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Making Ceramics in China By Suzu MatsudaThis past May my husband Larry Cohen and I participated in aresidency program at the Art Institute of Sanbao in China about 10kilometers from the city of Jingdezhen. The city of 1.6 million hasbeen known as the “porcelain city” since the Song Dynasty and hasa history of porcelain making that spans 1000 years. Large porcelainvases and ceramic ware of many sizes and shapes line some streets ofthe city, and the poles of street lamps and stop signs are covered withpainted ceramic.The road to Sanbao takes us into the country: lush with greenery,flanked by mountains on both sides and a river running along the sideof the road. The Art Institute is a complex of buildings that look likethe China of the past. The main building has rooms for residents, arestaurant, a gift shop, a bar and an administration office. Antiquesand ceramics are a part of the environment; pottery shards areincorporated in walk ways and walls, and posters of ceramic exhibitsare on the walls. Many come to visit this site for a delicious meal and alook around; everyday there were guests taking pictures and enjoyingthe ambiance. The building is beautiful. Our room was light and airy,and we would wake up to the sound of geese and chickens below usand the sight of mist on the mountains.Master Ceramist Jackson Li in collaboration of his sister Wenying(Wendi) Li envisioned a residency program for artists from all over theworld. They come to make art and ceramics and sometimes work withstudents and artists of China. When we arrived, there was a group ofstudents and their teacher from Lakehead University in Thunder Bay,Ontario. They were making ceramic sculpture. They also had a smallexhibition with some Chinese students of ceramics. Shortly after theyleft, a group of master ceramic artists from Delft, the Netherlands,arrived. They made their own work and worked along-side ceramicartists from other parts of China later in their stay. They were to havean exhibition in Shanghai in the fall of 2012 and later show the workin Delft.Larry and I worked in large studio space a short walk from the mainbuilding. I worked on a second floor throwing ware with one of themany Shimpo wheels using the area’s famous porcelain clay. Larryhand-built pieces on the third floor in a beautiful spacious studio. Wehad our work bisqued, spray glazed, and fired in a propane-fired kiln byspecialists, who loaded the kilns, glazed our pots, and fired the kiln.Across from our studios was the workshop of Jackson Li, a beautifulwooden building with a river flowing past. At the time we were there,Jackson was producing artisanal-style stoneware, tablets of clay withrelief to be fired with a celadon glaze, and very large platters withcopper red under glaze paintings. He had many people working withhim: Mashifu, who threw his ware and fired his kilns; an over glazepainter who painted detailed intricate designs on bisque ware; Xiao,who glazed pots and loaded kilns, and a person who was makingbrushes out of bamboo. On the ground level of our studio space therewere three gas-fired kilns, several electric kilns and a wood-fired kiln.There was always lots of activity in the studio area, and I enjoyedwatching how things were done.The city of Jingdezhen has many resources related to ceramics. Thereis a glaze street with many shops selling pre-mixed glazes of everycolour, and there are stores that sell tools for making ceramics, andbrushes and supplies for painting on ceramics. We visited a sculpturefactory with studios for those making ceramics, and endless marketsCeramic stop light in Jingdezhen. Photo by Suzu Matsuda.and small shops where ceramics were sold—some very beautiful, andsome very ordinary. There is a district where clay tiles of almost everysize were made for painting. We watched them make perfect 2’ x 4’tiles, which they painted with traditional blue under-glaze, coveredwith a clear glaze and loaded into the kiln. Public kilns were availablefor a per-square-inch price. Jingdezhen is to ceramics as Detroit was tothe automobile. Evidence of ceramics was everywhere we went. It wasan exciting, inspiring, and unforgettable experience.Suzu Matsuda and Larry Cohen have been involved with ceramicssince the 1970s.Jackson Li’s Studio. Photo by Suzu Matsuda.Potters Guild of BC Newsletter . July/August 20127