New studio, new teapot

...been a little busy, I made some more stuff, I'll post more pictures in the future...

Hanami

Aka, cherry blossom viewing parties, from Omiya park in the evening, this is of course a little old, like from the beginning of the month, all the blossoms are now already gone, Haru o! Toiiku haru o!

Good stuff from the garden...

This is about from two weeks ago, it's looking even nicer now, I can already see small unopened buds on the raspberry and current berry plants.

It's been a while....

Sorry to anyone who actually reads this blog. I've been busy last couple of months, like really busy. I think I worked every day during the months of February and March, maybe I had one or two days off during that time, I'm not even sure I was too busy to keep track. While it was good to be able to put a few more curns in the bank, I was too busy to make any pots and I missed the deadline for this really big show that I really wanted to enter in Tokyo. It only happens once a year and it is really big and important. Maybe I'll talk more about it later. Sigh...

Well anyways, I'm back in the studio and getting down to making more pots. It's been fun, I'm in a new studio a few stations away from my house, and the people there are really nice. It's much smaller than my last studio, but it's very quaint and cozy. I think the people there are really cool too, tonight I hung out for about an hour after closing with two of the ladies and we talked about music and movies and stuff. It was very cool and they're really making me feel at home.

I'll post some pictures in the near future...

This is probably the last pot I'll ever make at my studio.

I made it this last weekend. It's really sad, the feeling is like getting punched in the stomach. My studio is closing. I don't know how to even express how I feel. Devastated. Like as if a close friend just died. It's hard for me to even write about it right now, but I have to. The studio is such an important part of my life. I go there all the time, every week, they are so kind to let me, they always give me snacks and tea and lots of kind words. The people there have been at times the only friends, and the only encouragement I've had during my lonesome times in Japan. I would have been lost without the studio. I would have never entered a gallery were it not for my sensei there. How will I ever see them after the studio closes. To be honest, I've been avoiding the place, going when I think nobody else is going to be there. I hate goodbyes, I don't want to say goodbye to anyone. I know I have to go, it's just tough. I know there are other studios, it's not that.... It's just that this place has a very special meaning to me.

Went out Sunday night

And I had a really good time. I danced all night. I think dancing can change your life. The top picture is the moon setting over Yurakucho early in the morning.

Just some more pictures
of the "over the top" handled teapot I recently made, I think this gives a little better perspective.