Category: Ceramics

‘Strawberry milk’ in a pinched rim bowlby Hanako Nakazato
(Note: The spoon is an ordinary rounded-bottom variant and not the exotic flat bottom design)

Did you eat ‘strawberry milk’ when you were growing up? It was huge in the 70s in Japan (along with mini-skirts and permed hair), and I begged my mother to buy us the ‘strawberry spoons’ that were perfectly designed to squish the strawberries in the milk with their flat bottoms.

As a little girl, I always believed that “strawberries sprinkled with sugar and squished in milk” was a fancy western way to eat strawberries. But now that I think of it, I’ve never seen anyone eat strawberries in this way in the U.S. or Europe.

According to my parents’ generation, strawberries that first became available to the general public in Japan in the post war Showa era were extremely sour and so the Japanese concocted ‘strawberry milk’ as a way to enjoy this sour fruit.

Eyeing the massive demand for a utensil that efficiently squashed strawberries in milk, the ‘strawberry spoon’ was created in 1960 by Kobayashi Kogyo Co., a cutlery manufacturer in Niigata prefecture, and their ‘Romance’ line of cutlery received the prestigious Good Design Award in 1974. So this company joins the ranks of Japanese titans like Sony and Toyota as the pioneers of Japanese style.

Click here to look at Kobayashi Kogyo’s cutlery catalog. The said spoon is on page. 35, fifth spoon from the bottom in the photo #11617-000 at 850 yen

This marvelous invention lessoned the likelihood of strawberries slipping or flying out of the bowl across the table, which saved the day for a lot of busy Japanese parents.

And the best part is when all the squished strawberries are eaten, you get to drink the sweet strawberry milk straight from the bowl!

Grand Opening of Entoten Gallery with White Ceramics by Hanako Nakazato

August 5, 2018ENTOTEN Gallery Event Hanako Nakazato Ceramics

On August 11th from 12:00 pm to 5 pm, Entoten Gallery in San Diego will have a grand opening event featuring white ceramics by Hanako Nakazato of Monohanako in Maine.

Hat bowls by Hanako Nakazato

I’m very happy to feature Hanako’s work at the opening of my gallery because when I was refinishing the texture of the gallery’s walls, I had her white ceramics in mind and decided to paint one of the walls blue. I thought that this blue backdrop would be perfect for people to see the exquisite forms of Hanako’s creations.

Shinogi bowl by Hanako Nakazato

I have always been grateful in being able to introduce Hanako’s work through my website because I believe that she is one of the most brilliant potters of our generation. If you have ever used her pots on your dining table, I know that you will agree. And if you haven’t yet, I hope that our gallery opening will be your opportunity to see her outstanding work in person.

I hope to see you all there!

Hanako Nakazato doing a demonstration at her studio in Karatsu for pottery enthusiasts from the US in the spring of 2018

A Deeper Connection: Ceramics by Mitch Iburg

July 25, 2018Ceramics Mitch Iburg

Ceramics by Mitch Iburg will be available in our shop from 9:00 a.m. July 25th 2018 ->

What sets the work of Minnesota potter Mitch Iburg apart from his contemporaries is a depth and intensity of effort that is profound but not immediately visible. While most potters begin their work by wedging their purchased clay in the studio, Mitch’s starting point is to go through local geological publications, survey maps, mining databases, and walking the terrain from where he acquires his materials to create his work.

Ash-glazed vessel by Mitch Iburg. By coil-building vessels, Mitch feels that he can add a sense of history through layers, similar to rock formations that document the conditions at the time they were deposited.

Many people might consider that going to such lengths of effort that Mitch does is pointless and conflicts with the more pressing need to be productive and efficient. But luckily Mitch doesn’t think so.

“I research and collect rocks, minerals and clays throughout Minnesota,” Mitch says. He gathers, tests, and prepares the clay all year around, which is at the heart of his work. Maintaining this commitment limits how much can be produced, but Mitch believes that it is crucial to know the origins and history of these resources to keep a strong connection to the natural environment that they came from.

Left: A clay exposure near the Minnesota River. Right: Collecting felspathic sandstone
Photos courtesy of Mitch Iburg

Crude kaolin from the Minnesota River Valley. Photo courtesy of Mitch Iburg

Test tiles made from blends of collected, unprocessed clay. Photo courtesy of Mitch Iburg

Mitch’s path to learning about clay began when he first saw Japanese anagama fired ceramics. “There was so much about them that I couldn’t quite grasp or understand, but I felt a strong, visceral attraction to them that compelled me to study wood firing and ceramics”, Mitch said.

It took a long time for Mitch to comprehend the appeal, but he recalls that, “one day, while working in the studio it finally hit me. I realized that it was like watching a tree swaying in the wind. The wind itself is invisible, but its power and movement become manifested and made visible by the branches and leaves. The vessels were similar to the tree in that they recorded the presence of larger phenomena – the passing of time, alteration of materials by heat, and the enduring life cycle of the Earth.”

Tea bowl by Mitch Iburg.

Mitch views his ceramic process as a tool for translating the sweeping and often unfathomable phenomena that have shaped our world into something tangible. Personally, I feel that the focused intension and stubbornness of Mitch in his approach allows him to create unparalleled work that speaks to us emotionally.

It also reminds me of the philosophy of tea that Okakura Kakuzo describes in his “The Book of Tea“, which is a “moral geometry, inasmuch as it defines our sense of proportion to the universe.” I feel that Mitch’s lifework is a similar effort to grasp that sense of scale.

Tokkuri by Mitch Iburg

Sincere, precious, yet humble, the attraction of Mitch’s work is similar to how I feel about the ancient unglazed pottery made in Japan called Sue ware from the 5^th and 6^th centuries. They were the first non-porous types of ceramics made in Japan, using the technique learned from the more advanced Koreans, who in turn learned it from the Chinese. Perhaps it is because in both Mitch’s work and Sue ware, I feel the earnest joy to create something hard and useful out of something that is soft and brittle found in nature.

In the past six years that I have known Mitch’s work, I have often wondered how long he would be able to continue to make pots in the way that he does. So, it is delightful to see that he has expanded his body of work such as the wheel-thrown tableware that intrinsically preserves a sense of connection to nature while allowing him to use a broader range of materials. He also recently was a recipient of the Jerome Ceramic Artist Project Grant from the Northern Clay Center to re-examine the role of natural materials in the field of ceramic art.

Wheel-thrown tea cups by Mitch Iburg. Creating food-safe vessels require the use of commercial silica and feldspar, but Mitch still researches the parent rock and only introduces materials that are closest to the region.

Mitch says that his development was helped by many of his fellow potters in the wood-fire community, which has forged a special symbiotic relationship between established and emerging artists. He points to artists like John Jessiman in Virginia, Nick Schwartz in California, and Samuel Johnson in Minnesota that have played crucial roles in helping his evolution.

I would like to think that Mitch’s approach is proof that nothing has fundamentally changed since the time of the Sue potters. That efforts that are seemingly invisible make all the difference over time, and from the seeds sown by a community that is willing to work together will emerge trees that will grow and sway in the wind for many generations to come.

Northern Minnesota landscape
Photo courtesy of Mitch Iburg

Feel, Improvise, and Be Free: Wood-fired Ceramics by Shumpei Yamaki

April 10, 2018Ceramics Shumpei Yamaki

Work by Shumpei Yamaki in our shop ->

Iowa potter Shumpei Yamaki takes a very long time to load his single-chamber anagama kiln. “People used to mock me in school because I was so slow”, he chuckles. “But to me, kiln loading is like completing a beautiful 300-piece, three-dimensional jigsaw puzzle that has infinite picture variations”, Shumpei says in explaining why he takes about six times longer than other potters for the loading process.

“I love kiln-loading” Shumpei says passionately. “In ceramics school, we are taught that 80 per cent of the end result depends on how the kiln is loaded, but I’m surprised how little time people spend to load the kiln.”

A beautifully loaded ’Kumahei’ kiln of Iowa potter Shumpei Yamaki before the firing. Each piece is placed with the greatest care and attention. The wood is added from the front part of the kiln and the pieces closest to the front receive the most effect from the fire and ash. (Photo Courtesy of Shumpei Yamaki)

Unlike many potters that load similar sized items in groups inside the kiln, Shumpei arranges vessels of various sizes and shapes all mixed together. It takes much longer to load pieces this way, but to Shumpei the utmost advantage of firing unglazed wares in a wood-firing kiln is the freedom in the way the pieces can be arranged inside it.

The kiln is fired for 4 to 5 days. (Photo courtesy of Shumpei Yamaki)

The kiln after the firing. Towards the end of the firing, Shumpei drops the pieces closest to the stoking hole onto the hot embers. While there is a risk of the pieces breaking, Shumpei thinks that the most exciting effects can be achieved from this process. (Photo Courtesy of Shumpei Yamaki)

To place each piece, Shumpei considers how the fire will flow between the pieces and how the ashes may fall onto their surfaces: by stacking, putting the pieces on their sides, and placing them diagonally or upside-down. Shumpei takes his time because he simply does not want to ‘waste’ the space by lining up similar pieces.

Wood-fired Jar by Shumpei Yamaki. This jar is an example of a piece dropped onto the embers in the firebox.

All of this attention to kiln loading and pottery making in general was implausible to Shumpei back in the late 1990s when he arrived in the U.S. to learn street and house dance. He then went on to study archaeology at the University of Wisconsin, but was still unsure if this topic was what he wanted to pursue as a career.

Behind Shumpei’s move to the U.S., there were complex tales of brilliantly talented family members and self-imposed expectations in life as the eldest son, together with perhaps a desire to run away from it all.

Shumpei never dreamed that he would become a potter (Photo Courtesy of Shumpei Yamaki)

Then in 1999, Shumpei almost lost his life and his right arm in a car accident, which completely changed his life. “I woke up thinking, wow I had a great sleep” he said. “Then when I opened my eyes I was surrounded by people and that’s when I realized I was in an accident.”

Traumatic as this accident may have been, Shumpei speaks openly about it because he realizes that if it was not for this event, the club-dancing, fashion-conscious young man would have never learned pottery that was recommended as physical therapy for his damaged arm. Shumpei’s natural gift was quickly recognized by Karen Terpstra, Professor of Art at the University of Wisconsin who recommended Shumpei to continue with his ceramics studies. He went on to apprentice under Richard Bresnahan of St. John’s Pottery at the College of St. Benedict and St. John’s University, and eventually received a MFA from the University of Iowa.

Simple and modern wood-fired bowl by Shumpei Yamaki

The hallmark of Shumpei’s works are their refreshingly modern and sharp lines, a welcome diversion from wood-fired works that often have a rustic and clunky image. Shumpei’s care to pull out the maximum effects of fire in the kiln are evident in every one of his pieces.

Wood-fired bottle by Shumpei Yamaki

“I started with the presumption that true vessels are made unintentionally” Shumpei says, “so I wanted to learn the skill to be able to throw speedily, eventually without thought. But then I discovered that this style did not work for me. When I make pots, I want to put feelings into each piece and I always aim to create each vessel with sincerity.”

Shumpei takes time to make each piece of pottery with heart-felt sincerity.

Until Shumpei started making ceramics, he assumed that he would end up living in the city, similar to where he grew up in Japan. After all, nature and earth were the furthest away from his interests. But now rural Iowa is his home, where all he can see around him is the horizon and his kiln.

Shumpei Yamaki’s kiln in West Branch, Iowa (Photo Courtesy of Shumpei Yamaki)

Shumpei contemplates the path that he has traveled. “I was sent to nature camps when I was growing up and I couldn’t adapt so I thought it wasn’t for me. But now that I live here [in the countryside], I’m surprised how much I enjoy it”. He is making elegant pots and also continuing to dance, and he’s so good at both because of his extraordinary ability to feel, improvise, and be free.

It is not just a bowl, it is a spouted bowl

December 3, 2017Ceramics Kazu Oba

Do you use spouted bowls on your dining table? If not, I highly recommend that you do. Don’t be misled by the spout though as these bowls are not just for pouring liquid, but are also great for serving a meal, soup, or even displaying flowers.

An unglazed spouted bowl, or katakuchi, by Kazu Oba

The best way to think of them is that they are a bowl with a “mouth” that has personality and charm. In Japanese, these vessels are called Katakuchi, and there is so much interest and obsession with them that there are stores that specialize in only selling spouted bowls.

Kazu Oba’s white katakuchi with a touch of blue from the salt introduced to the kiln at the last stage of firing.

A double spouted bowl by Kazu Oba

As my regular customers might already know, katakuchi are my favorite types of vessels and I can’t seem to get enough of them. Luckily, I just received a whole bunch of them from Kazu Oba in Colorado, together with other beautiful pots by him. Please enjoy browsing these gorgeous mouthed vessels in my shop today!

New work by Kazu Oba, and the Story of Myoga, the Japanese Ginger

October 12, 2017Ceramics Kazu Oba Food and Craft

Ceramics by Kazu Oba in our shop ->

Looking back, I realize there were so many things that I disliked eating when I was a child. One of my arch enemies was myoga, the flower buds of Japanese ginger that appeared regularly at the dinner table in the summer and did not go away until October.

Myoga, Japanese ginger

Just like green onions, myoga was served as a garnish in miso soup, cold tofu, and other delicious things that, to a child’s tongue, tasted far better without this cursed topping. These terrible condiments are called yakumi, which means medicinal garnish, and my dream was to move to a world where they served food without them.

The other problem with myoga was that it was also the motif of my family’s crest. When I discovered this fact, I was so disappointed that I wasn’t born into a family with beautiful flower crests like Wisteria or Paulownia. I mean, why a lowly vegetable?

Family crest on my kimono, daki-myoga. The Japanese ginger motif.

Years have passed and now a cold tofu without yakumi would be a let-down at the dinner table. And I even rather like the fact that a hardy shade-loving Zingiber is the motif of my family’s crest.

Cold tofu served with myoga and green onions in a bowl by Kazu Oba

Kindling Emotions: Functional Ceramics by Samuel Johnson

September 27, 2017Ceramics Samuel Johnson

Ceramics by Samuel Johnson in our shop ->

Ceramics fired with wood and adorned with their natural ash are one of the most fascinating types of pottery to bring into our daily lives. This is because the color and texture varies throughout each vessel, and new things can be discovered as the user explores the surface while handling the vessel.

A wood-fired spouted bowl by Samuel Johnson. The user will notice the various colors and textures revealed in different lighting conditions.

When Samuel Johnson was inspired to become a potter as a junior at the University of Minnesota over twenty years ago, he says that he fell in love with the concept of “expressing complex ideas and feelings through a limited structure, and was overwhelmed by the creative potential others had found within it”.

The dark clay body of Samuel Johnson’s work brings out the beautiful natural colors of fruit, like these peaches.

Samuel’s work is robust and with a strong feeling of tradition. His creations are simple and powerful, undisturbed by modern motivation. He says his skill and sensibilities were most influenced by his teacher and mentor Richard Bresnahan, whom he apprenticed under for over three years right after graduating from college.

Bresnahan has been the Artist-in-Residence at The Saint John’s Pottery for over 35 years and is renowned for his unique aesthetic and tradition of deriving materials for making pottery from indigenous materials. “I learned my fundamental skills in his studio and developed my sensibilities for both the how and why of it”, Samuel recalls about his time as an apprentice.

Left: Potter Samuel Johnson’s kick wheel and freshly thrown pots. Right: Samuel adding charcoal to the last stage of wood-firing

Samuel is also deeply influenced by the work of Nakazato Takashi, a 13^th generation potter in Karatsu, Japan who was the teacher of Bresnahan. Nakazato is one of Japan’s most revered contemporary potters who has helped bridge countless interactions and exchanges between potters of Japan and the U.S. His achievements also include the revival of the powerful Yokino ware, an indigenous and beautiful wood-fired, simple unglazed type of pottery from Tanegashima Island.

A paddled jar by Samuel Johnson. The stunning form is a reference to the Karatsu tradition of pottery where Samuel’s teacher Richard Bresnahan studied as an apprentice. It is important to Samuel that his work represents a lineage and connection to a tradition.

“Having studied within a specific lineage of makers, I feel responsible to them and their aesthetic tradition. Yet, theirs is a tradition of diversity”, says Samuel to explain how his teachers have influenced his work. He also sometimes deliberately makes forms that reference their work, as a mark for the insightful to notice.

Samuel today is an Associate Professor of Art at the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University. As a full-time professor and father of four young children, his pottery work is undertaken mostly at night after the children have gone to sleep. Work must be stocked up over several months to fill a wood kiln that he built on the university campus. The firing of the kiln is an event involving students and members of the local community that happens two or three times a year. In addition, Samuel fires his gas kiln several times a year in-between the wood kiln firings.

The wood-firing kiln that Samuel Johnson built on campus is fired 2-3 times a year. “The Sister Dennis Frandrup Kiln” was named after a nun who led the ceramic program for many years at the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University

“I like pots that feel enigmatic, mysterious, and resolute”, Samuel says. He also considers the functionality of pottery as essential, because it is a unique form of engagement that is largely absent in other art forms.

So I invite you to take a closer look at Samuel’s work and experience the emotions that they can evoke. By pouring tea in his cup, serving salad in his bowl, or putting a flower in his vase, you may experience the feeling of encountering an old tree, the tenaciousness of a rock, or the seasons and passage of time. It is like visiting a wonderful garden, right inside your hands.

Mastering Simplicity: Ceramics by Bill Geisinger

July 5, 2017Bill Geisinger Ceramics

Wood-fired ceramics by Bill Geisinger in our shop ->

Ceramic works by Bill Geisinger are a poignant reminder of our love for simplicity, natural materials, and the personal connections that are all too often overlooked in this instant technology-driven world.

A simple vase made by Bill Geisinger with beautiful natural ash landscapes

Bill’s works are made using local clay that he dug up himself and fired using eucalyptus wood in his beautiful off-the-beaten track studio and kiln in Sabastopol, California. The fallen ash on the earthy surface of the clay creates exquisite natural landscapes that are surprising and mysteriously captivating.

Over 40 years ago when Bill was an aspiring painter and art student, he visited San Jose State University’s ceramics studio and became enthralled by the tactility of clay and its unique ability to connect with our lives. He went on to study under Professor James Lovera and Harry Nakamoto, who was his teaching assistant at that time. One day in class, Harry showed a film called “The Potters of Japan” by Richard and Marj Peeler. The sound and images reminded Bill of his days growing up in Japan in the early 1960s. “Maybe this was the beginning when I became a potter” Bill muses.

Potter Bill Geisinger’s rustic kiln and studio in Sabastopol California

So began Bill’s life-long love affair with clay that continues to the present day. Bill was hired to establish the clay department at De Anza College, which also played a big role in shaping his growth as an artist as he points out that “there was continual interaction to learn and grow from the many visiting artists and the students themselves.”

As an addition to his learning, Bill also regularly takes groups of people who are deeply interested in Japanese ceramics over to Japan to visit with local potters. In the past few years, I have traveled with the group as its interpreter and on each trip, we visit over 15 potters in various regions.

Bill discussing firing techniques with Japanese potter Kohara Yasuhiro in Shigaraki, Japan

Bill must have visited over a hundred Japanese potters by now, and I am amazed at how his love of the material and process continues to keep him curious and intensely interested in what others do. He says that he is most fascinated by how they work, generate ideas, and motivate themselves.

Bill aims to create work that is quiet, simple, useful, and that has a meaningful connection to nature. To me, it is notable that a potter like Bill who has seen so many alternative processes and techniques tested by others wants to create ‘simple’ work using traditional methods.

Bill introducing charcoal to his kiln at the last stage of firing. Charcoal increases the temperature and deprives oxygen, causing the clay surfaces to reduce. Bill says it is his way to add “touch” to his work, because reduction changes the texture and color

In a world where 3D printers can create complex and fascinating ceramic forms from your imagination, and kilns can be controlled to exacting temperatures with a computer, what is the significance of digging up clay and chopping wood to fire for 4 days in a self-built kiln? Simplicity is a concept that is seemingly easy to understand but remarkably difficult to practice these days.

Two small vases by Bill Geisinger that accidentally fused together during firing

Perhaps the significance lies in the fact that any vessel can hold water, but a quiet vessel made using natural materials and with attention to the process provides us with space and allows us to dream. Like the time when I looked at Bill’s vase and imagined how the ashes flew around in the hot kiln. Or another time when I felt inspired to put a flower bud in the vase and self-reflect, or invited friends and prepared some tea. Because even in this age where the Internet is always within reach, our most important connection to beauty is personal and emotional.

Kazu Oba’s Life on the Artistic Rim

February 24, 2017Ceramics Kazu Oba

Ceramics by Kazu Oba in our shop ->

Maybe it is because he lives life on the edge, but Kazu Oba has a thing about rims. This potter-cum-sculptor-cum-dancer-cum-cook-cum-guerilla pot thrower confesses that the most difficult aspect of creating pots is the making of their rims. Indeed, the exquisite and alluring rims are the hallmarks of this potter’s vessels.

A spouted bowl by Kazu Oba has an exquisite rim and mouth.

Kazu’s life on the razor’s edge began when he was just 17 years old when the lifelong Kobe resident was inspired to travel on his own and live in the U.S. after watching the American movie “Grease”.

An aspiring artist, Kazu studied at the University of Colorado at Boulder and had the opportunity to apprentice under Jerry Wingren, a sculptor in wood and stone who is based in Boulder.

Another key influence for Kazu has been his nearly 15 years working as a restaurant cook to support his livelihood as a student and apprentice. Kazu started paying attention to the vessels on which the food was served while working, and that was why he decided to became a potter.

Ceramic artist Kazu Oba working at his studio in Colorado (Photo courtesy of Kazu Oba)

After completing his apprenticeship with Jerry, Kazu traveled back to Japan to study under Nakazato Takashi, the master potter from Karatsu, Japan, whom he had met at the Anderson Ranch Arts Center in Colorado. Kazu returned to Colorado in 2004 and eventually started his own studio creating ceramics and sculptures.

To ensure that he retains his creative edginess, Kazu occasionally takes his craft to the street as a ‘guerrilla pot thrower’ and makes pots on a portable kick wheel. The primary purpose of Kazu’s street pot theater is to advertise for his solo shows, which has taken place in numerous cities. “I want to show people how I make pots and, also get out of my comfort zone to test myself,” Kazu says.

Kazu Oba ‘guerrilla pot throwing’ on Kyoto’s popular Hanamikoji street. (Photo courtesy of Kazu Oba)

While Kazu is a bold adventurer, his artistic creations appear quiet and modest at first glance. But as soon as they are used, you will quickly recognize that they are carefully crafted to enhance the food that is placed in them. His pots are modern and clean, with beguiling rims. “I think all the world of lips”, Kazu explains.

Kazu uses a variety of clay and glazes so that the table has a mixture of colors and textures.

As a cook, Kazu makes wares that he wants to use on his dining table, and so he ponders most about his work when he eats. For example, he uses a variety of clay and glazes so that the table has a mixture of colors and textures instead of looking all dark or light. Whether it is the sharp attention to the textures of colors that becomes background to food, or perfectly executed rims that frame it, this unique perspective of an experienced cook makes Kazu’s work truly exceptional.

Small salads served on funagata side dishes by Kazu Oba

When I look at Kazu’s work, I cannot stop thinking about the things I will eat out of them. It maybe vivid green blanched vegetables on dark clay, or some bright coulis for that meat on porcelain. I am sure that the cook inside you will be intrigued too.

Balancing Design with Usability: Blue-and-White Pottery by Watanabe Ai

January 26, 2016Ceramics Watanabe Ai

People often ask us how Studio KotoKoto decide on which potters to work with, and the first thing that springs to mind is that we work with makers who create vessels that inspire use. It also doesn’t hurt if they share the same attractive names as us.

So when I saw Watanabe Ai’s blue-and-white pottery, I immediately imagined all kinds of appetizers and snacks served on her lovely plates on top of my dining table. Simple everyday objects like onions, gourds, and flowers inspire Watanabe-san, who was educated as a designer at University of Tsukuba’s School of Art and Design.

Blue-and-White cups by Japanese potter Watanabe Ai. She gets inspiration from simple everyday objects.

She is quick to emphasize, though, that the most important element in making is to balance design with usability. “Pursuing the look makes pots too expensive or uncomfortable for use”, she believes, and “an effusive work is remarkably difficult to be accommodated into people’s lives.” Her creations are true to this philosophy, and bold as the patterns may seem, they enhance and do not get in the way of the food they carry.

Balancing design with usability is of utmost importance to Watanabe Ai. The bold design does not get in the way of food but becomes an enhancing background.

“The brilliance of colors that I saw when I traveled in Asia, Turkey and England as a student really stuck with me, and I feel that it is coming out in my work,” Watanabe-san says. Certainly, the use of a single vivid shade of blue gives her work a distinct modern look, since the vast majority of Japanese blue-and-white pottery makers employ different shades of blue that gives them a more traditional look.

Watanabe Ai painting onions on a cup. The use of a single vivid shade of blue gives her work a distinct modern look.

After graduating from university, Watanabe-san initially worked for a toy trading company where she honed her skills in design through creating catalogs and 2D advertising. “I worked to sell things but I aspired to create things with my own hands,” she reflected.

While visiting craft shows, she was motivated to become a potter because pottery-making seemed to allow for so much freedom in colors and shapes. So she left her stable job and went to study pottery at Seto Pottery Senior High School in Aichi prefecture.

Watanabe Ai of Kikakikaku showing her work at a 2015 craft show in Japan. She was inspired to become a potter while visiting craft shows.

When I met Watanabe-san in the spring of 2015, it had only been a year since she established a pottery business called Kikakikaku with her husband Murayama Takumi, who provides sales and production support. I remember being amazed that she was showing her work at a juried craft show alongside experienced and well-known makers.

Just last month, Kikakikaku moved into an old house that used to be a hair salon and is currently in the process of being converted into a studio. Their plan is to have a mini-gallery adjacent to the studio, just like many potters do in Japan. “That’s our dream, and for us to make a living by making pottery”, Watanabe-san says.

The new pottery studio and kiln of Kikakikaku in Odawara city in Kanagawa prefecture. In the photo, Murayama-san is converting what used to be an old hair salon into the pottery studio.

She is eager to gain more experience and develop more techniques to create wares as close to what she has visualized while she is making them. “Pots warp and shrink, and the colors of the stain and texture of the glaze turn out differently depending on the temperature and density of the kiln”, Watanabe-san explains.

Photos of pots before and after firing in a kiln. Watanabe-san is eager to build up her experiences and techniques so that her completed pots have the desired colors and consistency of glaze.

Watanabe-san’s enthusiasm and sensibility for design are purely reflected in the work that she makes. She chuckles that recently she has been drawing lots and lots of onions, but “I have so many motifs swirling in my head that I want to put onto my vessels.”

We are excited to introduce these creative works of Watanabe Ai to the U.S. and cannot wait to see innovative new works coming out of this young and talented potter’s kiln in the future.