Night brings a different feeling to Ebiya Gallery.


I've made a new series of lamps for this show, a venture into the interior world. The light spilling from lampshades mouth is counterpointed by the glow radiating from the transluscent porcelain of the shade itself. The cast metal bases and the antique furniture give the display an "Olde Worlde" feel.


Displayed around and beneath the lamps, the functional ware shines and sparkles, reflecting the light from the naturally glazed surface.


Passers by will stop and admire the display, hopefully come back in the daytime when the gallery is open. They don't realise that inside the gallery, stretched out on a futon in the tea room, I read a book by lamplight, awaiting sleep.

Were open for business! Bruce Huebner on shakuhachi and Curt Patterson on Koto, Euan in listening mode. The ebiya exhibition is open and the party was fantastic! Perhaps more japanese than japanese. Good music, good company, good pots. The food? Just wait til the photos come out!

There was something moving inside the kiln! The second from bottom kiln shelf collapsed, potentially bringing down the whole stack. But one little hero of yunomi saved the day. It bore the weight of the whole back stack of the kiln and prevented a disaster. It was one of the limited edition of yunomi with the Ebiya seal stamped on its foot. What a hero!

There is a great deal of work between wedging the clay and putting the pots out in the sun to dry. So much in fact that I didn't have time to write about it.

There are only 11 days till the exhibition and the pressure is on. Since the last entry I have been working day and night, the results of which are the three hundred and fifty pots spread out on the lawn.

With the signature dinners and the exhibition as well the volume of work is not to be taken lightly. It is however very satisfying to look at the pots arrayed like this, to stand back and say, "Now THAT'S a good weeks work!"

Each board of pots takes on a pattern and can be a beautiful thing in and of itself.



Just one more run, the glazing, the firing, the finishing to go! Not much when you say it quickly.

The wheel awaits!

The most important stage in the pottery process is kneading the clay. Before you can make pots from the clay it must be thoroughly mixed to an even consistency and free of air pockets. If the clay is not properly prepared, the finished pots will be flawed.














There are many methods for doing this, but the one which I use most is Spiral wedging. Pushing the clay in a rythmic rocking motion I turn the clay in on itself a little at a time. Gradually working through the whole mass, one hundred turns this way, then one hundred turns in reverse.

The clay takes on a shell like shape, and some people refer to it as shell wedging.














From a different perspective the spiral becomes obvious. The clay winding inwards to its centre in a rhythmic whirl.

The Japanese refer to it as "kikumomi" , chrysanthemum wedging, as from the opposite veiwpoint it is shaped like a chryanthemum flower.














It's interesting that the same process, the same thing, can seem so different depending on how you look at it. Things that seem so different at first can merely be other aspects of the same thing.

Having lived in Japan for most of my adult life I have come to realise that apparent differences in culture are like this also, alien and unfamiliar at first, but really just a different perspective on the same thing.