Ric Swenson on mon 31 dec 07
Starting this in China and will finish in Atlanta..... The Porcelain City=
is a-glow with Holiday decorations. It is the season of Santas and Xmas t=
rees and new year's decorations. It may seem strange, but the Chinese like=
the idea of Christmas and Santa and gifts. There are Christian folks and =
those who just like the pagentry and colors. The big street sweeper/washer =
plays "Jingle Bells" to warn pedestrians and bikers of the impending street=
washer approaching. The Spring Festival of 15 days that celebrates the Lun=
ar (Chinese) New Year approaches, but is in February this year. That is th=
e time when the obligation is to go back to your hometown and visit family =
and friends. The house is cleaned, dumplings are prepared by group effort =
of the family, meals are even bigger than normal, and people discuss the pa=
st year's trials and triumphs and there is talk of the plans for the year t=
o come. House cleaning is manditory at this time of year. A Fresh Start. =
Children receive red envelopes or red boxes with gives of cash or valuable=
s. 'Family' is celebrated. 'Tomb sweeping' honors the ancestors. Interestin=
g cultural customs and family traditions abound. I bought some ceramic piec=
es and gifts to bring to my family here in the States. I found several shar=
ds of Song Dynasty tea bowls which I collected and had authenticated by the=
Archeologist at the Institute in JingDeZhen. I found an 800 year old typi=
cal black and brown shard at WuYiShan at the ancient kiln site, a 1000 year=
old Song Dynasty clear glazed beautifully carved shard I found near the ca=
mpus at a construction site and several blue and white 17th century shards =
that I found near a temple in JingDeZhen. These are the real deal and show =
small glimpses into the past. On Dec 22, I flew from JDZ to ShangHai, staye=
d at the Hong Gang Hotel near the domestic airport and then bussed the next=
day to PuDong Intl. airport for the flight to Chicago and then on to Atlan=
ta. The flights were all delayed for one reason or the other, but 15 hours=
flying time brought me back to what I now call home in Atlanta. Thank good=
ness it is now raining here...the drought is quite severe in Georgia. I am=
more and more thinking of China as home, as I spend only a few weeks per y=
ear now in the USA. I will fly to Anchorage and then on to Seldovia to vis=
it my little sister and her family. In Anchorage I will see former UAA teac=
hing colleagues and old high school chums for a few weeks. The next term st=
arts Feb 25th in JingDeZhen. I will visit San Francisco on the return trip.=
.. for a few days. More friends and relations there...and Half Moon Bay, S=
anta Clara and Napa too.... I was quite pleased with my latest firing in Ji=
ngDeZhen. Unloaded Dec. 20th. ....Some tall covered jars. I experimented w=
ith some familiar textures on the less familiar Porcelain clay. I tried so=
me under-glaze colors which were then covered with the pale green celadon a=
nd fired to cone 13 in the gas kiln near the campus. My fellow teacher, Za=
ch Davidson, (U. of OK), is working on an interesting series of slab carved=
faces with which he intends to build a wall sculpture. We have our studio=
set up to do my wheel stuff and have plenty of tables for Zach's slab work=
. The space we have at the Institute is about 4 by 10 meters but the lack =
of heat limits the amount of time we spend there on cool days. Zach paid ab=
out $50. for the 1000 Kilos of porcelain clay we use. So, hope the Holiday =
Season finds you all hail and hearty, Ric =20
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