'Give it Over To The Fire'

Pottery by Dave Zdrazil

Humboldt County artists open their studios to the public for North Coast Open Studios on the first two weekends in June. This is an annual "must-do" for us.

We usually make a long day of it, visiting as many studios as we can pack in. This year we were limited to just a single day, so we pared our list down to two husband/wife studios: Lorraine Lindley and Mark Young, and Shannon Sullivan and Dave Zdrazil. Mark and Dave's styles are very different, but their pottery is clearly influenced by a Japanese aesthetic. After visiting with these wonderful artists, I wrote a post for the North Coast Journal about our studio tours, 'Give it Over To The Fire.' More photos there too!


 

Stumbling Through the Internet

Discovered a couple new-to-me websites today and thought I'd share.

http://www.thewayofteainla.blogspot.com
About chado, written by tea practitioner and instructor Lauren Deutsch.

http://mingeisota.blogspot.com
About pottery, written by Minesota pottery artist Lee Love.

April Ohanami Tea Ceremony and Taiko Demonstration

A busy springtime leaves little time for writing! After our demonstration and fundraiser in April we found ourselves busier than usual with little energy or time to spare.

As we settle now to a more normal pace of life we're finding some snippets of time to catch up. Here are some photos from our spring Ohanami Cherry Blossom Viewing Tea Ceremony and Taiko demonstration.

Tea ceremony demonstration in the lobby
of the historic Vance Hotel,Old Town, Eureka.

Origami crane "adoption" table, with Johnson Tilghman and D'har.
Gary Thawatchai Ronne begins his taiko performance.

A curious onlooker watches Gary Thawatchai Ronne
as he demonstrates taiko.

One of Gary Thawatchai Ronne's taiko drums, made of a wine barrel.

Detail of one of Gary's drums.

The skies threatened to rain on us, so we held our demonstration indoors at the then-vacant Vance Hotel lobby. The Eureka-Kamisu Sister City Association benefitted from our "Adopt A Crane for Kamisu" campaign and we shared cha-no-yu with about 45 people. Taiko performances by Gary Thawatchai Ronne were a special treat.

Many thanks go out Gary and his lovely family for adding the new dimension of taiko to our demonstration; to Johnson Tighlman and the students of Eureka High School who are working to re-boot the Eureka-Kamisu Sister City exchange student program; to our friends (both old and new!) who support our efforts to share tea in Humboldt County; and especially to our "Tea(m) Horai" volunteers without whose help we could not offer these demonstrations.

And yes, the cherry trees were lovely! More photos are on our Facebook page.

Ohanami/Tea Ceremony Demonstration UPDATE

Sunday, April 7, 2013, Noon-2:00 p.m.
NEW VENUE IN CASE OF RAIN:
Vance Hotel Lobby, 525 2nd St., Old Town, Eureka

A last update as we head into this rainy weekend — yes, the forecast this weekend is for rain —  so no tea outdoors beneath the cherry trees. But we're very fortunate to have the lovely Vance Hotel lobby as our new and larger alternate venue! The Vance is located at 525 2nd St. (between F and G streets) in Old Town, Eureka. Many thanks to Eureka Main Street and the Vance Hotel!

Please join us this Sunday, bring a friend and come adopt an origami crane! Proceeds benefit the Eureka-Kamisu Sister City Association and the Ink People Center for the Arts. See our Facebook event page (https://www.facebook.com/events/520822421292902/) .

If you can't make it this weekend, try to take a moment — soon — to appreciate the beautiful cherry trees on the Gazebo. They're magical!

It's Cherry Blossom Time

We're celebrating with a Japanese Tea Ceremony and Taiko Demonstration!

Enjoy the cherry trees on Eureka's Old Town Gazebo with a demonstration of the Japanese Tea Ceremony and traditional Taiko drumming on Sunday, April 7 from noon to 2:00 p.m., Second and F streets in Old Town, Eureka. This event benefits the newly-revitalized Eureka-Kamisu Sister City Association. Kimono or other traditional attire is encouraged.

Presented by the Horai Center for the Study of Pacific Culture, a DreamMaker program of the Ink People Center for the Arts. 

For more information or to participate, email horai.center@gmail.com or visit our Facebook event page!

Inspiration

The wind of Mount Fuji 

I've brought on my fan 

A gift from Edo 

— Bashō 

A breath, a breeze. That's how brief it seemed as we presented an introductory course on "Chado: The Japanese Way of Tea" through Humboldt State University's OLLI program.

There is so much to learn about the Way of Tea that it seems impossible to even contemplate such a course, but our intrepid class seemed to enjoy the presentations — from the first aisatsu to the influence of Zen. Each of three two-hour class meetings incorporated a slide show and discussion of history, philosophy and aesthetics followed by a presentation of usucha, or the thin tea ceremony.

Harvey discusses wabi as part of the the philosophy
of Chado. Wabi is always a topic of particular interest,
but is a such a difficult concept to explain!

Awesome hanto prepared many bowls of tea in the mizuya.

A makeshift tokonoma with a Valentine's Day theme.

Laura and Harvey present usucha, the thin tea ceremony

So many books to read!

Laura and Pia in a four-and-a-half mat "room"

Laura and Pia in a four-and-a-half mat "room"

Holly makes tea for Laura and Pia

Pia prepares to make tea for some of the students

Laura, Pia and Holly (Ann, not pictured, was a
hard worker behind the scenes.)

Of the many joys of Chado is the sharing of poetry and art. Several students read haiku in class, and two students were inspired to bring hand-made cards with the haiku featured in this post. Another shared a reading from a book on shodo and ink painting. Before and after class we discussed travel, gardening, pottery … as we should at any tea gathering.

So many memories

flood my mind —

cherry blossoms 

— Bashō
 

The science of cherry blossoms (3:00)

Explained artistically by the Washington Post.