incorporates possibilities for the fire and its ash deposits
fo work Some magic. As he worked, he talked in
Japanese and was brilliantly translated by David Lloyd
from Kwantlen. David had an excellent rapport and was
able to communicate muances with great skill, humanity
and humour, Listening was a special experience as one
had to watch and listen to Yukio for the nuance and then
David for meaning.

Before really starting properly Yukio quickly made some
Slabs for later use: a quick slice up, any old how, bashed
flatfish with a 2x4 and then a quick roll between canvas.
These would be later torn and joined into sculptural
vases as a sort of three dimensional collage. The scale
and elan of these was inspiring.

On the wheel, Yukio made a senes of different style tea
bowls and other articles for the tea ceremony. Normally
throwing on a traditional Japanese wheel, the shimpo
was “too good" and batts were put onto the wheel head
with careless blobs of clay to give a charming wobble to
the slow throwing (but the bowls kept lining up).

MADE IN CLAY
There will be a meeting of Made In Clay “96 participants
on September 21, 1995 at the Guild offices on Granville
Island at 6:30pm, The purpose of the mecting is to
organize working committees for implementing the “96
event. All registrants should try to attend this important
meeting.

Alt one point throwing a lid for a water jar which veered
and teetered wildly off centre, one could fee! the group
tension as they reached for their mental needle toots.
Yukio's comment was, “Well, maybe it will look better
tomorrow,” When he did return to it and carved the edges
to fit the container it was breathtakingly right.

Some tea bowls retumed to the next day were traditionally
trimmed in the Korean way with a single deep spiral cut
that left the raised pip in the centre, (The bowls had been
thrown with a small depression inside for the remaining
tea leaves.) Other tea bowls had their feet facet cut by
hand with a huge home make wooden dagger and yet
others were tom and repaired with pieces torn from other
bowls.

Yukio talked about his kilns being “bad boy" kilns that
needed understanding, skill and coaxing and about
preferring difficult clay because it meant that he couldn't
take anything for granted. There were all sorts of other
life parallets in his momentary like it baing easier io make
friends with someone smaller than yourself as an anslogy
to quite, unflashy pots that own their imperfections.

We had slides of work from his own tozan and of the
building and firing of the Flagstaff tozan and as a wrap up
activily Yukio prepared some small totem blocks and
encouraged everyone to work into these so that they
could be in the first Nanaimo tazan firing.

It is a pity that more people did not take advantage of this
workshop, though one person did come down from
Alaska, as Yukio's whole approach to the material,
process and firing and how it was all part of nis life and
everything made the two days with this diminutive, 70
year old, truly memorable,

KEITH RICE-JONES

July 1995 Gallery Sales

Functional Ware: Total Number of pieces
Average Value: $40.96

Figurative Work: Total Number of pieces:
Average Value: $234.72

Raku Work: Total number of pieces: 5
Average value: $78