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.

Another visiting artist arrived just in time to help us out in the Studio. This is Hester and Ron Meyers. They would stay with us a short while, but made an impact that will surely inspire us for years to come.

The demos, classes, and the culture have been a incredible resource for learning the history of ceramics coupled with detailed information on working techniques. The Fall program offers the ceramic artist many benefits to grow, as you have seen. To summarize the whole trip in one sentence is a challenge, but here it goes. This program provided by the Jingdezhen Ceramic Institute in partnership with West Virginia University is a opportunity for the ceramic artist to begin shaping the future with the past. Speaking for all the students who have participated in this journey, our lives have been changed. We have a platform of ideas and techniques that will supply our ceramic creativity for the future. The Fall program in China is something that has changed our lives. We are thankful and humbled from the jouney abroad. Our hearts, eyes, and minds are opened wider.

Some of us might have even been a bit exhausted. I think Alex may have taken a toll during this class.

After getting a lot of information from out language teacher, we were all scratching our heads.

This is a pretty comon example of what we look at for two hours on Wednesday nights after a long day at the studio. We are doing well though. Sometimes we get a bit frazzled.

Wednesday nights are Chinese language class. These are tough. We are doing are best. I have greater appreciation for the exchange students that come to my college.

Thanks Professor, we have all learned a great deal, and we look forward to the next class.

Yuan Dynasty, they lost the technology of the copper red and they were actually painting the white breaking lines with white glaze. It was not till some time later were they able to get the true copper reds back, and they still have not been as good as a the Ming Dynasty. Oh yeah most of these breakthroughs happened right here in Jingdezhen, actually down the road. There is amazing history here.

Ming Dynasty copper reds, these are the best they ever got. You can tell becuase there is a white on the rims through a natural result of the glaze breaking. The real key factor is the foot. You should be able to see a white break on the foot as well. These are the exceptional pieces.

Ming Dynasty Chinghua with Han Dynasty Generals making up the imagery

Yuan dynasty Chinghua, you can tell becuase of the richness of the cobalt and the high footed bowl is a dead give away.

The Emporer of the Song like the crackle glaze so this was encouraged. I wished sometimes my teacher would have liked my crackle glazes. He just made me fiigure out how to make the interface of the clay and glaze fit properly through research and testing, thanks Bob. I learned a lot. The Chinese was this asthetic at this time. They knew how to make the glaze fit. They just chose not to.

This is a super thin pot that was also made in the Song Dynasty but during this time the capital moved to Hangzhou because the Mongols invaded and sacked the northern Capital and killed the Emporer. The ceramic wall on this pot was almost the same thickness as the glaze that was sprayed on it. Scientist still aren't sure how this was done, but they do know this was a time that the pots were acutally bisqued. I wish we could bisque our pots. We fire everything once and in the green stage.

This is a Song Dynasty bowl from the northern period.

Here they are trying to figure out where to put the spout.

Banpo pots, Neolithic society

Shards of the oldest pot discovered. Over 10,000 years old, whoa.

Next we had a famous archiologist for a professor and he taught us ceramic history. It was great. We have discovered many things from 10,000 years ago through the dynasties. He showed us development of Chinese ceramics. I felt like I was understanding how they made advancements in refining forms, firing techniques, decoration, glazes, from Neolithic times of the folk potters to the exqsuisite Imperial wares. This was incredible information. The pictures were amazing as well. We all learned so much, asked so many questions that were answered eagerly, and even technically. The class is definetly one of the high points for me, but I am a history enthusiast. Oh by the way he couldn't speak a work of English. We had a translator. It worked out perfectly. There were some interesting times, but we were all patient and enlightenment happend. Let's take a look at some of his photos.

This was our first teacher who taugh us about Chinese painting, Famille Rose, Antique Color, that sort of thing. She did it with power point and it was great. You could see the images and here the lecture in English. She spoke well.

So was this guy. He didn't go to night class but we do.

Many great demos happened at Sanboa. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday we were all eyes.

He also showed us how easy it was to get the plate off the hump without distorting the piece. Thank you for making it look so easy. I wish it were that easy but it's not. This guy was great and he had many years of experience as well as the others. All of these things we learned were humbling.

We had throwers come in and show us how easy it wasy to throw plates off the hump.

He built beautiful forms with great technique. Thank you for the demos.

Nicole is learning the techniques to create big slabs. You put them on this table that is covered in a bed of kaolin dust to let the slab shrink and move freely without cracking. This guy was great.

This gentleman is a slab builder. He does amzing things with huge slabs of porcelain. Yep thats right all you clay folks out there porcelain, and no cracking. It can be done. You just need to see it.