Yaoli was wonderful and house after house could have told some amazing stories. The trip here was timeless.

Another example.

The buildings were beautiful. This is the inside of a typical home. There are big courtyards with no rooves inside the homes and water would be collected and used.

There was a real laid back feeling from everyone and everything.

People were just going about their daily lives and it was a wonderful window into the past.

Friendly people were everywhere and they didn't seem to mind us visiting their town.

There were bridges here too that would enable you to cross the river. I don't know what they do when the water raises, but there are boats on hand.

Here is a woman who is washing the evening's vegtables for dinner.

We left the mine and got on the bus that took us to Yaoli. This was another Ming Dynasty village. You can see some women doing some laundry in the sacred river. The water was extremely clear. There were big fish that inhabited that water that looked like orange carp.

This is the entrance to the mine. This is where porcelain was discovered and mined for years. This was an interesting place. Finding the source of the material ceramic artists use is truly only done by a few artists. You cannot order this experience from a clay supplier. You have to go to China with WVU.

We found the mine. We entered history. The past was everywhere, but now we were going into the belly of the earth. It was cold narrow at times, and the sound of water was quietly echoing within the grotto. I could not help but to think of one of my favorite books by Jules Verne, Journey to the Center of the Earth,. This was a great part of the trip.

This is Kei taking a better look at the waterfall.

Sounds of nature were all around and it felt a lot like West 'Virginia. I was very at home in this place. The path to the mine was magical.

We walked on brigdges that were constructed when the path became a bit risky for the pedestrian. These were beautiful.

There were many opportunities for great shots, and you can see Scott here setting up to capture the moment.

The water was cascading down over boulders refreshing our senses as we got closer to the mine.

We started our jouney by heading down a path next to this wonderful creek. It was breathtaking.

We walked back out of the town to search for the ancient mine. All the inhabitants of the town were interested in us. There were wonderful pictures everywhere. It was hard to take a bad shot.

Carvings on some of the buildings were equally amazing. The craftsmanship was incredible. This is a Ming Dynasty scene depicting the life of the times.

The village had amazing architecture in original Ming Dy style. It was beautiful. The sweeping curves of rooves were wonderful and all I could think of was Kung Fu.

We made our way through the village looking at that old buildings, and the people who lived and worked here.

We took a moment to pose for a picture by a very old tree that was well over a thousand years old. The tree was enormous.

We made our way by bus to this small community, and found many wonderful people living virtually the same as in the Ming Dynasty.

In these mountains porcelain was discovered. I am going to take you on the same journey we took while searching for the mine. It was incredible.

Before I about our trip to Xian I would like to tell you about the a special place we visited called Gaolin. This is where Porcelain was discovered in the Ming Dynasty 1368-1644. This town was a major shipping port for the precious porcelain. It was here that porcelain was put onto boats to be distributed to all corners of the Empire.

Hello again. I would just like to appologize once again for any improper spelling or sentece fragments. Keeping up this journal with images has been a huge undertaking. There is so much to write. I have to keep going forward. With this in mind, I have made some mistakes. I hope you enjoy what I am doing and don't scrutinze too much. Enjoy the rest of the updates. Steve...

Oh yeah, big thumbs up from Nicole because we were flying through town in a Jingdezhen taxi. It's a wild ride.

The eggman was making the food and everyone was feeling the spirit.

The kids were really interested. Others were scared and didn't really know what to think.

The people of Jingdezhen were shocked. We entered the community receiving mixed emotions of fear and confusion. Here we were buying some essentials for the night, beer. Oh yeah here is a shot of Dave as Willey. The Ninja was stalking. The monk was making deals. I was sweeping the store. They wanted to hire me.

Before we went to Xian the gang was feeling restless for some sense of home. It was also October 30th then the 31st. So we did what any American would do. We made costumes and introduced Halloween to a culture that has never seen this kind of expression. It was off the hook! The next entries are not necessarily the supported views of West Virginia Universtiy nor do they have anything to do with ceramics. I take full responsibility for the imagery within this next updates. Oh yeah, we drank some beer and you might see a couple shots with said beverage in hand. We had a great time and we gave something back to the Chinese culture.

Ron and Hester were great and well loved by all. Ron stayed and did more work creating a wonderful environment. He would later go to Xian with us, but I would like to say thank you Ron and Hester. You were great to have around. Ron you really inspired all of us and you were a great visiting artist. Rick, Donna, and Ron have really contributed well to the program as well as being wonderful influences for ceramic education.

This one Ron had a great story. I'm sure he would love to tell you more about the symbolism of his imagery.

Another

These were some plates he would paint imagery on.

Teapot

Open form

Let's look at some of Ron's finished work. He did a slide presentation for the students at the college and it was wonderful. This is a covered jar.

More of Ron's painting

These next images were Ron's first attempts at Chinghua. They were great. He was figuring out the tonal satuartion of the material and creating wonderful imagery that was fun and lively.

Hester was patient and spent time working on some projects. She knows Ron is the man and him being in the spotlight was nothing new for her. She was great.

It was wonderful to see the activity and electricity circulating around the Sanboa studio. Everyone was proud.

This was a professor that demonstrated overglaze as well as Chinghua decorating Ron's ceramic piece.

He threw pots and the Chinese painting professor wanted to decorate on them. He was creating quite a buzz.

This is a shot of his journal. The pots looked a lot like the pictures he would draw. The list of animals would soon go on the pots. It was wonderful having him in the studio.

This was one of his open forms that really showed his loose style and ryhthmic slashing sprig decorating technique.

detail of the handle

This was a covered jar.

Ron would cut out pices of clay in the shapes of animals, then place them on the haphazardly scored surface, creating imagery that was so unique and stylized.

He would throw loose forms, leaving finger prints and rough edges showing the marks of the hand as well as the tools he used. It was quick, methodic, and extremely artistic how he handled the clay.

I know he wouldn't like me giving him too much praise, but I really can't help it. He's an amazing ceramic artist. He arrived here and got to work. He threw so many pot. I was blown away. His style with the clay really impressed all of us and he was extremely nice. The way he touched the clay and decorated the surface with a brush, and scratching styles was incredible. The man has got style. It was also really great to hear friendly stories about Peter Volkus, and Philip Gustin. Ron knows many great artists and shared many of his experiences with us. He was so laid back and fun. Hester was lively, filled with energy and great to talk to. Sorry Ron if I said too much, but I had to get some of that out of the way. You're the man.