Two month ago, I visited Hyōgo Ceramic Art Museum again with a friend of mine. This time, there was an exhibition about akae (a style of Kutani ware ), which is my favorite because the color read looks flamboyant and elegant. Aka means red in Japanese, so all the pieces are prominently feature red. One of akae’s distinctive feature is incredibly thin and delicate lines, and the lines create varieties of geometric patterns.

My friend and I absolutely enjoyed the exhibition to star hard the old pieces. We carefully studied the antique pieces. Some of them are made during the Edo period. We were overwhelmed by the amazing craftsmanship. Since we were allowed to take photos, I'd love to share them with you.

I sometimes use similar techniques and create my own hand-painted pieces, but my skills are way lower than these. I deeply admire these artisans. I'd love to reach their levels some day but I'm not sure if it's possible even though I believe practice makes perfect. Their work seems superhuman to me because they are too flawless. I can't imagine how they managed to draw such fine lines. The lines were thinner than a strand of hair! Did they use a single-hair brush to create them?!

Every piece in the exhibition was absolutely breathtaking. The last piece in the picture below is a bit different from others and it's called gosuakae (呉州赤絵　ごすあかえ)in Japanese. It was originated in Chaina while ake itself was developed in Japan. I've been working on my very first gosuakae piece for a while and I'll show you once I finish it.

This exhibition truly inspired me, and I’ve resolved to put in more effort to reach that level of skill.

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