Ric Swenson on tue 23 mar 10
Helllo from JingDeZhen.
It has been a few months since I wrote to you about ceramic life and life =
in general in China.
Spring struggles to show up, but it approaches more this week. We had a wa=
rm spell in mid-February, but it turned cold and rainy again for the past m=
onth. Now the birds are noisy, and the large white egrets are a delight to=
watch feeding on the local fish and lotus ponds - visible from my south fa=
cing dorm windows. The evening finds the small bats returning to feast in =
the evenings on the growing mosquito and insect populations. Today the sky=
is clear and sun shines brightly.
Since my November trip to Long Quan, Northeast of JDZ, birthplace of Celado=
n glazes millennia ago, I have been experimenting again with celadon glazes=
on my production of functional jars and bowls. I use chatter tool design,=
but also have taken to other forms of incising into the surfaces to allow =
the celadon to play its magic on the fired forms. Since I started to study=
ceramics in 1967, celadon has always been a favorite media, both the make=
=A1=AD.. and to study the beautiful Song Dynasty wares.
I have been invited to be a visiting professor at Li Shui Ceramic Training =
School and at the art college in Long Quan for a month this coming summer. =
I=A1=AFm sure I will learn at least as much as I teach there. I will go wi=
th Jin Wen Wei (his hometown is Long Quan) to interact with the 16-21 year =
old students at these campuses. Wen Wei is the head of the graduate progra=
m here at JingDeZhen Ceramic Institute and did his masters work at Nova Sco=
tia Art College in Canada in the 1990s. I have lectured to many of his gra=
duate classes here on campus. I am looking forward to the celadon experienc=
e. Long Quan also has a history of over 2,500 years of sword making. Kung=
Fu buffs all know about their fine swords. I bought two when I was there i=
n November. Truly fine craftsmanship.
During the winter holiday/Spring Festival break between semesters, I travel=
led back to the USA to visit my 94 year old mother and my sisters and other=
relations and friends in Atlanta. During my stay, we went on a Carnival Cr=
uise to the western Caribbean. Our stops included Grand Cayman Island, Coz=
umel and Cancun, Mexico, Belize (where we had a fantastic snorkeling experi=
ence at a small protected coral reef) and Roatan, Honduras. Cruising is ce=
rtainly luxurious and a bit pricey, but a real once in a lifetime experienc=
e for a poor potter. The food and friendships and the sights, beaches, swim=
ming and the quiet of the sea voyage lasted only 8 days, but will be in my =
memory for a long time. I also stopped in San Francisco and had lunch with =
Keith Appel, sculptor from Anchorage who was visiting his daughters in Sacr=
amento.
Gumpu Nakamura, Japanese ceramic artist, had a marvelous show of his colorf=
ul work here at the Museum of the Office of International Cooperation and E=
xchange, on campus at JCI. His card says: IMAKUTANIGAMA and his hometown ad=
dress is: Daishoji-Nishikimaki Kaga-shi, Ishikawa, Japan. We exchanged gift=
s. I gave him a small masha style tea bowl and he gave me a copy of his co=
lorful exhibition catalog, ( a wonderful hardcover book ! ) He was very ch=
arming, warm and very willing to communicate=A1=ADhe is his broken English =
and I with my very limited Japanese language skill. I went back three times=
to absorb all the details of his work. The 10 large slab built platters w=
ith colorful abstract depictions of mountains and volcanoes in Japan were m=
y favorites, but I also liked the small delicately painted trays and dishes=
=A1=ADwith traditional figure and animal dep ictions.
I heard from my grad school teacher, Fred Olsen, author of THE KILN BOOK an=
d a fine ceramic artist, about his planned trip to JDZ this summer. I conn=
ected him with the San Bao International Ceramics Studios, where I am hopin=
g he will be in residence in July. Fred and I had some great experiences b=
uilding kilns in Anchorage in the 1970s=A1=ADnot to mention the very memora=
ble salmon and halibut fishing trips in Seward and Homer, Alaska!
Raymond Gierowski French Potier et Sculpteur, and his wife and 25 year old=
son Nicola, (who is an engineer at a French design and machine manufacturi=
ng company here in China) visited JDZ for a few days this week. I took the=
m on a tour of the old campus and we visited the JCI Faculty Exhibition, se=
veral sculpture classes in progress, we visited one of the =A1=AEbig pot=A1=
=AF factories, a tour of the =A1=AEFranz=A1=AF plant (800 employees in a st=
ate-of-the-art manufacturing plant on the outskirts of JDZ=A1=ADmaking very=
expensive wares and figurines.) and shopping for potter=A1=AFs tools and c=
eramic jewelry. They hail from Chenois, France about an hour from Paris, if=
I understand correctly.
We had a delicious Korean supper late last Monday. There are now 3 Korean r=
estaurants near this campus! Nicola is seriously considering coming here to=
study ceramics later this year.
Best wishes to all at NCECA.
Ric
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