back to studio

My first day back work in the studio this week has started off with a beautiful Indian summer day. Outside was sun shining gorgeous weather and bumblebees being busy around blooming lavenders, but my North-facing studio (shed) was really cold. Now it all went back to normal English cold weather, the studio has become much colder. I mean, unbelievably unreasonably freezing cold for September. I put a down jacket on and forcefully ignored the gas heater I could see behind me. Not yet. If you have a nice bright warm studio, you are so lucky. I cannot even start to think about winter…. brrrrrr.

Anyway here are some snaps from the week. 

now i just want to eat jelly…  xm

53 Degrees

Yesterday was the 53 Degrees exhibition opening. I haven’t had a chance to mention this in the blog up to now, but my lilypad installation was selected for this group exhibition at The New School House Galley in York. Remember last year’s show (click here)? I was delighted to be involved in this show again among such wonderful artists at such a beautiful gallery. 

my thrown-porcelain lilypad installation

And what’s more? My work has received “Highly Commended Award”!!!!  So so pleased with myself :) If you would like to see more details of this lilypad installation, please click here. 

I felt this year’s selection was a much higher standard and found so many great works. Here are some of my favourite pieces from the exhibition. 

“Repaired Ceramics” by 3rd Prize winner Nigel Matthews

really eye catching oil painting “Human Needs” by Bartosz Beda

I fell in love with this work at the first sight. “Traces” by Becky Gee

stunning Kumihimo silk thread “Flowing” by 2nd Prize winner Deborah Mills

look at this intricate skill! such work of art and I LOVE it!

The exhibition will be open until 27th October. If you have a chance to come to North Yorkshire, please do call in. (For direction, click here) Work are on sale there too! xm

HELP JAPAN PROJECT 2 result & visit to Minamisanriku Cho

It’s been so hectic since we back from Japan. Much waited … but finally it is the time to share the result of HELP JAPAN PROJECT 2. I would also like to share the story of Minamisanriku Cho, the town we donated to. (click images to enlange)

Thank you so so so much 

for people who have contributed to and supported this fundraising project. This time round was rather harder, I must admit. When the news has disappeared from the screen, it is difficult to get people’s attention. As if people assume that the things were all back to normal, this may be a reality of the world we live. Nevertheless, we have managed to raise a total of 417,000 Japanese Yen (approx. £3600). Thank you so much! The donation was delivered directly to the town mayer in Minamisanriku Cho in August. 

handing our donation directly to the town mayer

We stayed at Minamisanriku-Cho for two nights and joined the volunteer group for one day. On our arrival, we headed to the town hall (emergency relief centre), all that was left was a damaged steel structure. I read about the story of the lady who lost her life but raised her voice till last minutes to help the residents to evacuate, and also the survival story of the town mayer on the roof top whilst many lost their life in front of his eyes. I prayed for those who lost their lives. Looking up from the bottom of this building of three storey, you really cannot imagine the tsunami was that high. Really high. 13 metre or more. Who could possibly have guessed this would happen? 

the skelton of the town hall (emergency relif centre) today

The town appeared to be not much different from what I saw last September (you can view here), although there were more electric lines and accessible roads than it was before, and the town hospital was now demolished. You can still see the mountain of cars, broken flood defenses and tons of debris piled up in the distance. Sea water from tide was left on the ground since the land sunk after the earthquake. 

seawater stays inland after tide as the land sunk since the earthquake

overgrowing summer weeds covers the foundations.
in a muggy air, you see the mountains of debris in the distance.

even huge flood defences were overwhelmed

Where is the sign of recovery? It is an irony to feel this huge gap between the life of people in Tokyo today, or anywhere that was not touched by the tsunami for that matter (except Fukushima of course), as if nothing had happened. The real view of this town strikes my heart so much. Hard to explain in words. Hard to bear this devastation. You really have to see this for yourself.

But then you see people in the town. Farmers working in the fields in the early morning, to crop their vegetables. Fishermen and builders rebuilding the ship deck area. A school girl working in the convenient store, temporarily built in the middle of nowhere. An old lady accessing the new hospital near the current town hall. They all living today, for today. Small changes are happening. We must acknowledge this. I thanked the girl in the convenient store and headed to the inn we booked. 

new Shitamini-so's front sign  'kizuna kansha' (bond of friendship, thank you)

I found this inn, Shitamichi-so, via Minamisanirku-Cho’s blog link. The tsunami took this inn, too, completely. (you can view it here) Must have been such a tough decision making period, for anyone who lost ‘main theme’ to their business. The land was ‘it’ and it has completely changed. Would people ever come to this land? But they have decided to rebuild it in the town and opened the new inn on the high land this February. I was simply overwhelmed by their strength and belief. The belief in this towns beauty. The belief in this towns spirit. A city girl like me would not easily comprehend. I take my hat off to their heart. 

beautiful sea view from the Shitamichi-so

Shitamichi-so provides fresh sea food from the morning sea by the fisherman son of the house, serving with home grown vegetables and local rice. Soothing sea breeze from the window whilst viewing the sea eases the soften skin after a hot bath. The moment that you feel the most appreciated. There is so much to learn from these people. 

Next day 8:30 am. My husband, his son and I joined the local volunteer group. We were 130 all together from North and South. Some were repeaters and some were on a group trip for a week or so. The task of the day was to divide the debris in one particular area, which was at the far end of the town. In general, the news is that there is no more debris, it is now all sorted and moving onto the local business support. It does not seem to be that case here. Minamisanriku appears to be much behind other towns. The 130 of us continued to tackle buried debris of all sort, broken concrete, glass, ceramics, toys, shoes, you name it. These need to be divided first, otherwise the authorities won’t collect them, even if they have space to collect them. (This is another huge problem in Japan at the moment, as there is no means to clear this amount of debris in a short space of time, it is said to take 10 years) 

debris devided by types

Working under 38˚C heat and humidity is hard. The organiser gave us frequent break time. I have never seen 2 litre of water gone so quickly. The volunteers weren’t allowed to take photos while working, a mark of respect. There were farmers working alongside the empty land we cleaned. They must be living in the temporary housing near the field. 

we worked around the foundations and foudations, clearning the debris
(this image was taken at 3pm)

3pm. We ended the work. Relief and fatigue mounted. At the same time, another mountain of divided debris been produced. One day passed. Another day to clean this land. One step closer to the recovery. 

On our way back to the inn, I noticed many pink thin flags tied with bamboo sticks here and there. I remembered I read somewhere that the red flags were marked where the dead body was found. A year and half has passed since the earthquake. I could only wish that what we did was meaningful to those people and future of this town. 

praying for the red flags.
brown trees behind tell us how far the tsunami reached

Prior to visiting the town, I prepared some photograph banners. These were taken from the children’s workshop "A Bird in the Hands" at POTFEST in the Pens. Over 200 images and messages were gathered and I put them together in English and Japanese to be able to show school children in Minamisanriku. We wanted to send our thoughts to the children, next generation of this town. 

The school was on summer holiday, so I asked the head of education in the town to pass the message on to primary schools. Minamisanriku Cho has three primary schools and I visited one of them, Sizugawa primary school, which was joined with Tokura primary school that was destroyed by tsunami. Luckily I managed to meet the deputy head of the school and explained my intention of this banner. He kindly explained the situation of the school pupil briefly. Most of them living in the temporary housing, some in the next town, commuting by school bus for 50 minutes or so. I cannot imagine 6-7 year old kids does that everyday, but I guess it is nicer for them to be with their old friends. I gave him a small batch of my HELP JAPAN birds that I had, to hand them to their younger pupils when the school restarts. 

The night before we left the town, we just managed to briefly visit the town festival. Newly set market area next to the destroyed concrete building. Many local businesses have reopened there. The festival was filled with locals and visitors. Children’s laughter echos among the fair stalls. Beside the line of lit fire stand (kagaribi), drum band attracts kids and adults. Fireworks displays in the sky. Everyone watching with smiles and recalling the summer they know once more. 

 

Every Little Helps. What I believe is hopefully somethings you can do too. There are so many ways to help the town like Minamisanriku-Cho directly and indirectly. By visiting (Seeing is believing!), by joining volunteering, by purchasing local products, by ackowledging and by spreading the word (more people knows, better result it gets!)… or maybe more! 

I have some stock of HELP JAPAN Birds and Light of Hope candle holders. They are back on online sales while the stock lasts and the donation will be sent to the town again. If you are interested in, you can see how to order here. Or simply email me at makikohastings@gmail.com

Thank you for reading this. xm

off to Japan!

After very long wet weather, we are finally having a good British summer. It seems rather silly leaving this and heading to much much hotter and humid summer in a way… Nevertheless, I am soooooooooooooo looking forward to seeing my folks in Japan. Only one more night to sleep. Can't wait!!!

During our stay, we will be visiting Minamisanriku-Cho to conclude my HELP JAPAN PROJECT 2. Will let you know the result in this blog hopefully soon. 

Enjoy your summer wherever you are, whatever you do. See you all soon xm

POTFEST in the Pens

Back from my first three-day ceramic show POTFEST in the Pens. Sunday was pouring down but we were safe under the roof of the cow shed! Great to be part of the show, having met many other potters and makers, and of course new customers. Despite this ongoing recession, luckily I have sold from all of my four different series of work, which was one of my aims. Thank you for those who came over. Here are some images from the show for you. Hope you like them. (click image to enlarge)

I'm still smiling on the day one, not experiencing leg ache (yet!)

new range of "hanetsubo" & "rakugaki" 

"mazekoze" had good sales :) 

porcelain lilypad received many good feedback.

The organaiser Geoff & Chris Cox kindly allowed me to hold HELP JAPAN Project within my stall. There were many generous visitors who contributed to help Japan. 

There also was a kids workshop run by the uni students, which was linked to my project by making birds to support the town. Their birds in their hands were photographed and will be sent to school in the town to show their support. Awesome! 

I did not have enough chance to go round each stall, but managed to speak to some artists, sharing their experience of the show and advice. Thank you so much and very very nice to meet you, Amanda, Charlotte, Sue and Lindsay. 

POTFEST showcases over 100 potters work including those from other countries. Fumihiro Fuyushiba, a Japanese potter based in Yokaichi has been taken part for many years. I felt privileged to speak to such a veteran potter like him and shared some time. Thank you Fuyushiba-san. 

There were so much to learn and so much to catch up post POTFEST. I would certainly like to come back to the show. If you have missed this year, hope you can come next summer! xm

Off to POTFEST!

poster image is by Sue Sharp  

Thank you so much everyone for visiting and contributing to HELP JAPAN PROJECT 2. Online sales are now closed, in order to prepare for the last phase of this project… including the last sales venue. Yes, I’m off to POTFEST in Pens! 

This is a long waited dream of mine as some of you might have read here. I am so exited and nervous. It will be a whole new experience and learning for me. Fingers crossed for going well. (and watch over me David!)

If you ever have a chance to come up to the Lake District between 3rd to 5th August, please do pop over. Looking forward to seeing you there. xm

HELP JAPAN PROJECT 2

Online sales are open till the stock lasts.

What is HELP JAPAN PROJECT 2? 

Following Japan’s devastating earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster in March 2011, I set up HELP JAPAN 1000 BIRDS PROJECT to raise money by selling my handmade ceramic birds through this blog. With many contributors’ support from all round the world, it has raised nearly £5000, which was donated to Japanese Red Cross. Although the news has faded away today, in fact their recovery has just started and they are facing a long journey. My visit to one of the devastated areas last September (you can view here) made me realise the importance of ongoing support. 

HELP JAPAN PROJECT 2  is my second fundraising project and is aimed to raise awareness, support and mostly hope to those affected people and the future generation.

What one can do might be small, but together we can build bigger and stronger hope, I truly believe. HELP JAPAN PROJECT 2 needs YOUR support. Every Little Helps. Thank you! 

You can view the result of this project (firsth phase) here.

Where does money go to? 

The donation will be delivered directly to Minamisanriku Cho in August. This town is one of the most devastated areas in the North of Japan. The majority of the town was wiped out by the tsunami. They face an unimaginable struggle and hardship towards their recovery, but people are striving today literary from zero. You can see more images (before & after) and the story of this town from here.  

How long does this project open? 

Online sales is open throughout July and it closes on Tuesday 31st July due to the administration prior to the visit to Japan in August. The online sale is reopen in September and continue until the stock lasts.

Who can help?

YOU! The project is open world wide through this blog, so anyone who can access to this post can contribute. 

How can I help? 

There are many ways that you can help. You can choose one or more, but hurry, some are limited numbers only. 

way to help ① Buy ‘HELP JAPAN Bird’

You can help by purchasing my little ceramic bird(s) and 100% proceeds will go to the donation. Last year 1000 limited edition of HELP JAPAN Birds were sold, the work inspired by the Japanese story of 1000 origami cranes (you can read more details here), wishing for their recovery from the disaster. Following many requests since the end of last project, the birds are back and ready to fly to a new home. 
‘HELP JAPAN’ logo was embossed on its body instead of wings, hoping for the affected people to be able to fly again for a new life. It can be used as a chopstick rest or a good luck charm for children, and adults alike. This would be the last time HELP JAPAN birds are available, so don’t miss this chance!!! Each bird was hand built and decorated individually, so please accept there may be a subtle difference to the image shown. (Please note that they are not numbered individually this year.) You can view a video of ‘making 1000 birds’ from last year here. 

way to help ② 

Buy ‘The Light of Hope’ candle holder

The original ‘Light of Hope’ is one of my recent work that was showcased at my Degree Show. (you can view here) I have made 60 limited edition (numbered each) of hand-thrown porcelain candle holders specially for HELP JAPAN PROJECT 2. Unglazed porcelain provides a distinctive matt surface and emphasises the translucency. The surface decorations indicate a number of teardrops shed last year, along with an ever-lasting message of keeping the light of hope to the future and the next generation for their long journey of recovery. 100% proceeds will go to the donation. Each piece was hand thrown, pierced and embossed individually, so please accept there may be a subtle difference to the image shown. 

way to help ③ Simply donate!

If you are happy to just donate without any purchace, or would like to contribute additional donation to your order, please do! No matter how small, it would be great help! Remember Every Little Helps!! Thank you. 

way to help ④ Spread the word! 

Friends, family, colleagues… please spread the word. Online sales are world wide, so use social network site such as Blog, Facebook, Twitter or maybe your mailing list, whatever the way you can share the information are welcome! If you would like to use the images in your blog, please only copy from this post (HELP JAPAN PROJECT 2) and make sure you share this link. I would appreciate if you could also let me know. Please do not use the other images without my permission. Thank you so much. 

way to help ⑤ Come to POTFEST in Pens

Why not visit Britain’s beautiful Lake District? I will be holding a stall at this ceramic show on 3rd, 4th & 5th August in Penrith, Cumbria. A range of items including my new work are available to purchase. 5% of stall proceeds will go onto the donation. HELP JAPAN Birds will also be on sale (whilst stock lasts). For more information of this event, please click here. 

How much are they?

‘HELP JAPAN Bird’ is £4 / bird. 

‘The Light of Hope’ candle holder is £30 / each. 

100% proceeds of both items will go to the donation. 

Package & Post fee will apply to each order. The details are below. Please note that P&P charge includes basic PayPal surcharges. This is to maximize the contribution to the appeal.

• The order will be sent via Royal Mail small packages service or standard airmail. 
• If you wish to be sent by special tracking delivery, please request me when you place an order. There will be an additional charge.  

How can I place my order? 

You can order via email. Once your order has come through, you will then receive a PayPal payment request in £/GBP on the same email address. You can pay by following the payment instruction, which should allow you to pay via your PayPal account if you have one, otherwise you can use credit card / debit card. PayPal is a safer, faster and easier way to purchase online and setting up is very easy. Please DO NOT send me cash or cheque. 

If you are local to my studio, direct purchase can be arranged. Please contact me first. I will also be selling HELP JAPAN Birds at POTFEST in Pens on 3rd, 4th & 5th August. For more information of this event, please click here. 

When do I receive my order? 

Your order will be posted AFTER the payment confirmation. Please allow 3-5 working days within UK, and 10-15 working days for oversea delivery. You will receive an email notice from me when the item has been sent out. If you require special delivery, please indicate when you place an order.

Can I refund or exchange? 

I’m afraid not. This is a non-profitable fundraising project to raise donations and in order to provide smooth administration, I will not be able to accept any refund or exchange once the order is received. Please make sure all the information is correct before you send your Email.

Any questions? 

If you have any questions prior to the order, please feel free to email me. 

HOW TO ORDER: 

Please email me <subject:> HELP JAPAN, and state the followings in your order. 

1. Please indicate clearly which items / how many you would like to buy.

for example;  Bird x 2 , The light of hope x 1

2. If you would like to donate (just donate or additional), please indicate the amount in £ / GBP. It will be added to the total payment request. 

3. Your name

4. Your full postal address (Please include name of country & post code)

You do not need to calculate in your order. Once your order has been placed, you will receive the payment request of the total amount (items cost, P&P, extra donation) via email. 

CLICK HERE to order

(If this does not work, please email me to makikohastings@gmail.com)

Thank you everyone!!! xm