Gay Judson on mon 23 aug 04
I can't resist sending this poem by Ann Holmes from her collection =
titled:
Shards. The poems are reflections and rememberances from her years =
spent as
an apprentice potter in Mashiko and from an earlier period when she
interviewed Japanese potters. This poem is written in the voice of Gen
Murata (1905-1988), apprentice to Hamada?
=20
Hamada said "make the same teacup again and again."
I didn't think I could. For ten years
I made teacups. Even now
I practice on the cup
to get the clay used to my hands.
as sketching is for the artist, the cup
is basic to know and to practice.
=20
One day I asked Hamada if I had talent.
I remember him standing there, his arms
folded around my question.
He pointed to an old man, hunched over the wheel,
turning one flawless vase after another.
=20
"We cannot match the skill
of this worker's many-many years.
Your pottery is off-balance-too much=20
of something-too little
of something else. Form
is proportion. Repeat
what you do now."
=20
Gen Murata has recently been receiving some recognition for his work. I =
had
seen a exhibition of his work on the web recently.
Ann Holmes used italics where I have inserted quotation marks for email
translation.
=20
Gay Judson
=20
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