I thought the purist approach to ceramics was the way to go, but who was I kidding? After all, I do have a sculpture degree, and while I made sculptures, I enjoyed throwing different materials together. After almost a decade since I left school, I finally feel like I've come back to some of my roots as an artist.

Mixed media: ceramic, drift wood, ostrich leather, Japanese cord.

The most important part of this is having fun in the process. To me, just dealing with ceramics was not satisfying. Yes, I know the purist ceramicists out there would say that I am copping out. But I am well aware that I don't have crazy skills like those very talented ceramicists. But then, I am not really interested in challenging myself to make every part of my work in clay. I am allured by seduction of combining different materials, colors and texture. It's like wearing clothes. All those different colors, patterns, textures compliment or clash each other and present a person. In a way, it is my most honest attempt to make something in recent years. On top of that, I am having so much fun! So I have no reservations!!! 

Celebration of Combining Two of My Blogs in One and My Motto: Let it Speak its own Language and Listen

   I am combining my blogs into one. Having said that, I have not posted anything on the other blog, Enjoy!, since before my daughter was born in 2011. I originally started that blog to talk about spirituality, however, I finally decided there will not be no separation between what I do and think. You may feel a slight change of mood in this blog. But, life goes on. :)
   So, as you can read it in my profile, my motto (at least one of my motto) is, "Let it Speak its own Language and Listen." My belief, as a human being, is that we come to this world to bring yourself to higher self. In Japanese, when somebody is born, it is said, "He/she was given a life (命)." The Chinese character, 命, means life but also to order, to give direction, or to name, as well as a destiny. In Japan, giving a name is written,  命名, and it could simply mean, giving the name but it actually has much deeper meaning than just giving a name.  The important part is being born (being given life) and naming (being given name) are inseparable things. The first step of life is being born that is a collaboration between you and your mother. And the second step of life is being named that is the first involuntary contract in this world. It is a spell that is bound to the human society. Sure, you can change your name down the road, but first, you are given your life and you are given your name. Well, it is true, many people feel like we are born with our own will- and I do admit I know I chose to be born, but I won't discuss that now. Anyway, about being born and naming, I strongly feel there was a sense of obligation or some sort of life assignment that was given with life and my own name at the birth. In that sense, I feel that I became complete when all of those things like the birth time, the body, the name, the soul, and the mind came together.  And further more, I was given a family, the community, the environment, and so forth at the same time. Long story short, this is what I believe: I, this consciousness, is responsible of making this person, Atsushi Iwai, to meet the satisfaction of this soul in order to fulfill the mission that is somehow attached to the birth time of mine. Fulfilling the mission means the highest place you can go in this life time.
   Lately, well, more like past ten years or so, I felt that part of what I am supposed to do is to listen. So, I started thinking that the big part of my action should be listening. A lot of times, this "listening" is actually more like deeply feeling or accepting, but "listening" sounds more poetic, doesn't it? So, listening. I propose my theory: we are the deciphers of our own lives. Regardless of what we learn from school and from society or languages that we speak, you are the only person in the whole world who can understand the signs that are given to you, which are encoded in your environment. (I know it is not a new concept, but it does have importance to me now again. Regardless of how many times there was the same message given to me, if I could not accept the message, then it was as good as nothing. )
    I think the secret to deciphering the signs is to become sensitive. If I can perceive the subtle differences in a narrow signal, then I can learn much more things than I previously did from the same range of information. This is, I can say it without hesitation, true to all discipline. As a yogi, I listen to the language of my body, mind, and soul. When I say the language, I don't mean a chattering that is in the mind, what I mean is the series of sensations that are separate from chattering or feelings. Maybe, the chattering and feelings are at the first gate to enter, then there are sensations of the body, the obvious sensations include pain or pressure that are connected to the feelings. There may be a feeling of heavy presence of time.  Then, there is a shift of sensations that comes with the suspended feeling of time. There is hardly any boarders between I and other or time. When I am there, I trust what is happening. I feel as if I contain the cosmos and the cosmos contains me. Each movement, each breath, or each moment, it is a conversation and unification of broken pieces. When I am there, I literally hear, "Welcome back," to my soul ear , every cell of my body is smiling, and I know I am home.
   As a potter, I listen to the language of clay, water, air and fire. Again, subtlety is the key to this discipline. For instance, when I am throwing a pot, if I ignored even a slight sign of resistance, then the pot will be hard to be tamed.  But if I listen patiently, then I, the machine, and the clay will move, like there are no separations. I have not heard, "Welcome back," yet, when I throw pots,  but it is my hope, when I am working on ceramics, I get the same feeling of  being at home like when I am doing yoga someday.
   So, I "Let it Speak its Own Language, and Listen."
  

Simple Pattern on Bowls

Recently, I got very excited seeing Lucie Rie's work. Her simple pattern inspired me to do those pieces. I made a test piece and then a set of six. Contrasting my previous karakusa pattern in blue, I would like to continue playing with simple patterns on various shapes.

最近見つけたルーシー リーのとってもシンプルな柄はぼくとってもわくわくさせてくれました。まずテストピースを作って、それに次ぐ六つピースのセット。僕の今まで紹介した唐草とは違う柄ですが、これもまたもっと遊べそうです。

Ewer with Ram's Head/羊頭付き水差し

（日本語は写真の下です。）

Regardless of my engineer friend's strong opinion about how this design as a ewer would never work functionally, I had to make this in homage to ancient cultures. Through out time in various cultures, some versions of this ewer existed. Yes, Sasa, the ewer pours out water badly. But, please, look how tall it stands! Who knows what those ewers with ram's head were used for? As far as I know, these could have been used for ritual purposes only. Then, who cares about how water pours out from it, right?
Besides, my friend Tim Kent, the most talented painter in NYC to my knowledge, thinks it is awesome. He liked it so much, he agreed to trade this piece to his small but wonderful painting. Did I neglect to mention him about the part it is not so functional? Yes, but he would understand.. Right, Tim?

僕のエンジニアの友達に言わせると、このデザインは使いやすさと言う視点から見ると、全く良くないそうです。それにも関わらず、僕はこれを作らなくては気が収まらなかったのです。この作品は、古の色々な文明より由来する形で、(と、言いながらあまり原型はとどめていませんが）とにかく歴史の中で幾多もの文明の陶芸家たちにより、このような水差しは作られ、今回はそれらの先人たちへのオマージであります。サーシャ君、君が言う様にこの口から水はスムーズに出ない。でも見てくれ、こいつはとっても誇り高く立っているではないか！実際、歴史の中で、これらの羊頭付き水差しがどのように当時の生活の中で使われていたのかは、謎なのではないだろうか？僕的には、何かの儀式なんかに使われていたような気がする。だから、水の注ぎ方云々は忘れよう。

それに、僕の友達である、僕が思うにNYCで今一番才能のあるペインターのテイム　ケントはこれをとっても絶賛してくれました。とっても気に入ってくれて、こんど彼の小さいでもとっても素敵な絵と交換する事になってます。あれっ？この水差しあまり使いやすくないって、テイムに話したっけ？言ってないか...　でも、解ってくれるよね？

 

Two Vases/ 二口の花瓶

(日本語は写真の下です。）

These are two vases wood fired at Roger san's studio. The glaze I used was Shino. Although both are made with the same clay body and glaze, results were surprisingly different. One vase has a traditional shino white on one side and orange sheen over soft white on the other. The other vase has what Roger san called "crystals" over pale blue/green and the other side has orange sheen on pale blue/green.
I can not tell how those "crystals" formed, it must be some of those fluke "yohhen" (窯変) that I heard about. Roger san quickly explained to me that the piece was close to the front of the kiln and this must have happened in the cooling process. All I have to say about this is I am pretty happy with the results. Mako at Togei Kyoshitsu told me the kiln god was good to me because I waited a long year to actually make it to do the wood firing at Roger san's. Thank you, kiln god! Both of the vases are sent to Japan to my parents for their 70th birthday.　Congratulations for the 70th birthday, Mom and Dad!

                               

                               

じゃじゃ〜ん！ロジャーさんの所で焼いてもらった二口の花瓶です。釉薬は志野を使いました。土も釉薬も同じはずなのにこんなに結果が違くなりました。驚きです。一つは伝統的な志野焼の落ち着いた白の上にオレンジの輝きが見られます。もう一つは今までに見た事のない模様が現れました。ロジャーさんはこれを”クリスタル”と呼んでいました。窯変によって白のはずの志野が薄青/緑になり、その上に金に近いような斑模様。窯変とはうまく云ったものです。どのような仕組みでこうなるのか僕には見当がつきません。ロジャーさんは窯のロストルの近くにあったので、それと相まって冷える過程でこういう窯変が出来るのではと説明してくれました。とにかく僕はこの偶然に感謝しています。陶芸教室のマコさんは、なんだかんだ有って一年も僕はロジャーさんの所に行けずじまいでいたので、窯の神様が僕に良くしてくれたのではと、言ってくれました。窯の神様、ありがとうございます！　なお、これらの花瓶は僕の両親の所に七十歳の誕生日を祝して日本に送られました。お父さん、お母さん誕生日おめでとう！

Wood Fired Pots at Roger-san's ロジャーさんの所の薪窯

When someone starts making pottery, sooner or later one wants to try wood firing. I started making ceramic art as a student back in 1996. I made my own raku kiln. When I went back to Japan in 1999, I even built an experimental kiln using kiln shelves to imitate wood firing with my friend Kohtaro Ito.  We packed the kiln with vases and mangrove charcoal, and fired it for several hours. As a matter of fact, we were able to get similar effect to wood firing. We planed to built a a type of real wood firing kiln called "Anagama." The city, however, did not grant us the permission to build the kiln. After that, I went to a grad school for art program back in the U.S. Since then, I never really had a chance to put my own work in the wood firing kiln.
---time warp---
Last year in 2011, I started coming to this wonderful ceramic/pottery studio in NYC called Togei Kyoshitsu of NY. I heard much nice things about wood firing at Roger-san's. But not for me! I had to pass 4 chances to bring my work at Roger-san's because something always came up. After a year, I was finally able to go to Roger-san's!!
The process was pretty simple; we bring our pots to his studio. Glaze if wanted. Put "dango" (I am not sure what we call these balls in English) at any side of the pot so it would not stick to the self.
And leave them. Wait for two weeks. And go pick them up! This must be the easiest wood firing participation there is in this world. Or at least, it must be as easy as making a cup ramen. Thank you for making this so easy for us, Roger-san!

some of my pieces minus the pretty piece with a lid

from left, Rie-san, Yujiro-san, and Tomoe-san of Togei Kyoshitsu  (ひだりから、陶芸教室のりえさん、ユージローさん、トモエさん)

（りえさん、トモエさん、いつもおいしいお食事ありがとうございます！ユージローさん、いつも運転ありがとうございます！）

From right, Aki-chan, Roger-san, and me. (右からアキちゃん、ロジャーさん、僕)

Those pieces did not require sanding or grinding at the bottom. (バリを取らずにすんだ僕の作品) 

As a big fan of Ko Iga flower vases, this became a priceless experience to me. I am already planing on making new pieces for the next visit.

Next time, I will introduce Roger-san and other people's work as well.

陶芸を始めたら誰でも一度はやってみたいのが薪窯を使って自分の作品を焼くこと。1996年に陶土を使ってオブジェを大学で造り始め、ラク窯も自分で作った。1999年には僕の友達の宇都宮陶芸倶楽部の伊東功太郎と一緒に薪窯まがいを窯板を合わせて作り、マングローブ炭を使って焼き、それなりの結果もでた。その夏僕たちは陶芸倶楽部に穴窯を建てる予定ではあったものの、市からは許可が下りず、結局僕はアメリカにM.F.A.を取りに帰り、それからは薪窯で云々と言う話しは全くなかった。
タイムワープ
去年2011年に久しぶりに陶芸を始めた。僕が作陶に励むのはニューヨーク陶芸教室と言う所で、とっても良い所です。いき始めてすぐに、ロジャーさんの所で薪窯をやっていると聞き始めましたが、その後一年は僕には縁のない事になってしまいました。いくチャンスがあるごとに他の何かが持ち上がり、プランはペチャンになったのです。然し今回ついに僕はあのあこがれの薪窯に初挑戦できる事になったーっ！
プロセスはとっても簡単でした。はず自分たちの作品をロジャーさんの所に持っていく。釉薬をかける。団子を的確に付ける。作品を置いていく。二週間待ったら取りにいく。
なんて簡単なんだー！これではカップラーメン作るのと同じくらい簡単。ロジャーさんありがとう！
古伊賀花入れの大ファンである僕にとって今回の経験はとっても計り知れないものになりました。次の機会持っていく持っていく作品のデザインも、もうすっかり始めました。
次回は、ロジャーさんと他の人々の作品も紹介させていただきます。