Day Two

Yesterday started off well, since I managed to wake up at 8 and feel vaguely refreshed, despite the slight neck ache from the bean-pillow. 9:30 rolled around, and I went to the office to meet with Minori, where I found my suitcase had safely arrived. She and I went and met up with the man in charge of the kilns (or something like that. I'm horrible with names.). I was shown book upon book of clay samples, and the raku kiln, and some pieces from a raku workshop which was held here last weekend. I sure wish they could've had that while I was here!

Anyway, I was really not prepared for so many choices in clay, but I decided to stick to my original plan and try to get something fairly traditional. They pointed me towards the white & red raku clays, and we checked the shrinkage, and I should actually be able to use both clays in the same piece since the percentages are so close. Which is good, I had hoped to use the contrasting types of raku here much like I've use the crackle and flash glazes in America to create contrast.

So, *insert name here later* and I went to the clay store, where there were even more test pieces and samples to look at... so I decided to also get some greenish stoneware to play around with. I have some ideas for some larger pieces, and I think it might be nice to try a different kind of firing, if they don't mind. If I remember correctly from our drive around the complex, there's at least 2 anagamas and a huge noborigama that they'll be firing soon, which should be very exciting. Anyway, I picked out my clay and my amounts (in kilos, so I had to do some quick guesswork... I need a converter for just about everything over here!), and discovered they couldn't take a credit card and I didn't have enough cash, and they were also a little short on the red raku clay. So, *insert name here later* suggested I could go to the ATM and then we could come back in the afternoon, pay, and pick up the rest of the red clay. So, we left, and stopped at the post office (virtually the only place where the ATM works if you bank with Chase, by the way). We then went to the glaze store, where he mentioned that his boss (?) was a glaze teacher and knows a lot about raku glaze, so I could probably just mix my own glazes, since that's what I usually do anyway. So we left, and then we drove to the tools store, where I told him I'd brought my own tools... Summary of the long morning - I have clay now, which is all I really needed in the first place :)

We came back, and I was shown my workspace, a low table and cart of shelves and a stool. Definitely sufficient. Thus remained the rest of the day. First off, I retrieved my luggage from the office and unpacked a little, and settled into my room a little more. Then I returned to the studio, sketched a bit, started a couple pieces to try out the white clay, and found myself rather fuzzy in the head. Mostly due to the fact that it was full of questions and insecurities: when will we work out all the details of what glaze I'm going to make/use, when am I going to fire, where is the bisque kiln, how big is it, will these clays really work together or should I have just decided to use both glazes on the red clay, how much testing do I have time for, did Andrew make it home alright, which pieces should be which colors, where is my music, who are these people I'm working with, what cone is 800 degrees Celsius, what am I even going to do with all this when I'm done, and what on earth am I trying to say with this body of work, anyway??

So, I spent some time back in my room looking up things online, talking to Andrew, and sketching out my ideas, reading & napping, then went back to work for a few more hours in the evening once I had some things worked out. Mostly I decided to go ahead and build things, and worry about the next step when it shows up.

There was another new arrival today, from Guadalupe (in the Caribbean), and he'd mentioned having brought something to drink for everyone, so after a brief break to explore the kitchen and make dinner (curry noodles and veggies, much like the yakisoba I make at home... and the kitchen isn't so difficult. Yay gas stove!), I returned to the studio to have a drink and get to know some of the other artists. It was a good time, they are really interesting people. There are artists here from Australia, Indonesia, Cambodia, Japan, France, the Netherlands, Korea... It's amazing, and it's really enjoyable to sit around with all of them and try to have a conversation. Mostly we spoke English. And Japanese, and there was a good bit of French, too. Fascinating. He'd brought rum (and sugar and lemons, thank goodness, because it was real rum, old rum, and very strong... but good), and various people kept showing up with various snacks. We sat around my table, being that it's right in the middle of the studio and still relatively clear. And we all sat around and talked until about midnight... at which point someone had to get to work, and most of the rest of us were ready to get some sleep :)

Anyway, more later. I should probabaly have some breakfast and get to the studio. Now that I've gotten started, I'm really excited about some of the things I'm making.