What a Year, 2020
I had my tickets to Tokyo. I had my rental car reservation and I made arrangements to pick my WiFi device at my hotel at Narita when the first news arrived about a new virus that apparently was rather unpredictable in its pattern of spread and its physiological effects on people. More importantly, in early 2020, Japan was in the middle of the outbreak with a cruise ship docked in Yokohama with lots of infected and sick passengers. I was nervous about the possibility that this virus would rapidly spread out of control. It was early February and although my flight was scheduled for the end of the month, I was getting uneasy as the daily news indicated that the virus quickly spread to Europe and the to the Us. I was very concerned that this unknown virus would disrupt my plans to go tot Japan. Needless to say, I needed to decide whether to risk traveling to Kasama or cancel my trip. Inparticular, I wondered whether it would be safe to be in a plane for so long and perhaps more importantly would I be able to come back to the US weeks later. In the end, I decided I should not go and reluctantly I canceled my travel plans. That was a sad moment. I looked so much forward to go back, visit my friends, stay in my small house, make pots and get my anagama ready to fire. My friends were waiting for my return. It was not meant to be. Nine months later the pandemic is still raging out of control, especially in the US. I think I would probably be much safer now in the countryside in Kasama than here in the big city of Los Angeles. Japan is still closed for tourists and I am not so sure when I even can return to Kasama. I have my hopes up that the vaccines will be available sometimes in early 2021. I would like to think that I can safely travel sometimes next year.
My office was moved to my home and so I had more time to do things around my house. I spend as much time as I could in my studio and pushed myself practicing throwing. I developed new glazes and with improved skills I also was able to create new shapes. I worked extensively on making functional pieces, but I also wanted to make larger pieces. I studied videos on the web by professionals, mainly Korean and Japanese potters in order to learn the technique of combining two large thrown pieces. I am intreagued by the simplicity of of Korean moon jars, essentially looking like the moon, its color and shape. The technique to combine two or more pieces requires extra skills, precision and patience. Practicing all sapects of wheel work is really important in order to feel more comfortable with clay. I pushed myself to explore different shapes and I finally got to a point where I could sketch out a piece and then make it on the wheel. Sounds simple, but it’s not!
One day, I thought I should try to mix clays in order to create a blend to make functional small and mid size pieces. I usually work with white stoneware (B-Mix) which is smooth but has the tendency to develop cracks on the bottom. I started to mix it with Long Beach clay at different ratios. The resulting clay mix was much easier to throw thin pieces. I like the mixture especially for making chawans, small teacups, mid size bowls and other functional ware. The new caly mixture works also very well with most of my glazes.
While I feel that the current pandemic is very challenging and that social isolation has affected my life, I also recognize that there is a silver lining in this current time. I was able to significantly improve my technical skills and with that I became a more exploring ceramist. With the expanded skills I became more creative. I am now less worried about failures and I am more confident in my abilities to execute my designs. I also realized that I really have some favorite forms that please me and which I enjoy throwing. The pandemic enabled me to grow and I am greatful for that.