Togei no Mori - (Ceramic Forest)
(The Shigaraki Ceramic Cultural Park) Part 2

I took leave from work at Concord Elementary, at first to accept this residency.  What a great honor it was to be invited back! But, my parents' illnesses were to take priority.  It was the longest and most busy 2 months of my life going back and forth. It is a good thing that my parents live only about an hour from Shigaraki.  Frequent trips between the Togei no Mori and the hospitals where both were being treated, and the constant care they required made it difficult to be a great daughter and a great ceramic artist.  

I did however try my best!

The Night Crew...it is why I love wood fired ceramics.  There's no automatic kiln sitter.  It takes a community to fire a big kiln like this one.  It was nice being part of that community!

Experimenting with color, texture and kilns on my signature "spitball" rivets on ceramic bell jars.  But, I tried some other functional work, too! (Bottom Right)

Nice view of the mountains between Shigaraki and neighboring Kyoto.  I heard that this artist thought TOO much about her next project and turned into a piece of art, herself! (Just joking!)