mel jacobson on fri 24 oct 08
here is a letter i received from joe, fun to share.
China Trip/2008
It was the best! The quest or sojourn was at hand =96 and not to be handled=
by all. Traveling to fulfill a life long venture is not to be shared by=
just anyone. It is between me and the bowl.
=20
FIRST =96 the trip out there =96 along the Min River is glorious. It was=
all I could have imagined. Like Mexico it is tropical, and thus the people=
are colorful. All involved were excited. We almost passed the small dirt=
road; the paved narrow two lane road was not much better. The driver was=
weaving in and out of people, bikes and the like while honking all the way!=
Then, we arrived. We ploughed out of the van and the gates swung open. =
This one of now ten noborigama, 136 meters long, wood burning, fire=
breathing dragon kilns, of which had not come alive like this for nearly a=
thousand years, was mine.
=20
On the steep climb to the top I found shards and a sagger. Once I reached=
the top of this excavated and covered production kiln of years gone by, it=
was pointed out to me that what looked like jungle covered hills in the=
distance were actually piles of kiln wasters-each Jian bowl was fired in=
its own sagger. After each firing and grading, the waste was carried to=
these huge mountain like piles of garbage in the distance-almost ten miles=
away. I will forever think of these mountains of waste like a stuppa,=
which is a cylindrical topped hill representational of Buddha. Sidartha=
Gatama said to not make me a god, I am just a man. So as people struggled=
to share his story, he was represented as the creator or phallic symbol of=
the Hindu God, Shiva. It seemed real. I was alone and it was silent.
=20
An official from the local museum shared lunch and took us to a local=
collector who let us choose shards from his back porch and hallway. It was=
like combing through history without the grime and sweat in the hillside=
slopes of ancient Jian Yao. I thought to myself that life is truly good=
and wondrous. This is what is meant by heaven on Earth. =20
=20
In the future, we plan to tell a story about Yixing with some photos taken=
on this trip. Our final goal is to have a traveling show that goes from=
AMOCA Museum to Long Beach Museum to Hong Kong and possibly to Santa=
Barbara Museum. We not only want to compare and contrast Japanese Tea=
Ceremony and Chinese Tea Competition, we want to show how North American=
tea artists have been influenced.
In the near future, starting at NCECA, we plan to show works by North=
American Tea Artists who have been influenced by NATA-North American Tea=
Artists. We have a venue to showcase these selected artists like Steve=
Tobin, Joe Koons, Mel Jacobson and others.
Joe =20
from minnetonka:
website http://www.visi.com/~melpots/
clayart site:
http://www.visi.com/~melpots/clayart.html
Victoria E. Hamilton on fri 24 oct 08
Oh Mel, thank you so much for this! It turns out that among other things,
Joe Koons can write with such passion, connection and commitment as to
elicit tears from the eyes and love from the heart of a 66-year old potter -
me. Didn't you feel as you read this letter that you were there with Joe?
I did.
Thank you again.
Vicki Hamilton
Millennia Antica Pottery
Seattle, WA
-----Original Message-----
From: Clayart [mailto:CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG] On Behalf Of mel jacobson
Sent: Friday, October 24, 2008 6:37 AM
To: CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG
Subject: joe koon's trip to china
here is a letter i received from joe, fun to share.
China Trip/2008
It was the best! The quest or sojourn was at hand - and not to be handled
by all. Traveling to fulfill a life long venture is not to be shared by
just anyone. It is between me and the bowl.
FIRST - the trip out there - along the Min River is glorious. It was all I
could have imagined. Like Mexico it is tropical, and thus the people are
colorful. All involved were excited. We almost passed the small dirt road;
the paved narrow two lane road was not much better. The driver was weaving
in and out of people, bikes and the like while honking all the way! Then,
we arrived. We ploughed out of the van and the gates swung open. This one
of now ten noborigama, 136 meters long, wood burning, fire breathing dragon
kilns, of which had not come alive like this for nearly a thousand years,
was mine.
On the steep climb to the top I found shards and a sagger. Once I reached
the top of this excavated and covered production kiln of years gone by, it
was pointed out to me that what looked like jungle covered hills in the
distance were actually piles of kiln wasters-each Jian bowl was fired in its
own sagger. After each firing and grading, the waste was carried to these
huge mountain like piles of garbage in the distance-almost ten miles away.
I will forever think of these mountains of waste like a stuppa, which is a
cylindrical topped hill representational of Buddha. Sidartha Gatama said to
not make me a god, I am just a man. So as people struggled to share his
story, he was represented as the creator or phallic symbol of the Hindu God,
Shiva. It seemed real. I was alone and it was silent.
An official from the local museum shared lunch and took us to a local
collector who let us choose shards from his back porch and hallway. It was
like combing through history without the grime and sweat in the hillside
slopes of ancient Jian Yao. I thought to myself that life is truly good and
wondrous. This is what is meant by heaven on Earth.
In the future, we plan to tell a story about Yixing with some photos taken
on this trip. Our final goal is to have a traveling show that goes from
AMOCA Museum to Long Beach Museum to Hong Kong and possibly to Santa Barbara
Museum. We not only want to compare and contrast Japanese Tea Ceremony and
Chinese Tea Competition, we want to show how North American tea artists have
been influenced.
In the near future, starting at NCECA, we plan to show works by North
American Tea Artists who have been influenced by NATA-North American Tea
Artists. We have a venue to showcase these selected artists like Steve
Tobin, Joe Koons, Mel Jacobson and others.
Joe
from minnetonka:
website http://www.visi.com/~melpots/
clayart site:
http://www.visi.com/~melpots/clayart.html
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