lee love on mon 29 may 06
Hey, just saw a new commercial on T.V. while I was looking to
see if there was an afternoon movie to tape. It was for a new
bottled "health tea", made with barely and other grain grasses.
What was interesting, is that the woman in the commercial was
dressed in kimono, was in a traditional tatami room in a traditional
house. She was making a flower arrangement in a Hamada enamel
decorated (broken sugarcane) kokubin (mold made bottle.)
(Hey Tony, cover your ears/eyes.) ;^)
Yesterday, on the morning Art program that airs every
Saturday, I saw my teacher at the dedication of Yanagi's house
(founder of the Mingeikan folkcrafts muesum), which has been remodled
and opened to the public. He is using a cane, having had a tumble
down the long stairs that run between his studio and the noborigama.
--
Lee In Mashiko, Japan
http://mashiko.org
http://seisokuro.blogspot.com/
clennell on mon 29 may 06
Sour Cherry Pottery
> (Hey Tony, cover your ears/eyes.) ;^)
>
> Yesterday, on the morning Art program that airs every
> Saturday, I saw my teacher at the dedication of Yanagi's house
> (founder of the Mingeikan folkcrafts muesum), which has been remodled
> and opened to the public. He is using a cane, having had a tumble
> down the long stairs that run between his studio and the noborigama.
Lee: Gee, I closed my eyes cause I thought you were strippin down to your
undies and I waited and waited then I heard you say "my teacher". The funny
thing is that the students that I have taught and continue to have
friendships with just call me "Tony". I am no longer their teacher although
hopefully something of me rubbed off. Tony is walking with a cane.
I've been reading you for a decade so I know you apprenticed at Shimoakas.
Sorry to hear about Mr. Shimoaka. he must be getting up there in years.
All the best,
Tony
Tony and Sheila Clennell
Sour Cherry Pottery
4545 King Street
Beamsville, Ontario
CANADA L0R 1B1
http://www.sourcherrypottery.com
lee love on mon 29 may 06
--- In clayart@yahoogroups.com, clennell wrote:
> The funny
> thing is that the students that I have taught and continue to have
> friendships with just call me "Tony". I am no longer their teacher
>although hopefully something of me rubbed off.
Yes, things are different here in Japan. With college
instructors back home, it was always on a first name basis. I miss
that informality. But also, the classical apprenticeship system is
not anything like college.
Sensei/teacher means more than just teacher as we think of it.
Even H.S. teachers are given more respect here than back home. I
remember when we visited Seto with Jean's Japanese graduate school
friend in '93. The shop owners knew she was a teacher just by looking
at her, and automatically refered to her as "sensei."
Doctors are called Sensei to.
Even when Japanese teachers come to America, things become less
formal. It confuses people who meet them in America and then visit
them back in Japan.
For example, my late zen teacher did not like to be called
Roshi (ruffly translates as "old teacher.") He liked the less formal
Hojo-san, which means (master of a 6 mat hut.) Sort of a humble
designation.
He more or less introduced the use of Roshi and Sensei in
reference to zen teachers. The story goes, when he was doing some
airline travelling with Suzuki Roshi who he was assisting in San
Francisco at the time, students asked him what Suzuki the elder
teacher should be called and what should the he, as the younger
teacher be called and he said Suzuki Roshi and Katagiri Sensei would
be good. These are in common usage in America now.
--
Lee in Mashiko, Japan
"Let the beauty we love be what we do." - Rumi
Elizabeth Priddy on tue 30 may 06
So where will you be in your career when people begin
to call you Lee-sensei?
E
Elizabeth Priddy
Beaufort, NC - USA
http://www.elizabethpriddy.com
__________________________________________________
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lee love on tue 30 may 06
--- In clayart@yahoogroups.com, Elizabeth Priddy wrote:
>
> So where will you be in your career when people begin
> to call you Lee-sensei?
Maybe when my hair is gray? Which doesn't happen early on my
mother's side. ;^) Actually, I am a perpetual student and always
will think of myself that way.
One of my earliest memories was when I was 2.5 years old, before
my sister was born. We were sitting in a rockig chair on the back
porch of my Grandpaw's back yard on the east side of Detroit. I
remember sitting on his lap of scratchy gray wool pants, under the
dappled shade of a big elm tree. He told me, "Don't forget what it
is like to be young." He told me two or the times and made me
promise. I said "okay." Even though I didn't understand what he was
saying. But he would remind me on many sundays, for the next 12
years. He retired from Ford the year I was born and bought his last
car, a '53 Navy blue Fairlane.
I forgot to mention, sensei is used in another way: To mark
accomplishment. For example, olympic atheletes are called sensei.
So is the ball player Ichiro Suzuki.
My zen teacher always said, when someone tried to call him Roshi,
"I am only a simple monk." He and I were both born in Osaka. In
'93, I was taken by something my Uncle said when I met him again for
the first time as an adult in Sakai: I complemented him for being a
great cook. He said to me, in his 40 year old english, "I am just a
simple shop keeper." Of course, it reminded me of my late teacher
(who died in '90), and whose temple in Tsuruga we were going to
pilgrimage to. Maybe it is an Osaka way to deflect compliments?
Most local people aren't going to call a potter sensei, because
they know most potters are dirt poor. But sometimes you get an older
person from somewhere like Kyoto (they are traditional), calling you
sensei. I reply, "I am just a potter."
--
Lee in Mashiko, Japan
"Let the beauty we love be what we do." - Rumi
Elizabeth Priddy on tue 30 may 06
A false modesty is as high a crime as arrogance.
The answer I was looking for was, "When I become a
teacher."
I think all of us have a responsibility to teach.
Maybe only one student. Maybe thousands. It depends
on your skill, how many.
You are of an age that you should begin to find
students. Before you go grey. But best to let them
find you and just let them in. At the very worst,
your floors would be very clean.
E
Elizabeth Priddy
Beaufort, NC - USA
http://www.elizabethpriddy.com
__________________________________________________
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Lee Love on wed 31 may 06
--- In clayart@yahoogroups.com, Elizabeth Priddy wrote:
>
> A false modesty is as high a crime as arrogance.
That is why Katagiri's and my Uncle's attitudes were so striking to
me. Nothing false about them, but not usual in our culture. I thought
you might understand this, from what you were writing about your
painting teacher.
> I think all of us have a responsibility to teach.
> Maybe only one student. Maybe thousands. It depends
> on your skill, how many.
I agree. It is why I am writing a book. We have to teach
from our strengths and can't all do it the same way.
> You are of an age that you should begin to find
> students. Before you go grey. But best to let them
> find you and just let them in. At the very worst,
> your floors would be very clean.
I was studying to become a teacher when my zen teacher died. I
came to the realization at his funeral, that most folks in America want
to study zen from a secular perspective, but without the ethical back
ground it never seems to work very well. Looking at the culture zen
came out of, I realized that teaching through art, craft, tea or martial
arts was how this approach was always done in the past. Katagiri died
in the spring. I started studying pottery in the fall.
When I get established here, my goal is to host folks for 1 to 3
months at a time. It is easy for this amount of time, because it can
be done on a tourist's visa. This would be ideal for people between
undergrad and their MFA, or for established potters who want some
exposure to how it is done here. But I need a second wheel and room
for a guest. There is no space in my house. My studio is relatively
bigger than my house. Jean thinks I should take out some of the bamboo
shelving in the studio and put in a trundle bed. Put a curtain across
the opening. This would work for young folks. Eventually, I hope to
put a guest cabin next to the studio.. Either build one or convert a
pre-fab office unit.
See the quote I found at Gary Hatcher's web page below.
--
Lee in Mashiko, Japan
"In seeking wisdom,
the first step is silence,
the second listening,
the third remembering,
the fourth practicing, the fifth -- teaching others."
-Ibn Gabirol, poet and philosopher (c. 1022-1058)
.
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