A little over a year ago I had the great pleasure of doing an artist residence at Togei no mori, in Shiga, Japan. The town of Shigaraki is one of the six ancient
ceramic kiln sites in Japan and the renowned Shigaraki clay
has been used since the year 700 AD. Using wood fired kilns to fire the Shigaraki clay
brings the coveted effects of warm,reddish, Hiiro flashing, green natural Biidoro glaze
and the black carbon deposits called Koge. I was thinking about this as I used a small vase I made in Shigaraki, shaped like a section of bamboo for a flower arrangement in my takonoma, as I prepared to make tea