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.

Day One

I have to be honest - I really don't know what I expected here. I'm not sure I gave much thought to it, and in retrospect, it's probably quite good that I had so many other things to focus on these last few months (namely, puppy, moving, wedding, honeymoon, and related et ceteras), else I likely would've had myself chock full of expectations by the time I arrived today. As it was, I only had about two hours of trains & wobbly bus... which, thankfully, is not much time to get too far with expectations. After the bus, I walked up an unnecessary hill and discovered (again) that being able to read materials in both languages is a skill I ought to utilize more. For future reference, the office is on the LEFT. I finally found myself following a very skinny, very friendly Japanese woman around while desperately trying to remember which door, hallway, staircase and/or road leads to which important feature of the next month of my life.

I also discovered just how difficult it can be to think of which groceries to shop for while being given a tour of the grocery store. Especially when the tour guide likely expects you to be a typical westerner and prioritize the bread, cheese, milk, butter, eggs, pasta, salad dressing, etc. I think once I asked where to find the genmaicha (tasty Japanese tea), she started to get the idea. But she still made sure to ask before we left if I was sure I didn't want any sweets or snacks. She was so helpful... and I was so amused, since I'm actually no stranger to Japanese grocery stores.

After the whirlwind tour (which, I might add, included being paraded through the awesome-looking studio full of other foreign artists... they all said "nice to meet you" and I'm curious now to discover the extent of their knowledge of English... or Japanese for that matter!), I found myself with most of the evening remaining and nothing much to do, so I've settled into my room to the extent that I can. It's actually quite nice. I have my own bathroom, a desk and a table and a chair, a toaster oven, a water warmer (an appliance somewhat unique to Japan, I think), a couple of lamps, a phone, a small refridgerator, even a nice corner window, though there's not too much of a view. Oh, and a bed, of course, with a tiny, bean-filled Japanese pillow - thank goodness my pillow will be arriving with my luggage. I had that shipped from the hotel since it is a bit large and rather awkward to haul onto/off of a bus. So, I should be feeling quite comfortable here very soon. It feels a bit like being back in college, and getting one of the "cool" dorm rooms...

I'm feeling rather prolific tonight. You may have noticed, what with the new blog and all. I'd rather use clay than words, but I don't pick out my clay until 9:30 tomorrow morning. That's right... I have an appointment to meet with the staff, and they are going to show me the wide selection of clays I have to choose from. Test fired pieces and all, which is actually great because I won't have to do as much testing of my own.

Am I dreaming?

A Brief Introduction and Background

"A journey of a thousand leagues begins with a single step." ~Lao Tsu

And so must a blog of a thousand posts begin with a single paragraph. Unfortunately, brief, generalizing descriptions have never been my forte, but I do feel that this blog deserves a bit of background material. So, please forgive me as I stumble through this. More graceful words are soon to come in future posts.

I'm Meredith, and this (see above, soon) is Shigaraki Ceramic Cultural Park, a.k.a. Togei no Mori. For more information see (respectively) http://www.meredithmcgriff.com/ and http://sccp.main.jp/. During a previous visit to Japan in the summer of 2005, my kind host family brought me to Shigaraki, since they knew I was studying ceramics. At the time, I had no idea there was a residency program here, but I was certainly impressed and fascinated by the artwork and facilities. I later stumbled across information about the residency program while searching for post-college opportunities, and hoped to one day have an opportunity to participate. Earlier this year, I was excited to hear that NCECA (National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts - http://www.nceca.net/) was sponsoring a one month residency here at Shigaraki, and hurriedly applied.

Thus I am here now as a resident artist for the month of September, 2008. My intentions are to continue my work with sculptural vessels similar to those I have been creating, but with slightly more Japanese flavor, since I am, after all, in Japan, and will likely be gaining a bit more knowledge about Japanese raku processes and traditions. And, since the discovery of the high-speed internet connection in my dormitory room here, I've decided it might be enjoyable and possibly beneficial to share my experiences and discoveries with the world... or at least the world wide web.

So begins the journey...