As this is the first Ceramic Scene of 2004, I'd like to wish all readers a Happy and Healthy New Year!
Before I introduce some wonderful exhibitions, though, I'd like to share a few musings from this "pottery poet" -- as a close friend likes to call me.
There is a delightful Japanese expression about the beauty and mystery of a clay jar: ko-chu-ten (jar-in-heaven). It's a reference to finding "heaven within the emptiness of a jar," yet within this "emptiness" can be found boundless energy and the stuff of life itself. On a metaphysical plane it's possible to experience a profound epiphany within the clay walls -- defined by empty space -- of a cup, say, while sitting quietly for a few moments each day sipping tea and "communing" with the cup (comprising the life-giving elements of fire, water, earth and air) and yourself (spirit-consciousness); an inward exploration.