ART LIVES TORIDE Where Art Is Born

I was originally an English teacher for almost 30 years. I continued oil painting and ceramics while working as a teacher in order to live to eat. When I started painting in earnest, I admired a painter named Modigliani. That’s how I knew I wanted to go into the art world.
The potter I admire is Rosanjin. He would have his craftsmen spin the potter’s wheel and then distort it. It was made badly but that’s what makes it so fascinating. I think it’s wonderful to make something perfect, but I’m not really impressed. I do things the way I like..

I don’t belong to any school of pottery, so I make what I want to make according to my mood at the time. Personally, I like ammonites as a theme. I was shocked when I saw an ammonite itself at the National Museum, and I have been using it as a motif ever since. I have been making them since I started making ceramics about 40 years ago, and they are interesting from a figurative point of view. I also make Buddhist statues, and recently, sculpting driftwood has been a boom for me.
In my case, I can’t pursue one thing thoroughly. I get bored. That’s why I don’t make myself master it. . In my case, I don’t have a teacher, so I buy books on ceramics and study them on my own. That’s why the way I teach in the classroom is unique.

There’s this thing I invented called ginkgo ash. It’s not in the book. It is my original. A branch of a ginkgo tree broke in a typhoon and destroyed the roof. So I cut it down and burned it. I thought I could use the ashes. Usually you dissolve the ashes in water, sift it, and do something called “removing the lye” several times. In my case, I poured the ashes with the lye.
What happened was that the oil bounced off the glaze and scattered the green glaze, where it would normally be applied evenly. This was quite popular. Recently, my legs and back have become too weak to make them, so I send the wood to the local area to be turned into ashes.

The interesting thing about ceramics is that it can be used to make everything from everyday objects like bowls to imaginary objects. From daily life to religion to the universe, the world of ceramics is infinite. I enjoy doing free ceramics. The best compliment is to be told that my work is interesting, rather than that I am good at it. Even if it’s something really great, it has to be interesting. It should be unexpected, and it should be something that is also possible.

I get a lot of inspiration from the people who come to class. One of the students who joined the class a while ago came in with a bag of Chinese cabbage. He said he wanted to make a work with it. Isn’t that interesting? He cut it in half, and I made it with him. Thanks to him, I can make something new, which is fun.

Some people keep showing their work in exhibitions in the classroom, while others come who don’t care about pottery.There were four old ladies who would get together and talk a lot, praising each other’s creations. It’s nice to have that kind of interaction through making things.

Every year, we invite our friends here and have an exhibition of their works. Sometimes we invite people to see our work, but the main purpose is to have a party in the courtyard.
We baked pizzas and ate them together. My son is a musician and one of my students can sing. I write poems and he sings them.It’s the same with ceramics, it’s never perfect. Because we do so many different things, it is always unfinished. It’s more fun that way. Creation is an ongoing process.