Yesterday, I got the news that my "Horsehair Vase" was accepted in "The 6th Mashiko International Ceramics Competition 2006 of Japan". And the piece received a Judges' Special award, selected by the artcritic Rupert Faulkner. The prize winning works will be displayed at the Mashiko Museum of Ceramic Art from October 8 to December 10, 2006 in Japan.

Mashiko is an important potter’s village, made known by Hamada Shoji, the legendary pioneer of Japan’s pottery folk art movement. Mashiko represents the essence of the old Japan and a unique reservoir of local clay and hills suitable for the "nobori-gama" kilns. Hamada was convinced that outstanding craftsmanship flows from the natural environment. His vision was about fusing nature's grace and beauty with pottery's functional forms. He has a career-long devotion to the use of the delicate clay indigenous to Mashiko and was honored to be a "National Living Treasure".

My website: www.swanceramics.com