Last Monday, I woke up at 5 am and headed to a meeting spot to see two of my friends. The three of us visited Miyama again to see a pottery exhibition. It was my first time attending the show, but according to one of my friends, it has hold every year around this season.

The mail box in the picture below is handmade by the artist.

I saw a large stockpile of firewood.

One of my friend visits the show every year and she invited my other friend and me to join her this time. The pottery artist has been selling potted lotus as well. There were so many pots, but since I've heard growing lotus plants is difficult, and getting them to bloom can be quite a challenge, I hesitated.

I almost thought buying one, but I ended up buying one of his art pieces. One of my friend bought bought a pink lotus and said she’d share her experience of growing it, so I’ll decide next year whether to try it myself.

The view was just amazing! I thought how wonderful it must be to create pottery while being surrounded by such beautiful nature.

I absolutely loved the idea of floating flowers in a bowl. I'd love to use that as a decoration for my entrance too.

The three different sized axes in the picture below are to chop for firewood, and they looked so cool!

The inside of the house was also very lovely. The artist bought this traditional thatched-roof house thirty years ago and moved in with his family and his mother. He renovated the whole house on his own. He even renovated the thatched roof. He and his wife raised four children there while making and selling their handmade pottery. He proudly showed the two of furniture in the picture below because he finally found the perfect ones for that room. Everything looked so perfect and I was deeply inspired by his house. I asked him lots of questions about living in such a rural area. He shared stories about his country life with us. He's seen bears, wild boars, monkeys and deer every day. Deer loves eating his lotus leaves, and monkeys annoy him eating his crops in his yard.

Even though I don't make pottery, I've always been interested in it. I immediately felt in love with his art pieces. They looked earthy, warm, and unique.

Luckily, he showed his working place. I was a bit surprised at the small space.

Since both of my friends are also china painters, we all enjoyed chatting about pottery, pottery society in Kyoto, the future of ceramics, ceramic business and more. He suggested I create a sales place like his (He has his own shop in his house) because selling through middlemen raises the prices of our work. Selling directly helps keep prices more reasonable. I've thought I'd love to try selling my online shop, so I might not need an actual shop like his. He's curious about my art pieces, so I promised next time I'll bring at least one of mine.

To wrap things up, I'd love to show you the piece I bought. It's a flower vase, and I'm planning on decorating it in a tokonoma (traditional alcove). One of my friends bought a tea pot, and the other friend bought some plates and a lotus plant. It was such a fantastic day to meet a new artist and have great conversations!

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