Lessons learned

Remember this little darling from a few weeks ago?


She blew up in the kiln, didn't survive the first firing. I am so sorry. I thought she was ready for the kiln, but apparently there was still moisture inside. It is clear that I still have lots to learn. Sigh.

I do feel a little crushed about losing this sculpture, but on the other hand, I think Buddha did say something about the impermanence of things and non-attachment etc...In other words, I'll live and move on...Also, is it weird that I find this pile of rubble fascinating and maybe even beautiful in its own way?

Monster drawings

First of all, the serpent woman would like to wish everyone a very happy Halloween.

The one with horns is my first version of the serpent woman. I like to imagine this is how she looks when she's just a young monster.


And the second version is how the serpent looks when she matures. I wish I had done this in color, I'd like to see her as a crimson serpent.


Anyway, happy Halloween, and beware of monsters and ghouls.

The more I do it, the more I realize...

I have come to a conclusion: the more I glaze, the more I hate it.

There, I have said it. Yes, sacrilegious. How can a ceramist not embrace the art of glazing? Well, it's not my cup of tea, but I'm not rejecting it totally.

For now, I'm exploring two alternatives to glazing/overglazing: 1. using color slip, and 2. using oil paint, acrylic paint...etc.

So today, I made Kappa-san here, and I put color slip (that I painstakingly made by myself. Seriously, it's a lot of work to prepare color slip) on him. I think I like what I see so far.


It seems that with this slip I can get a painting effect.


And yes, I may have a Kappa obsession. But we are getting closer to Halloween, so why not? It is a water sprite, after all.


Oh, and another thing, this is not how a traditional Kappa looks like. I stylized it, just for fun.

Not your usual Kokeshi doll

Another new work in progress. This one is based on the traditional Japanese doll, the Kokeshi doll (well, loosely based on). I tried out a new method of sculpting, and I'm quite pleased with the result.

I think the nose has improved a lot.


This is probably the first time I put eye brows on my work! (pssssst...let me tell you a secret, I never put ears on my sculptures. Never! Weird huh? I wonder why is that...)