TOKONAME: FROM THE ROOFTOPS! This place is a huge part of my “making” origin story and it’s so good to be back home. Through a program called #iwcat (international workshop for ceramic artists and teachers) that I first came to Tokoname in 2004. From this visit, I’ve come back regularly to make and see friends and be inspired. It’s very hard to explain the joy I have when I’m here but evident how the place has impacted me when you see the work. I am preparing for a tribute project here and over the next six weeks I’ll share so much about this place that I hold as dear as my family’s land in Mississippi and my sojourn trip to Accra, Ghana. It’s actually this combination of places, Mississippi, Japan and the continent, that so much of the philosophical and emotional intent behind the work is born. Thank you, #yuichihirano for your beautiful life’s work and for allowing me to meander through your wares. Thank you @aichitriennale for the invitation, the Obayashi Foundation for always being so generous to me and @ingridlilligren my first ceramic teacher and dear wise sage, for writing the letter to Mr. Ichihara that allowed me to first come here.