Pottery at Jingdezhen, China

change up!!

2009-01-07T21:06:00.001-08:00

hello all..... I have now started a new blog for my home pottery making. it is www.turninpots.blogspot.com. I hope you will follow and enjoy.

The end of a beginning

2008-12-17T04:45:00.000-08:00

Ok, so I am extremely glad to be home, and now I have a real view how lucky truly I am. I am perusing a career that I am absolutely in love with and have a huge passion and drive for. On top of all that I have extremely supportive parents getting me started on the right track. My house is covered in pottery because my mother is in love with NC pottery. What more could I ask for as a potter at my age?

When I give a tour of my house it is so hard for me not to stop and talk about every pot on display (I am sure there re around 30 or so displayed at any given time while many, many more sit in cabinets). I think it is because if you know the person who made the pot it is easy to see the characteristics of that person living in it as it sits on the table or it is being used. Sitting down to eat a meal out of a warm inviting plate is like sitting down to a meal with a friend.

The following morning of my return I ate a bowl of oatmeal out of one of Rons new bowls and drank some english tea (pg tips straight from england, I don't know what I will do when I run out) from a coffee cup by Doug Fitch. These guys are two of my great friends and eating from their pots made me think so much of them and their characters. A meal is a very intimate time for family and fellowship that I find necessarily wonderful. Although I ate my breakfast physically alone yesterday morning I still found it enjoyable and warm because of the presence of my friends represented through their passionate work.

This is the last post of my China trip blog. i am going to continue to post my career as an emerging potter on a different blog. I am planning on putting a studio and kiln together this summer which should make for some interesting writing ad information. Before that I will be firing at school, and with local friends to get ready for a few shows and sales I have in the Spring. I hope all of the readers will continue to read my blogs while I am working at home in Cherryville, NC. Thanks to all!

2008 olympics

2008-12-16T19:38:00.000-08:00

I took this picture behind the pond which is frozen at this point. There were even some people dumb enough to go out and walk on it. Oh,,,,,and this s the birdsnest where the US gymnastics team dominated over the rest of the world.

I just thought it was a nice shot.

Maybe this will help you understand how complicated it is.

I got a sweet video of this one too, but I suppose it will have to wait since it is not cooperating

And of course: This is the building where Michael Phelps took on the swimming world. If you did not know already Phelps dominated the world in swimming. The lights go off at nine and there is nothing going on in there now. I personally think they will just sit there and rot unless someone speaks up.

The trip to xi'an and Beijing

2008-12-16T19:13:00.000-08:00

Of course we saw the terra-cotta soldiers. I could not believe how amazing the history of this place was. It was much like rome in that they were so far passing their time as far as technology. There was a huge wall around the city where loads of museums were. There was no way we could have seen it all in the the time we had, but what I saw was amazing. This is only a view of pit one. There were 3 pits total making up the Qin emperors tomb. Every time I said terra-cotta I thought of the way Doug says it. I started calling them the terracotter army

Yes it is the great wall. I tried to upload a video I had, but It was being fussy so decided to let it have its way. You can see that this beautiful wall covered in snow goes on for miles and miles. It is an incredible feat when you realize it was 223 bc when it was made and how quickly this wall was going up.

I made a snowman on top of the great wall to wish everyone a very merry Christmas. I also did it just so I could say I did it. I took loads of pictures from this trip and had a blast learning and going to museums in Beijing and xi'an.

jug Band

2008-12-05T06:53:00.000-08:00

This is my kind of music.

I should probably consider starting a band like this myself.

enjoy!

Last Full Day

2008-12-05T00:58:00.000-08:00

I am only half way through with this day because I have to go and eat the last dinner which is on the foreign affairs office. This morning was alot of fun though just goofing around with friends and packing slowly. I shipped one last box this morning and then went and got a morning snack at the #1 bakery. I got three little egg pies they really hit the spot along with a good bottle of milk tea. mmmmm. The milk tea was horrible when I got here, but now it tastes like chocolate milk so......I suppose that means it is about time to head out. haha.

This is the inside of the bakery. Nothing here tastes as good as it looks. I have tried many things in here but none of them are as rich and american/european as I think they are by looking. The baked goods are very light and fluffy with funny flavors. It does the filling job while I am here though.

This is some of the cakes of culinary masterminds. Most of these are icing, and dont taste really great to me, but they make a great picture.

At lunch I went to eat with some of the best friends I have made here. James and Malay. She is from Malaysia and likes to be called that. She speaks 3 different languages and makes me teach her spanish while she teaches me malay. Loads of fun. She is a real trip.

One of the dishes we had was this amazing eggplant, tofu, vegi dish. I figured I would post a pic of it for everyone. It was really tasty.

I have also been giving all of my clothes to James as it is getting cold soon and I am sure he will appreciate it. I took all of the money from the sale and gave it to Rick to disperse among his students that need money to eat and stuff. We are in a pretty poor part of China and the little bit of money I earned here (about 100 dollars) will go a very, very long way for a person that needs food.

Well..... It is getting time for supper here and all this typing of food is making me hungry so...... good morning all!

2nd Sale day.

2008-12-04T06:01:00.000-08:00

The last sale day was today and we sold a good bit of it. Other than sitting around watching a bunch of chinese people buy pots I chatted with some of the people, ate a nice chinese lunch, and watched a movie. Not a very active day, but I am gone to Carolina in my mind so truthfully I was not even really in China today. I like to lean my chair back on two legs to pretend it is a rocking chair as I jam out to some of my favorite bluegrass tunes. All the while my eyes are shut and I dream I am at home rocking on the back porch in front of a blue ridge sunset. I can hear mom calling me in for chicken and dumplings from here. Gotta go!

Sale Day and Beth Update.

2008-12-03T03:23:00.000-08:00

Today was the sale day. This is a picture of the setup from above. It was booming in the morning, but the afternoon slowed a bit. Overall I would say it was a success. It will go on tomorrow morning as well.

This is one of the rabbits Beth has been working on. She is doing a series of 5 or so of these babies. I thought this one was so cool I just had to post it. Her work has so much personality, and attitude.

The above view. Really great texture.

Happy Birthday Joan!

2008-12-03T03:05:00.000-08:00

This is a cotton candy maker we saw on the way to the restaurant for the party. The place was decided on by Dorothy, and Rick purchased the cake. The fun that I had with all of my chinese friends that night cannot be expressed in a mere blog. I had a blast and I know Joan did as well.

She recieved so many cool gifts. Look what our painting teacher made for her? She made a huge paper cut for her with her name in it as well as fish and monkeys. can you spot them all in this picture?

She also received this awesome wood cut from our history professor. I was actually a little jealous. He said he bought it out in country. It smelled fresh cut and green.

These are the guests present minus myself, Rick, and Lily. Rick and Lily are pictured above.

Of course there was an awesome cake. Those candles burn down pretty fast, but still left time for Joan to blow them out. Loads of waxy chocolate and fresh fruit in there. This may be the funnest meal I have eaten since I have been here. So many language barriers present that we were all miming to one another and laughing hard about it. It was a blast! Good food, good conversation, and great friends. What more could you ask for?

Underglaze Decal Factory

2008-12-03T02:54:00.000-08:00

We finally found the right factory for the decals. These are underglaze decals made from cobalt oxide and maybe manganese to make the color darker in some cases. They wet the oxide down until it is a slip-ish consistency and smeer it into a steel mold type thing. The mold has a very thin carving design of the decal on it. Once the oxide is pressed in and excess is scraped away a piece of thin paper like tracing paper is placed over it and pressed onto the top of the mold with a large roller. Then the paper is peeled away with the oxide design on it. All you have to do in order to transfer it to a pot is apply it just like a temporary tattoo with water. These things are pretty cool and super cheap so I bought a few sheets with dragons and things on them so I can make china gifts for people when I get home.

Joans Birthday Message

2008-12-01T04:52:00.000-08:00

Joans birthday is on the 19th of December, but she decided to advertise it being December 1st so she could share it with her chinese friends. Today she received two of the sweetest letters I have ever read. One being from James who wrote about how he hoped her birthday was so great. You can really tell how much he cares for her because it took some work for this chinese boy to write a whole letter in english. The second letter is from my indonesian neighbor who spent all afternoon making her a flute and writing a letter for her. She talked about how it did not cost much money for the gift but it was more special because she spent time making it for her. it was such a sweet thought. The Chinese people here are so kind and thoughtful to people. We can certainly stand to learn from people who do not have the many luxuries luxuries we do as Americans or Britans or whomever is reading this blog.

First Day of December

2008-12-01T04:40:00.000-08:00

Today was cleanup day in the studio. Everyone worked hard to get thier areas clean for the pottery sale on Wednesday.

This is my studio space all empty and abandoned. I was done cleaning my area before lunch so I was able to enjoy the rest of the day outside exploring and doing some last minute porcelain shopping for Christmas gifts.

I took Joan out to lunch today at Mr. Woo's. We had fried rice, sliced pork, and eggplant. I cannot express how great the food is here when it is done well like this. I ate until I thought I was going to pop! This whole meal for two cost the equivalent of 3 USD. Now that is a meal I can get used to.

As a matter of fact when I left the restaurant satisfied I was thinking how much I will miss real Chinese food. I love me some down home sweet BBQ, but I think I will miss the food here more than I think. mmmmmmmm good eggplant.

Ash Pit Tea Bowl

2008-12-01T03:55:00.000-08:00

This is one of my tea bowls that fell into the ash pit. It was one of the little series of 6 I did with loop trailing on them. I think this guy turned out pretty sweet with the little bit of flash and the ash giving it some texture to go along with the trailing texture. It is sometimes hard for buyers to understand a piece like this one unless they have a good understanding for wood firing and what it is all about. Nic Collins makes his pots with loads of texture on them and when I was in Wales I asked him; "Don't people ever pick up one of your pots and ask how you would drink out of it without slicing your hands to ribbons?". He responded by saying that those kinds of people are not the people who he wants to buy his pots. If they don't like it then they just wont buy it. He did not act like he had much of a problem with it either. He has a great artist statement here about wood firing along with an upcoming online exhibition that is pretty sweet. I have been checking it out thanks to Doug posting it and found it pretty entertaining.

Walk near school

2008-11-30T16:49:00.000-08:00

My dad requested I take a video of what it is like walking down the sidewalk here. This is not some of the craziest sidewalk things I have seen here, but it gives you an idea. I have seen quite a few accidents, people walking buffalos down the street, women holding their babies over trash cans to poop. You name it and I may have seen it here. I only wish I could capture all of the smells. Their is so much to hit the nostrils here it is overwhelming. Enjoy the video!

Awesome Chinese flute player

2008-11-30T16:39:00.000-08:00

So this guy was playing in the street of town near the school. This is a fairly common thing with all kinds of instruments. I was really drawn to this guy though so I decided I would share a video with everyone. Such soothing music.

The last Loading and firing

2008-11-30T16:30:00.000-08:00

Brad standing proudly in front of his loading job. We loaded yesterday. Finished loading at five and fired until eight the next night. So it was a 27 hour firing.

There was also a gas firing happening which brought many more people to the glazing and loading area.

My first shift was at 5am. Beautiful time of day.

John giving it one of the final stokes. Seth in the background.

Mike shutting the door after the final stoke of a long firing. He looks pretty satisfied to me.

Chinese Thanksgiving foot.

2008-11-28T16:28:00.000-08:00

I suppose the thanksgiving around here is about food and good company much like at home. These people decided they liked the company of the duck, but still wanted to have a tasty foot for supper. They had the ducks company as well as the taste.

For those out there that do not know; they do not have thanksgiving here. This duck also has 2 legs, but for some reason likes to stand on one of them at a time. I was shocked when I first saw it so I figured I would share the excitement. Hopefully it made for a good story.

Pictures from the 28th

2008-11-28T16:19:00.000-08:00

I think today I took some of the best pictures I have taken so far. The lighting was perfect for pictures of this beautiful place.

Can you see all of the little ducks playing in the rice field.

"Don't look I am naked!!" said the left pole. I snapped a picture for you guys anyway.

Taken from right beside the kiln. Now that is an inspiring view of mountains.

Farmer.

tian bao clay process.

2008-11-28T16:06:00.000-08:00

As soon as I asked one of the workers if we could see the clay process he just pointed across the road toward the rice field and jumbled out some fast chinese to James. Next thing ya know we are walking through this beautiful part of rural china. Lots of rice ,as you can see, along the way to the clay pit.

And here is a picture of the clay digging site. Evidently they use loads of clay here, but I can tell you that this whole bottom is full of this amazing clay so there is plenty more awaiting use. I absolutely LOVE digging and using local clays. The smell, the feeling, and just knowing you are doing it the same way that the neolithic did it so many years ago.

This is a closeup of some of the beautiful grey seam along with a small piece of my shoe.

This is the building where they take the clay to be processed. Notice the tiles and piece of old broken jar on the very top.

this is a homemade pugmill where they do some de airing and mixing before use in the shop. Pretty sweet setup if you ask me.

Tian Bao trip #3

2008-11-28T15:55:00.000-08:00

When I arrived around 9 in the morning some of the crew was working on loading the kiln with tiles. Mr. Jin was not there, but I had a great time learning from the workers there for the day.

this is a shot of where they are in the loading process. The kiln takes 5 days to load so they may not even be done loading in time for me to see a firing happen. It was very cool to see the loading process though. I love wood kilns, and especially groundhog tunnel style ones, like this so my heart was skipping everywhere while watching these pros load this monster.

from the other direction near the loading door. You can catch an idea of the slope in this one.

Good ash buildup on these old bricks.

Me chillin' with the loading crew. These guys were great to me all day. Any time it looked as though I needed anything they were right there to help. They are very experienced hard working men of their field.

Homemade Chinese vehicle.

2008-11-27T15:31:00.000-08:00

As you can see this machine is extremely safe to operate with the engine, and gas tank outside right behind the seat. Thus thing was so load too. I thing it is some kind of digging machine. I am not sure what it was doing trying to get down food alley, I suppose it would be more understandable if the had a drive through there. Oh...... I remember drive troughs. Those are pretty nice. I am more thankful for those today as well.

Imperial kiln site

2008-11-27T15:26:00.000-08:00

Here is a shot of the 6 kilns in a row that were ecscavated from the middle of Jingdezhen. You can see the firebox, warebed, and flues of these bad boys as well as some other parts of the potters workshop.

View from the top of the pigota

2008-11-27T15:20:00.000-08:00

close up of the center of the ceiling.

Some of the views from the top. I have so many pictures from the top because it was so neat up there. It would be a sweet place for a chinese picnic.

Red Pigota, or Emperor Kiln museum.

2008-11-27T15:07:00.000-08:00

Yesterday Joan and I went out to the red pigota museum and spent the morning touring the place. The history of it is really quite amazing. This is a place where they would have pots inspected. If they had to have 20 and made 30 they would bust ten of them on the ground righthere and put them all in one shard pile. They would do the same thing if the pot was not good enough for the emperor or something along those lines. So around the 1970's or 80's some people came around and glued whole pots back together for dispay in this museum. They also had an amazing ming dynasty kiln site out there. That means in is as old as 1300-1400 ad. So needless to say it was pretty awesome.

Some of the walkway outside.

This is one of the many plates put back together. You can see the cracks and places where they tried to remake the glaze if you look closely.

First floor ceiling. There were 5 floors in all.

This was what the roof of the top floor looked like. This is all wood carving that is supposed to look like waves.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

2008-11-27T14:59:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving to all that celebrate it out there. This is one that I will never forget. I suppose I am more thankful for what I have on this thanksgiving than I have ever been before. This is a picture of some of the fresh fruit sold at one f the many markets here. We did not have turkey, but all the guys gave it their best. This thanksgiving was not all about food for me though. I ate at noodle man and KFC (kentucky fried china) for 2 meals and thanked God for all of the many opportunities He has given me in the past year as well as all of the amazing people I have met. I would say I am most thankful for all of the people in my life on this day. All the ones that gave me a hand as far as potters, parents, friends, and teachers. I could make a list, but I will do that some other time. Thanks everyone out there reading this. I am tremendously thankful for you.

Afternoon Kiln museum

2008-11-26T02:50:00.000-08:00

This morning I finished glazing and wadding my pots for the wood kiln, and I am officially finished until the firing. Now I have some real exploring freedom. Ok.... so today Joan and I went to this awesome kiln museum in downtown. This is the outside of it with all kinds of sweet bronze sculpture everywhere.

There was a chinese opera stage at the front of the entrance. They have traditional chinese operas here on special occasions. There are hundreds of different characters in the chinese opera and every one has a different mask. I now realize that is where the masks from the 3 ninjas movies are adopted from. If you dont know those movies it is ok. It is just a significant childhood memory for me.

This is the ancient kiln site that was found in the middle of town. All of the buildings around this area are filled with old shards that were excavated from this site that dates back around 1000 years. It was so cool for me to get to see this site in person.

This is exactly what the sign says it is.

This is one of the buildings in the area. It is a temple with some magnificent carving and amazing gold kiln gods that people leave gifts for and pray to. I have some pictures of what the inside has in it, but I will put that up later or something. I am very tired from working this morning and walking all afternoon. Good morning everyone else but me!!

Takeshi Yasuda

2008-11-25T01:53:00.000-08:00

I spent thins afternoon talking (well actually mostly listening) to Takeshi Yasuda. It was a real privilege to be welcomed into his work area just to hang out and talk to him. I have loads of notes about porcelain history, and other pottery traditions of the world from our nice conversation. He is a very brilliant man who is filled with historical knowledge about pottery and the world. I cannot express the amount I learned from just asking him a few questions. He is an excellent teacher and artist.

Video antique shop tour

2008-11-24T15:55:00.000-08:00

Now this video is of th inside of one of the antique shops. Any potter who sees this and knows anything about chinese pottery should be baffled. Or at least I think so. This is what Jingdezhen is all about. I am sorry Jeff and Davin left without seeing this place. At the beginning you can see a man dirtying up a new jar and then it is on to the slightly blurry video tour produced by my little camera.

Fraud Alley

2008-11-24T15:43:00.000-08:00

After the market we were taken down an alley that is supposed to be famous around the world. I had no idea how sweet this alley was going to be. It was such a small place, but had so amny great pots it was ridiculous.

This place is famous for reproduction of ancient chinese ware as well as getting a hold of some real antiques. Some of the museums come to to get their hands on real antique pottery.

The stuff that is not real antique is covered with dirt so it looks like it had been dug from an ancient kiln site. These chinese people are pretty sneaky little devils. Too bad I found their secret alley. hahaha! (evil laugh)

This is a mad covering a fraud funerary jar with mud. I know Jeff and Davin would have really wanted to see this place. It was pretty awesome.

The antique market village.

2008-11-24T15:37:00.000-08:00

So yesterday we went to where the antique market goes when it is not in a different place on Monday morning. This place had many more pots, and antiques than the morning market though. It was so much fun, but the prices were still super high for any white person trying to haggle so I refrained from any purchase.

Ron!

2008-11-24T15:33:00.001-08:00

This picture was on a tile or a book cover or something like that. As soon as I saw it I wondered if Ron had left some history in china somewhere I did not know about. This one is for you man. I hope this angry goat with his tongue sticking out inspires you.

Chinese Fish!

2008-11-24T05:04:00.000-08:00

So what I would call this is bait. These guys live in streams and are bottom feeders. They dont get very big, and a very similar to carp in thier scale characteristics (in other words they are extremely scaly). The chinese people crunch these bad boys up whole with the bones and all. I am not sue I want to eat something that has been eating the mad amounts of pollution thrown into the streams around here.

Joan may have been hungrier for bait than me.

Decal story continued

2008-11-22T15:25:00.000-08:00

These are some of the crazy decals they have done a series of in the past.

More of the dacals they were under contract to produce for a while.

This is what it looked like outside of the factory. I had to get out to breathe anyway so I figured whay not take a few pictures.

This is what was inside one of the many warehouses in that area. Packed with junk like many of the huge warehouses in that area.

If I failed to mention it earlier the yellow burns out to make blue and white on the piece after firing.

Decal Factory

2008-11-22T15:18:00.000-08:00

Sooooooooo many decaled plates. It makes me wonder where they all end up.

Application with hot water much like a stick on tattoo.

Trays of new, ready for application decals.

Sheets.

The super decal machine. The room that this was in was so thick with the smell of toxic something that you could barely breathe. I held my breath the best could, but I am sure the people working in there will not live longer that a year without having their lungs deteriorate. Joan had a headache the rest of the day an dall we did was walk in there for less than 2 minutes.

Job Comparison

2008-11-22T15:03:00.000-08:00

My dad is an electrical contractor and I just had to take these pictures for him. I can picture Mike and Joe carrying a big ball of wire like this to get a job done. (those are some of the people that work with him)

I hope you find all of the bamboo scaffolding interesting. I know I did.

My dad may be an electrician, but I am a potter. This is such a beautiful, monstrous stack it almost brings tears to my eyes.

Singing porcelain

2008-11-22T14:51:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we went to a porcelain shop that had some amazing antique reproductions. They had a nice collection as well. I thought these bowls were the sweetest thing in there. It could be because I am a percussionist. I played with this thing for like fifteen minutes. It was so much fun!

climactic ending prep.

2008-11-21T06:19:00.000-08:00

as you can see by the announcement board there is so much on the plate right now it is just nuts! Wood firings, gas firings, soda firings.... you name it and we probably have to get it done in the next two weeks before we leave. It says alot of the stamina of this group though when you see that they always make time for some beer pong amidst all of the work (the brad on the board is not me btw).

These are some of the pots I am throwing away now that the end is near. They are fine to fire, but were just experiments with little things that are wrong with them like heavy lids or bad spouts. These are my first lidded pitchers and I hope they will be a success when I return home. They will keep the refrigerator smell out of the sweet tea, or at least that is the goal. I stacked these in a large water jar that mr. Jin made while he was here demoing. I love seeing pots in groups like this, and it gives me some good inspiration for stacking the kiln. I hope it gives you some good ideas as well. Good Night!!

Learning from experience.

2008-11-21T05:49:00.000-08:00

Started today by cleaning up and finishing the glazing and organizing of the pots in my area. I met with James at 1 to go get some shopping for small gifts out of the way. Joan and I took the chinese history professor out to eat supper tonight. We took him to Mr. Wu's restaurant. They really know what foreighners like to eat there and he does a good job of throwing some great things out on the table. Tonight we ate fried bamboo, steamed buns (Bao zi), fried bananas, and some excellent broth soup. We had a great conversation all about the culture contrasts and asian pottery history. That probably sounds boring to the non pot head but it was so great to talk to someone else with a passion for pottery history that is from a different region of the art world. We are also getting together with him on Sunday, and Monday for some tours and lessons in chinese painting. Man it is going to be sweet!! Joan and I then went to the pottery workshop for a slide show lecture. A man named Simon Ward did his show tonight. He said many things about learning in a different environment that were great. The best thing he communicated to me was that one of the most important parts of going somewhere new to gather information is the people. The relationships, and networking you do in a place benefit you much more that committing yourself to a cramped studio for the time you are there. You also learn so much from talking about your work to others in this environment. The pottery workshop brings people from all over the globe, and they all bring thier little piece of it with them. You have the opportunity to take a little piece of so many different minds that have been influenced by so many different places just by communication. Now that is an opportunity worth taking over producing the same old things in a cramped studio in China that you do at home. Why bring home where your going? You can get that by walking in your own studio. If your in a super cutural place, then go out and get some of it. Another thing he communicated well was what to make while your in a studio here trying to learn new applicable things. There are many different approaches to this one, but what he did was make very Chinese things while he was here. He made some celadon plates with porcelain carvings of animals and lotus patterns which is very typical China. Although the work looks nothing like the work one makes in a home environment, when you go back it will be a new skill for his checklist as well as influence your work later on. As said before there are many different approaches to this one, but none is worse (in my opinion) than cooping yourself up in a studio to make the things you have always done. What more are you learning by doing that anyway? Ya gotta push yourself out of your comfort zone in order to bring more knowledge and applicable information into what you are doing. I think that is applicable to learning anything in almost any occupation. Nobody said it was easy, but it is what separates the good from the great!

The Lotus Pond Park

2008-11-20T15:43:00.000-08:00

This is one of my friends I met at the park, and struggled to communicate with. I still had a blast though

Traditional instrument. I got a video, but this chinese guy was trying to tell me something in the background. I told him numerous times I did not understand, but he was persistent on making drowning out the music.

One of the bridges.

If you look close you can see the public exercise machines.

2008-11-20T15:34:00.000-08:00

Joan spent the morning with the painting master. He is painting one of her pumpkin pots for her. She gave him one of her finished pieces for painting it. I think he was pretty excited about it.

He is such an amazing painter.

This is the part of the market where we ordered some clothes. I had to go pick them up today. They needed time to get them made.

Some men fishing by the lotus pond. It was a gorgeous day.

They like their coy here.

2008-11-20T15:29:00.000-08:00

The day started out with going to the studio to finish lining and wadding my pots that came out of the bisque. I finished quickly and wanted to get them on the loading rack, but it was all full because of all of the other firings that are happening so I am a sitting duck until the firings catch up. So after the morning work I went back to the room to skype some people for a few hours, and then I took a walk to the nearby park. At the park I saw some people fishing with cane poles, playing traditional chinese one strined instruments, and sat down and talked to two men which was helpful to my chinese. After that I had class and that was pretty much the day. I have some pictures of the park and stuff.

More Baby Culture.

2008-11-19T15:51:00.000-08:00

I have been trying to get a shot like this for so long. The babies do not wear diapers here so the babies run around with all of their beautiful parts hanging out for the world to see. Every once in a while you will see a proud parent holding their child over a trash can for them to eliminate waste. Sometimes it is just done right on the sidewalk. This is a part of culture I am glad we do not have in the USA. It made a good pic though.

Outdoor exploring town.

2008-11-19T15:39:00.000-08:00

This was a great snack along the shopping day out yesterday. The day was beautiful, and great for the outdoor strolling and exploring.

Among the explorations was one of the many 6 story department stores. They are not afraid to display mahicans with no pants. This seemed a little strange to me. Joan decided to pose for this one. Interpret however you like.

These are the ladies I picked up on our trip downtown. Man I look bad in this picture because I just took my cap off, but I guess it is a good sign if the ladies don't flee from me. These girls were lots of help translating and what not.

A street shot of where we were.

One of the many traditional buildings.

Pig meat or pork?

2008-11-19T15:32:00.000-08:00

At the end of the journey our host bought some bacon to take home and cook for her family. I love this sweet hatchet knife thing that is as sharp as a razor. His scale is pretty cool too.

Sculpture Factory

2008-11-19T15:14:00.000-08:00

Pretty intense huh? The shops were filled with things like this.

Think of one tall white person sticking up in the middle of this. That is how I feel sometimes. haha!

Special delivery. Anyone need a communist leader?

This is the street of the sculpture factories. In the front of all of the garage doors there is a store shop where you could buy a sculpture, and in the back area you can see the people working on their projects. Most of them are cast of course.

Of course, like everywhere else, thier are chickens and roosters roaming the streets. These guys have hit the jackpot of someone's leftover rice.

Outing continued

2008-11-19T14:58:00.000-08:00

As we walked down the street we collected quite the group of interested people. You need to keep in mind that many of these people may have only seen a white person on TV so they think we are pretty cool. Every wave in their direction makes them giddy with excitement. Especially when I wave to the girls that are around middle school aged. They run off and giggle with their friends. It is so cool to watch.

This is where our group ate lunch. It was a nice chinese restaurant.

Joan and the driver posing for the camera.

These people do not any piece of land go to waste. Even the inches next to the road are filled with gardens to supply good food.

This is grandma. In China they do not put down the children until they are around 1 year old. I mean they really do not take them off their chest or back for 1 year after birth. They still carry it like they were pregnant. It is healthy for the babies development because it grows well during this crucial time (the 1st year) in a comfortable environment (moma).

outing

2008-11-19T14:51:00.000-08:00

Chinese Water Buffalo!!!!! This is for you Austin and Weston. We saw loads on the outing we went on as well as people walking them around on leashes like dogs. This one was not one of the big ones either.

A shot of the street where we were.

There was a nice bridge with a sweet view.

This outing happened on Sunday. We went here after the temple trip with all of the nice people. This is where one of the people were from. We met his father, mother, and some others that were related to him as well. It was a sweet adventure.

2008-11-19T14:40:00.000-08:00

Ok so sorry the blogging has been a bit spastic. The internet was out all day yesterday and the night before. It really stinks when it does that especially in these last crucial weeks here in this amazing city. All I gotta do today is glue some wads on the bottom of my wood fired pots for the wood firing that is supposed to be Friday. Yesterday was filled with going clothes shopping for the super cold weather that is in beijing. I bought long johns, gloves, a toboggan, some decent socks, and a pair of good looking boot like shoes because the ones I bought broke. I did not spend much money either surprisingly. I could bargain with most of the people and the shoes were on sale because I do not think there are many people in China with feet as big as mine. They are only a size ten, but it took me loads of searching for these puppies. With all of that I did not even spent 50 dollars in total. We went to some places in this city I had not been to yet, and they were so cool. There was a very traditional area of town near this folk museum. It was a really nice area. We also ran into some chinese people that had sen us around campus and helped us out getting to the best shops. Last night we went back to nice ladt that took us to the temple. She gave us chinese painting lessons and it was so awesome!! I guess I will post some pictures. So much to post..... so little time!!

What's up

2008-11-17T15:52:00.000-08:00

ok so all of these pictures were taken this weekend. It is Tuesday morning now and we will be having the last wood firing this weekend. We are also having a reduction firing at the end of this week so everyone is getting ready for the firings. I am going to spend the rest of this day lining, and wadding my pots as well as trying to catch up the blog. I did so much this weekend and I am a bit behind because I did so much without blogging this weekend. We only have about 2 weeks left in Jingdezhen before we go traveling around China before leaving for home. There are many people getting sick right now because of the weather, and probably other factors so I am trying to be out of the studio as much as I can in order to not get sick. I feel great though especially since I have discovered the new energy source of chinese dry noodles (top ramen). They are a great replacement for the studio food and using the community chopsticks that are getting pretty nasty at this point. I have a few more weekend pictures to load later, but for now I am off to finish glazing. I will catch ya later.

Temple Architecture

2008-11-17T15:43:00.000-08:00

This is a more detailed picture of one of the incense burner things.

There were numerous buildings where gods live, and some where people live as well. The inside of these buildings were geougous and overwhelming much like a cathedral in Europe. Amazing paintings and patterning as well as some amazing wood carvings all over the place.

This is me with the girls in the group. They wanted thier picture with me because they thought I looked like Harry Potter. What can I say? I suppose I am a stud in China so I better soak it up while I can. The oldest here is a junior in high school.

Sunday cont.

2008-11-17T15:34:00.000-08:00

Closeup of one of the buddhas.

A place we sit our incense to burn down. We each put three in there.

This is a picture of the 1000 hand buddha on a poster just to get an idea.

A monk washing his clothes.

This is where some of the monks live. Or at least that is wat they told us. It looks like a burned down building to me. Maybe they used to live in there or they are trying to be complete minimalists by living there.

Chinese Sunday

2008-11-17T15:23:00.000-08:00

On Sunday we took a trip to a Chinese temple, but before we could go up we had to buy some candles and incense. These amazing women are the ones that were kind enough to invite Joan and I for what we consider a unforgettable outing. Dorthy in the middle is my neighbor and Joans chinese tudor and the girl in the foreground lives next door to me. She is from Malasia and speaks 3 languages and asked me loads of questions about spanish on the trip. These are amazing, and generous people I will never forget.

We climbed loads of stairs initially. The rails were lined with lotus blossoms which is one of the basic symbols for buddhism much like a cross is for christianity.

The view from the top was overlooking a river.

It was very a great view of the mountains as well.

Also at the top there were many temples. I guess you could call them prayer houses. They were places with golden buddhas and other shrines that one could bow down and pray to. The bigger house in the background was the house of the 1000 hand buddah. It was about 30 feet tall, gold ( i mean real gold), had countless heads, and 1000 hands. It was a tremendous sight, but of course it was disrespectful to take pictures in there.

Art Class Visit

2008-11-17T15:14:00.000-08:00

Joan and I had the privilege of visiting a small art classroom full of awesome chinese children. This is one of the boys posing with Joan and showing off the origami.

This is a overall classroom view. They were working on origami, but the walls were covered in some very impressive paintings and drawings. These children really enjoyed our visit.

This is a sweet little girl that gave joan her small origami bird.

The boys. They were running around play fighting and throwing things at each other which I thought was wonderful. It reminded me of working in scouts and at boys camp. They were my favorite group.

An example of some of the great pencil drawings. All if the art here was far beyond most anything I have seen kids do in the USA. They take art very seriously here and I think most parents have their kids in art classes from a very early age.

Glazin' tiles in Tian bao.

2008-11-16T23:14:00.000-08:00

Tile worker glazing tiles in an ash glaze. I hate hearing my own voice in this one. I can tell my down home accent is starting to diminish especially when I say "them". It will come back easily though.

Tian Bao pics

2008-11-16T23:08:00.000-08:00

Group Shot.

This is Mr. Jin's wife gutting ginger or something.

The view from the front door.

A guy walking a buffalo down the street.

mmmmmmm... rice husk ash glaze!

Chinese helpers

2008-11-16T23:03:00.000-08:00

Mr. Jin likes his shot of rice wine with lunch.

The master at work.

James and I.

Mr. Jin and Myself with the section of the jar he helped me finish.

Good things

2008-11-16T22:57:00.000-08:00

Chinese water filter.

Who needs a cart with wheels anyway.

They have a small dog, but no need to buy a doghouse.

Or a birdhouse for..... a duck or something that needs alot of room.

Tian Bao continued

2008-11-16T22:51:00.000-08:00

Joan having a go at making pots.

Wedging some of the Tian bao clay in Tian Bao.

Coiling up a tradition that has been around for over 3000 years!!

They shape with a mallet. I got a bit of practice for myself.

Joan shaping. It was a gorgeous day.

Big Jar Making!!

2008-11-16T22:44:00.000-08:00

This was when we first got to Tian Bau. Mr. Jin was working on some super big ones.

he started by spreading ash on the top of the wooden surface he would be working on.

Then he made the bottom after giving the clay a good wedge.

The he coiled up a straight walled form.

Then he stretched it into the bottom shape, and sat it out to dry.

Another Amazing day

2008-11-16T06:34:00.000-08:00

I am getting in late again and another early start is due so I cannot blog a whole ton right now. I went on a long day trip with a chinese family today to what seemed like another world held back by time. It was so beautiful and the people were amazing. Long streches of rice fields right to the foot of peaking mountains, and massive chinese water buffalo walking confidently along side their calfs. So much great blogging will happen soon so stay tuned for some great pictures and videos.

Brad

2008-11-15T15:41:00.000-08:00

I had an amazing day yesterday. I spent the day at Tian Bao with mr. Jin, or Lin Shen Sheng. The drive there was amazing and the small taxi bus was so bumpy I was gritting my teeth to not get car sick, and I have never really been carsick before. On the way there we had one of the craziest experiences I have had yet, and I will write about it later when the internet is working better. It was beautiful yesterday and Master Jin (which translates as mr. Gold) was so generous to give us a large portion of his day to teach us. We took James to translate for us which made things much easier. James is a 19 year old student who has befriended us because he loves to speak english. He is a great kid. Anyway I will write in more detail and with pictures tonight when I have time. I am going to tour a temple today and we are meeting to leave shortly.

Shipping

2008-11-13T04:09:00.000-08:00

Today I was supposed to go to Tian Bao for the day, but some things happened this morning with the ride and I am going Saturday. I really had almost nothing to do today so I hung out with james, my chinese friend all day. He is 19 years old and starting his university career in English. We ate breakfast together and then for the afternoon Joan and I took him with us to ship our packages. This was the craziest thing I have ever done. Joan and I were literally at the post office all afternoon. We had to unbox, repack, have inspected, fill out papers in chinese and english.....you name it and we did it. It was sure a hassle, but I think it will be worth the light load on the trip since we are traveling around China for ten days before leaving. I had to walk all over the place for packing materials and such as well so I am extremely tired at the end of this day. Joan and I had a great conversation about the intimacy of pottery versus other arts. We also talked about communication of the artist through the pots. It was a great conversation, and I am sure any pot head reading this knows how great conversations like that can be sometimes. I am also getting so many great messages from home through e-mail. It is very encouraging and uplifting and I am really enjoying it while I am so far away from the warmth of my friends and home. Anyway...I guess that is all for now. Sorry I did not snap any photos today.

Cookout!

2008-11-12T15:16:00.000-08:00

This is a shot of what happens every day on the courts. It was a beautiful day yesterday so they were playing badminton, basketball, and hanging their laundry on the nets (you can se it in the back).

We had a party for miker last night because it is his birthday. He had no idea and it was a great party.

You can see the little hommade grill we used. It cooked some really tasty food like corn on the cob, pork, beef, lamb, and vegetables.

Goofing in The studio

2008-11-12T15:11:00.000-08:00

Li Chao decided to get mike a birthday present. It is a Chinese military suit. He was doing Mau impressions all afternoon.

This is Anne. Our newest visiting artist.

This is one piece she has been working on.

And the other side

Morning Parade

2008-11-12T14:51:00.000-08:00

We were up early ot go to the opening of the sports week here at the university.

We marched around the track in a parade like format. When some reached the bleachers they let go of bunches of balloons.

There were just as many people there as the military opening think except it was freezing cold instead of scorching hot. I am sure Jeff will remember this shot from the last time we stood here.

This is one of the intimidating signs in english. I come, I see, I conquer. They takes sports week pretty seriously I guess.

Tuesday

2008-11-11T06:16:00.000-08:00

This evening I ate supper at the noodle mans restaurant. I have made posts about him in the past. I have gotten to where I can order what I want to eat pretty easily now. We have been going over some foods in chinese class so that has been helping. Helping the two cutest girls in China study their english really helps me too. They come over to my table every time I walk into the restaurant and make me help them practice (they dont have to try very hard to get me to either). I showed then my sketchbook with all of my chinese notes and sketches in it. They absolutely loved it. They would point and I would tell them the word, then they would tell me the word in Chinese. I learn more from 1st and 3rd graders than I do adults sometimes. Ha! A great way to spend the evening. I have a blast every time I go.

I am actually trying to finish up here as far as turning goes. We will probably only have one more wood firing, and I want to see more of Jingdezhen before I go. This morning I was cleaning a bit and realized I have a bunch more clay lying around so I decided to make a big bowl just for the fun of it. It is the only thing I made so I am just letting it dry right on the wheel head. I used a little over 12 pounds of clay. Like 6.5 kilograms. Our scale is in Kilos.

Lesson from the history professor

2008-11-10T05:29:00.000-08:00

This is the roof where his studio is. There are rooms all along here used for different things. One is for throwing, one for glazing, one for, casting...you get the picture. They are each very small rooms.

This is what you see when you look off the balcony. Check the sweet chinese roof tile action.

This room was filled with cups. I really enjoy seeing pots in groups.

This was one of the many glazes he has. He does a very wide variety of great mastered glazes.

This is him giving Joan and I a carving lesson. He is such a great person. he used his whole morning to show us his shops and treat us to lunch. I learned loads from him today and hope to spend more time with him.

Lunch

2008-11-10T05:19:00.000-08:00

Some great tasting tomalley type thing I ate for lunch. They have sticky rice and pork, duck, or red bean inside.

mmmmmm. This is what the inside looks like.

Close up of a sweet soup cooking jar. They do this by smearing porcelain on the clay body.

This is the further back view. You put hot soup down in there with some coals in the bottom to keep it warm inside. It has a double wall type system so it hold the heat in.

See where you would hang the rim or bottom of some bowls.

More around town shots

2008-11-10T01:46:00.000-08:00

These are duck eggs boiled in two different things. That is why they are different colors. They call them ya dan with a flat and down tone.

Very high quality cast steps. They are obviously well supported.

Mike and our long needed announcement board.

Some shops from a 2nd story view.

This is the dentist. This is the door right off the streets of downtown. I guess it is Like Floyd's barber shop, 2 chairs so no waiting. There is a minimal amount of privacy in this country.

Studio Visit

2008-11-10T01:33:00.000-08:00

This is an artist I met through a chinese friend named Dorthy. Joan and myself went to her studio and met her. She makes great work themed by tradition.

This was the craziest thing ever. She had an article that was from the Greenville News. She has been and taught art in Greenville SC which is like 45 minutes from me. I just thought that was pretty crazy. She said she loved downtown, likes pizza, hamburgers, but not cheezeburgers because the cheeze tastes funny. I cannpt remember her name, but I do have it written down somehwere.

This was one of her birds. It has so much attitude.

Here is a picture of the outside of apartments where people live. They do not have dryers here. I hope that was needless to say.

Moving pots.

2008-11-10T01:12:00.000-08:00

I ate at the KFC down the street (which tastes almost nothing like KFC by the way). The Chicken there is made the way chinese people make chicken. I dont think I need to tell you that they take their badminton seriously here. I thought this box was extremely funny.

Me standing in one of the shops. As stated previously, I dont see how they make any money here with all this white clay everywhere.

I think this is the coolest shot I have gotten since I have been here.

Movement

2008-11-10T01:02:00.000-08:00

I suppose they work pretty hard in China. No wonder it takes so long to have a package shipped.

This is a view of a large market gateway. Do you see how they sale the chicken here. It is not pre packaged my friends.

Just thought it was a sweet shot with the smoke stack. I want to build one that big one day.

There are pot shops everywhere in this place. I honestly do not see how they make any money selling this porcelain.

Another shot of the street, and Joans head.

Decal Store trip

2008-11-10T00:53:00.001-08:00

This was the loud street outside the small decal shop we tried all day to find. We were hoping to find a big shop, but it is hard to do when you cant speak chinese and you do not know where you are. They were paving the street. Can you see the street roller on the right. There is so much movement going on all the time here and I sometimes try to capture it with a photo of the street.

One of the decals of children. The chinese use this type of image to communicate innocence.

The wall of the small shop.

Inside of the shop.

This is a chinese taxi. His money can is attached to the front. I do not usually ride a taxi like that especially when it is raining like it has been lately.

Hook of death!!

2008-11-07T05:46:00.000-08:00

I wanted to post something a little more interesting in the wierd parts of this place I take for granted on a daily basis. This is a picture hand drawn on the wall of my dorm room here. it is done with black permanent marker, crayons, and other colored markers. I guess this also gives you a look of the outlets here.

This is a huge hook that is about 8 inches long, and really sharp. it is hanging from the middle of the ceiling in the room here. Does anyone out there have a clue what this is used for? I had to have someone tell me, but I would like to hear some creative guesses. Feel free to use e-mail or whatever to answer.

2008-11-07T05:40:00.000-08:00

Here are some pictures of the super crowded bus I was on. I guess the blurs capture all of the motion going on. It also captures a little bit of the starring that we americans experience every day.

Rainy Day....wet pots=no pots

2008-11-07T05:18:00.000-08:00

Got some things trimmed this morning even though they were not ready. After lunch or so I went to the brush maker. There was a small shop with the same brush maker from the previous blogs. There were brushes of all sorts shapes and sizes in porcelain jars everywhere on shelves lining the walls. Every one that I picked up had a different pourpose. I would ppick it up and she would point at a specific leaf, and another she would point at a thin line. Some I would pick up and she would make a swoosh! noise with her mouth and waive her arm in the air like she was painting loosely. Some for under glazing, glazing, slips...you name it they made it. They had some that looked like whole horse tails hanging from a stick. I bought a large selection of the handmade brushes because they are so cheap here and hard to find in the US. I figure if I do not use them they will make great gifts for some of my friends that are artists.

After that it was on the bus back to the school. The bus costs 1 yuan for the ride almost anywhere in town. One yuan is equivalent to around 13 cent. So it is a pretty good deal. I suppose we made the bad decision of getting on the bus ar just the wrong time because the first stop was school letting out. The bus was so packed with 3rd graders that you could not even move an inch! The kids were scooting in and out of people causing so much fast crowded motion it was nuts! and nobody was stopping them. I tried to capture this on camera, but I could not keep the camera still because every time I would get a shot set up some little kid would bump into me. It was out of control. Well after the fight to get out of the stampede bus it was off to supper until the slide lecture at the pottery workshop. The lecture was by a Canadian jeweler named paul leathers. I know that does not sound up my alley at all, but it really was a great lecture. There is a load of thought about shape and philosophy that goes into his work that can be applied to any type of three dimensional art.

The master painter

2008-11-06T06:34:00.000-08:00

This is some work by our master painter. It is done with cobalt oxide and manganese mix. He does a variety of different things on the pottery, and can really churn these things out.

Another one of his works. His shapes inspire some of the shapes I slip trail onto my pots.

supper

2008-11-06T06:27:00.000-08:00

Mmmmmmm....la mien.

The lineup of food choices at supper.

This is where we eat our meals.

This is what most everybody around here cooks on. It is a barrel type cooker with cement around the inside edges. It cooks the food with charcoal bricks right under the large wok.

Yea! cookin up some nooooooooodles. They call it la mien though.

Chinese

2008-11-06T06:13:00.001-08:00

I got to the studio early this morning and worked making some lidded jar and casserole shapes until about eleven. The rest of the day was primarily set aside for studying fir the big chinese test we have tomorrow. I must admit my brain is pretty worn from studying this afternoon. Joan and I were able to use some flash cards she made to study together. Since she has been teaching for so long she has some great study habits that really work. I am packed with so much new Mandarin knowledge that I hope my brain does not explode tomorrow morning while I am trying to cram more in when morning gets here. Class tonight was a very good one for me. We talked about chinese symbols like different flowers, birds, dragons, fish, trees, you get the picture. We went over so many nature type symbols that each had a specific meaning. It was very interesting and gave me some very applicable ideas for slip trailing and carving ideas. I also talked to the chinese professor after class about some of the symbols and he talked like there were many deeper meanings that were not mentioned. I realize that probably sounds a little nerdy talking to the professor after class but I found it very interesting to learn how chinese art speaks to the lives of the chinese. It reminded me of european christian art and its symbols. I actually like this a little better because it is so nature related. I will lwt my sketchbook fill up with these new ideas and hopefully they will actually make it to some of my forms. Good night all.

In the Studio.

2008-11-05T03:43:00.000-08:00

First face jug with the new clay body. It truly is a beautiful body and works nicely for the face jugs. I am slowly getting away from faces and focusing more on form, but always have to do one every once in a while to keep my folky NC self alive.

Pitcher with some bird trailing

Some new mug shapes and designs.

Some large Jars

These are some mini oranges we have been eating here. They are very sweet and tasty.

New Clay day #2

2008-11-04T05:35:00.000-08:00

This is a picture of a large bowl with a rolled rim I made. I needed to take a picture because I was not sure that it was coming off the wheel without a bat. I was so excited about the clay that I did not even think to put on a bat. I did manage to move it without damage though.

I am really starting to love this new clay. I only put in the before lunch work today though on account of feeling a bit sick to my stomach. It is so easy to get sick here that there has been little to no time where nobody in our group of 16 or so has been sick. I have experienced two dreadful colds. One of which left me bed ridden for a day and a half. Today was the first time my body had to actually get rid of whatever I ate. While being in China I have to be very careful to eat a wide range from the 'ole food pyramid. They do not have milk here or much meat, and most of the greens are not very hearty. I am getting too much starch from the rice, noodles, and potatoes. All of the food factors are things I don't have to consider at home, but while here I am forced to or I will feel the consequences. Although experiencing some troubles I am learning loads through the process.

I got so excited about this clay today that I was having fun making things and then just tearing them part as fast as I could. Joan (my studio mate) put some on the wheel for the first time today and was so giddy she couldn't hardly sit on the stool to throw. What is funny is that the clay is not even that magnificent. It is the fact that we have been throwing with cream cheese the past 2 months that makes it seem wonderful. I made a few big bowls and large jars just for fun, and it made me feel really good about myself.

While being in rest mode today I have been reading "The Studio Potter" from summer 2008 about tools. It is a great tool in itself and I will definitely be checking more of them out when I get home.

Influenced, but not changed.

2008-11-03T05:52:00.000-08:00

Two jar decoration details. New bird pattern and a carved fish. They do alot of porcelain carving here, but this type is more NC traditional inspired. I messed up a bit in the fin, but I think it will fill in with ash.

Some of the flower patterns adjusted with a bit of chinese influence.

Today I switched clay bodies to a more stoneware like body. I still do not think it is quite like home, but it does pretty well. I can finally take 8 lbs and use it to the full potential. I am sure I could probably do more than that, but I have yet to try with this stuff. I have not taken any pictures of the new clay yet because I want to get handles on them first. I have been practicing some painting with the traditional chinese painter and have came up with some new trailing patterns. I am very excited about this new clay and feel I am really going to be able to improve myself now that I can use this clay the way I am used to using it. Beth gave her slide lecture tonight and it was really great. I was personally inspired to try to express more of myself in my work. Who knows what will happen, but my brain is churnin'.

Rainy Sunday

2008-11-02T04:01:00.000-08:00

Gatekeeper feeding the meat early on the slow rainy Sunday morning.

I washed all of my clothes today. I am washing all of my clothes by hand here which took some getting used to. I dont have a roommate anymore so I took the other bed frame and turned it into a clothes line in my room. There are much more clothes hanging above my jeans.

2008-11-01T01:46:00.000-07:00

Pretty sure this hair once belonged to a dog or puppy that is now located on someone's plate.

Chinese funeral marching out. It was complete with loud cracking fireworks and horns blasting a slow chinese tune (which sounded a bit strange to be realistic).

Here they are crossing the bridge before they get to us. You can see the fireowork smoke.

Mr. Dwight Holland and myself.

2008-11-01T01:38:00.000-07:00

This is the porcelain bowl dragon that is downtown.

Some kind of traditional music lessons going on right off the street. Thought it was pretty cool.

Needless to say chinese people are very good spellers.

The guy smiling is my friend James. He guided Joan and myself around a few places this morning. This is him on the bus asking people for directions. Obviously that was very comforting.

We ate breakfast at the noodle man. This is his wife cutting a huge load of garlic. Maybe if you sniff hard enough you can smell it from the states or wherever you live.

the longest skinniest snake ever!

2008-11-01T01:34:00.000-07:00

This snake was spotted while walking at Mt. Gaolin with Sam and Karen who were with us for NCECA. It was one of the strangest animals I have seen so far. These things were all over the sidewalk and were moving very slowly. You could have easily mistaken them for a small stick.

China crazy slip casted pottery factory!!

2008-11-01T01:26:00.000-07:00

The kiln. All the pots are put on the track and ran throught the kiln slowly. It takes ten hours for a pot to get through. Pretty crazy.

We got a tour of this place the day before yesterday. It was huge, and mostly kids were working in there. If they want to they can live in the factory dorms their entire lives. I am personally thankful to not be living that life.

The Last 2 amazing days!!

2008-10-31T16:24:00.001-07:00

The past 2 days have been field trip days. I have taken 199 pictures during those 2 days so rest assured in that category. Basically I went Back to Tian Bao, Back to Gaolin Mountian, and to a huge factory with the whole group that came with NCECA. The most beneficial thing for me during those trips were making connections with people from all over the US and China. I also went to a lecture last night at the pottery workshop where there were people from all over the world. It was really amazing seeing the whole group in one room. You could sit, watch, and hear a number of different locations from around the world being represented by language and dialect. I heard French, German, English, Chinese, Indian, Australian, and probably something more all coming from the same room. It was a real pleasure to meet some of these world representatives in China as well as just listen to them speak.

I also met a few people from NC here yesterday on the all day trip to Mt. Gaolin. It reminded me once again that I come from one of the most pottery rich states in the USA. I am sure everyone here can tell that I am dang proud of it too!!! It was really nice to be able to talk to some people from the same pottery heritage (and pride) as me. It was also very nice to be able to hear someone with the same dialect (twang as I call it) as I have. I am particularly thinking of Karen in this case. I do have to admit that my favorite person that I talked to all day was Dwight Holland. I was really able to talk to him about the pottery heritage, and people of NC yesterday. It got me so excited to talk about something I am so familiar with. He also told me many things I did not know about some of the potters and potter history that I am extremely interested in. He gave me a list of potters to look at, and talked of his sweet pottery collection back home. I truthfully cannot wait to go back and visit him in Seagrove. When our conversation started he asked me who my favorite potter in Seagrove was. I was quick with my honest answer of Daniel Johnston. I could not have said anything better because he agrees with me wholeheartedly. A large portion of our conversation revolved around Daniel and his career as an artist. I think I relate to him because of our travels, and cultural influences that go from eastern countries back to England and America. I am also one that tries to be completely traditional and natural with the pottery I make just like Johnston. He is certainly one of my pottery heroes. He has a great online exhibition here. To look at the pictures scroll down to the bottom of the page and click the link to the exhibition.

Well folks I am sorry that was brief, but I will put some pics up later in the day because I have to eat breakfast at 8. I will tell more about the last few days within the pictures.

2008-10-29T07:48:00.000-07:00

The master thrower is usually given some shapes to throw before hand, but we do not give him that so he is free to explore whatever shape he likes in the demo. Here are some he came up with after looking at some pots in the studio. I was pretty inspired by this shape. It is also a good feeling to see so many pots wet and sitting everywhere.

Tian bao demonstration works from only 2 days!!

Jackson Li in the flesh. well.... the dark too, but his flesh is still there.

At his presentation. Tao means pottery and Yao means kiln. Just to answer the question in advance: no Yao ming's first name is not kiln. In the chinese language there are 4 general tones and I am sure his name has a different one than the one used for kiln.

Tian Bao potter education.

2008-10-29T07:34:00.000-07:00

This man loves to teach!! I got the message across that I wanted some hands on action and he immediately went and found the nearest bucket to practice with. This is me in the learning process.

Studying hard.

Boss demo action!!

Me with a hand position reference.

Me and the master himself along with some of his demonstration wares.

Here is a funny story from today. Someone asked the demonstrator how he made his pots so round. Keep in mind this is all having to be translated. So we wait for the translator to talk to him. Then the translator looks at us and says "he says he walks in a circle". ha! I thought that was pretty good.
I was particularly inspired by the tian bao pottery today. I worked with the man doing the demo's for a good little bit today and I also saw an amazing video documentary by Jackson Li. I bought the documentary and plan on paying a tian bao a good hearty visit some time in the near future.

2008-10-28T18:59:00.000-07:00

This was pretty darn cool. Traditional Chinese pottery at its finest making a large planter.

2008-10-28T18:50:00.000-07:00

Another Tian Bao potter tool. Pretty much a river stone.

Beth Update.

This was where Peter Beaseker, and Beth did their slide talks. Pretty old beat up building. It worked well for the shows though.

This was the screen which was canvas stretched along some scaffolding.

This was at a coffee shop run by the chinese. Needless t say they really dont do coffee in this part of the world. They are tea centered, but this particular area has a bit more American visitors than most so they have a toilet (not a squat toilet, or hole). I suppose they dont want you to poop in there so they tried to be as brief and sophisticated as possible. To me it was just hilarious.

2008-10-28T18:44:00.000-07:00

The lineup from one of the discussions on ceramic education. This included Linda Arbuckle, and Val Cushing.

Tian Bao potter.

As he worked.

Finishing up a rim.

One of his mallet tools.

2008-10-28T18:39:00.000-07:00

Slide lecture I went to Monday evening. Overall slow with the translator.

This was the student opening which also happened Monday night.

As Beth continued into the night.

Some master thrower demo work.

2008-10-28T18:33:00.000-07:00

Studio in madness mode.

Beth Stickter continued.

Two demos in one shot.

Amazing thrower.

At the opening of one of the shared journeys galleries. American and Chinese art was on display. It was a really nice exhibition.

2008-10-28T08:25:00.000-07:00

Well today was so packed with lectures that it was just nuts. I will admit most was boring, but alot of good came from them. I have loads more pictures to put up, but I will wait until morning because I am so tired I can barely keep my eyes open to type. Keep it real.

2008-10-27T16:46:00.000-07:00

Beth Stickters Demo.

Brush maker demo.

2008-10-27T16:38:00.000-07:00

Throwing demonstrator from far north of where we are. His style was much more similar to mine than the other guy. He is a great turner. One of the best in my opinion.

Carving demo.

Many chinese broadcasting companies were there interviewing people and stuff.

This is beth Stickter's machete which is for a much larger sculpture made in about a 30 hour period for a demo. it was seriously one of the coolest things in the area. So awesome to watch!

Demo pics

2008-10-27T16:31:00.000-07:00

This is the demonstrator from tian bao. He makes traditional MASSIVE coil pots and planters as well as roof tiles fired in a dragon kiln. Right up my alley as some of you may quess.

Yixing teapot demonstrator. The chinese people worshipped the two yixing demos.

I helped the brush maker set up. Here are some tools. I am excited to go home and make some of my own brushes from the tips I picked up. To me it looked alot like tying flies to fish with, and I enjoy doing that very much. Hopefully that will apply.

Pictures of some sweet brushes.

Super Packed day, but only the beginning.

2008-10-27T16:27:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was one of the most packed days ever, and I imagine today will be much the same. I was so inspired by seeing so much yesterday that the ideas were coming out like crazy! I needed to get in the sketchbook for some spillage. I am very happy with what came out and cant wait to get back to work, but I must realize that will be next week so I gotta keep the mind open and cleaned out. Maybe some Q-tips would help. I have so many pictures, and possibly not enough time to download them all since breakfast in here shortly. The internet was not cooperating last night so I decided to wait. Here is the day in pictures.