Akira Satake Workshop Day 2

Akira Satake began day two of our workshop with a demonstration trimming the foot on the tea bowl and chawan.

 Note the unusual tool used to trim.

Akira said using this tool and trimming spontaneously adds to the wabi sabi of his work.

Here's the finished teabowl. Half of my photos aren't turning out; I think my camera computer is wearing out; but the one above of Akira pleased me.

Next Akira demonstrated how he makes the lid, handle, and spout for the upside down teapot from the day before. See what I mean about some of the photos, they turn out blurry or extremely dark even though I'm not moving the camera and they are all on the same setting. Maybe I can get the camera cleaned? What do you think?

Ah, here is a better one while Akira is placing the spout on the teapot.

Next Akira demonstrated how he makes his one piece teapot.

Here's a photo of the pieces I made in the workshop, two tumblers, a footed tea bowl, a rustic lidded box (but solid too dry to hollow out, and not shown a rustic tray. John of JBF Times is going to fire my pieces in the gas kiln for me, leaving the exterior natural and using shino glaze on the interiors. Don't fire that box for at least six  months John. Ha.

Here's a shot of the workshop participants. I had a super time at the workshop visiting with several of my blogging friends, thanks to Akira Satake and Clayworks for a wonderful weekend.

While in Charlotte, I stayed at 803 Elizabeth Lane Bed and Breakfast. The Bed and Breakfast is in Matthews about seven miles from Clayworks. Martha and Will Krauss, the inn hosts, graciously accommodated my gluten free diet with delicious breakfasts. Check out their recipe page for breakfast quinoa. During my stay we shared conversations on travel, art, pottery, cooking, and gardening.

The mug in the top photo, with a shino liner, came home with me. This post is part of Sunday Ceramics. Thanks for reading and for all your comments.

Akira Satake Mini Concert at Concentrix

Last night we were treated to a mini concert by Akira Satake.

Satake cd's can be purchased directily from his website.

The mini concert was held at Concentrix a premier recording and sound studio owned and operated by my long time blogging friends Becky and Fred Story.

After the concert Fred gave us an informative tour of the studios. I learned more than I ever imagined about how sound is recorded and reproduced for videos, cds, television, advertising, and nore. The Concentrix studios are a state of the art venue for recording and reproducing musical venues for any application. Day two of Akira Satake workshop up next. Thanks for reading and for all your comments.

Akira Satake Workshop Day One

 

Photos day one Akira Satake workshop at Clayworks in Charlotte, NC.

  applying slip to slab

showing texture achieved with slip applied to slab

  forming dry slipped and stretched slab 

 adding wabi sabi texture to tea bowl exterior, example below

 thrown teapot, enclosed top becomes bottom of pot

 dropping teapot onto floor, example above

 solid block of clay later hollowed to form lidded box, example above

Up next the mini concert by Akira Satake at Fred and Becky Story's music and sound design studio extraordinaire, Concentrix, bar none the best sound studio in North Carolina. Then next will be day two of the Akira Satake workshop. Thanks for reading and for all your comments.

Akira Satake Workshop

I finally ventured out of the RV from the cold; it got up to 26 today and was 6 last night. The end of the week will be much warmer thank goodness. Even though I'll be in the middle of closing/moving into my new home, I signed up to participate in an Akira Satake workshop in January. Since I've long admired Satake's work, the workshop really appeals to me. Here's info about the workshop scheduled for January 18 and 19 from 10 to 4 pm in Charlotte, NC at Clayworks. Information below is excerpted directly from Clayworks website.

Akira Satake is leading a two-day hands-on workshop that will focus on slab construction techniques and Kohiki slip decorating for creating functional pottery forms. Participants will learn to work with both soft and hard slabs, exploring a variety of processes and techniques to create teapots, tea cups, pitchers, vases, boxes and other functional pottery. Participants will learn techniques to create rich surfaces evoking the signs left by the forces of nature on the world we experience.

About Akira

“For me, the act of creation is a collaboration between myself, the clay and the fire. Collaboration means finding what the clay wants to be and bringing out its beauty in the way that the beauty of our surroundings is created through natural forces. Undulations in sand that has been moved by the wind, rock formations caused by landslides, the crackle and patina in the wall of an old house, all these owe their special beauty to the random hand of Nature. The fire is the ultimate random part of the collaborative equation. I hope the fire will be my ally, but I know it will always transform the clay in ways I cannot anticipate.”  Akira Satake

Akira Satake was born in Osaka, Japan and has been living in the U.S. since 1983. In 2003 he relocated from Brooklyn, New York to Swannanoa, North Carolina, where he has a wood-fired kiln and a gas kiln. In 2013 he opened Akira Satake Ceramics/Gallery Mugen as his working studio and exhibition space in the River Arts District in Asheville, NC. Akira is also an internationally acclaimed musician whose CD “Cooler Heads Prevail” was awarded the prestigious German Music Critics Award for Best World Music Recording. He will close the workshop with a brief mini-concert performed on shamisen and banjo.

I'm looking forward to attending this workshop and get my hands back on clay. The brief mini-concert is a bonus to me. Funny how things turn out sometimes. If you know of a bed and breakfast to recommend located within an hour or less drive of Charlotte, NC, please let me know. Thanks for reading and for all your comments.