Going with a Giant to meet a Giant.

Phil took me to the Ken Matsuzaki opening at the Goldmark Gallery. Phil is so generious with his time and his knowledge, as we were looking at the work he would come up to me and talk to me about the pots and how I should pay a lot of attention to them because every time we go to opening we are provided with another perspective. Phil's been talking to me about finding my own way, I shouldn't copy anything that I see. Only take aspects and small details that could be incorporated into my own work.

Everyone has a voice and when I find mine, I'll know it. 

Every single pot had a presence and an elegance about it. It was like looking at something that just seemed to work on all levels, every detail from the foot to the rim, what was in the clay and on the glaze was carefully considered. 

I was very fortunate to meet Ken, he was very nice and open about explaining his work. 

The part I love most about Potters, is that there never not willing to share their knowledge.

Getting those pesky corners right.

Once the wood was stacked for the firing which is coming up in a couple of months I began press moulding. At first I thought it would be easy but once I began, I quickly realized that that would not be the case. 

I use a wire tied between two sticks which I pull through a large lump of squared off clay which I have sized for each mould. The slabs are ribbed and then pressed into the moulds and then the 3 pieces are assembled. Every detail has to be perfect. I'm learning a lot about details, nothing can be over looked. Later the edges will be cleaned and then Phil finish them. 

I am very humbled by this experience. I thought I new about what it means to be a potter. And once again in my life, the more I see, the less I know.

Holy shit I survived the planes, Trains, and Automobiles...

I've begun probably one of the most important summers that I've ever experienced. Phil Rogers, the noted potter and his wife Hajeong Lee another noted Ceramicist have taken me into there home. 

I'll be spending my time learning the day to day workings of running a profit making workshop, while I help Phil maintain his workshop. 

I thought I should post this picture to begin the blog, the dam in the back ground was built more than one hundred years ago by Welsh stone masons. This is important to me because my family were Stonemasons from Wales, but it also represents craftsmanship, and how doing something right will last longer than doing something quickly.

Remembering what came before us is imperative to understanding the present. 

The more I see, the more I begin to realize, that nothing is impossible if you put your mind to it.