Next to last entry from summer 2013 in Jingdezhen, China

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The summer got way from me and I could not keep up with blogging. Long 100 degree days in the studio took most of my energy and weak internet at the youth hostel made things too slow. Compound with a camera malfunction that took over two weeks to resolve left me with finishing my blog after returning home. Here we go!

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Photos

Jingdezhen
In the studio of artist Sin Ying Ho who is working on a commission for a big hotel in Hong Kong.

Jingdezhen
She hired one of the surface repair experts that fills cracks by matching colors.

Jingdezhen
He uses an epoxy with pigment to fill cracks to match the glaze.

Jingdezhen
Back in the studio with my three assistants.

Jingdezhen
Huang Ke and Peng Wei carving holes that I have mapped out for them on my work.

Jingdezhen
We found a cool little snack bar window attached to a gallery.

Jingdezhen
Manguo bing.....mango ice drinks.

Jingdezhen
Peng Wei and the two cups she bought and decorated with decals. She helped me the first two weeks of July.

Jingdezhen
Huang Ke will stay for three more weeks helping until near the end of my time in Jingdezhen.

Jingdezhen
This is getting weird....another lost pair of shoes.

Jingdezhen
They turned me into a monk because I carry my monk bag around all the time. One day I filled it with bananas and called it my monkey bag.

Jingdezhen
Fuzzy image turned out to be the last one for a while. When I turned off my Cannon G10 the lens would not retract and the whole camera became disabled. Over two weeks before I got it miraculously repaired.

Jingdezhen
Bad lens. A new friend I met at the youth hostel had a friend who works at the Canon shop in Hangzhou. I ended up sending the camera to them by express mail. It was back in my hands in three days with a brand new lens. They did not charge me any labor so $50 total charge. AMAZING!!!! I met the right friend at the right time.

Jingdezhen
My new friend Sherry who is visiting Jingdezhen for a few days and staying at the youth hostel. She quit her job two years ago and has been traveling around Asia experiencing life beyond a conventional life. Very cool woman. She was only going to stay for one more day when we met. I half jokingly said, we just met you should stay longer and I will teach you about porcelain. She stayed three weeks exploring the city and helping me sometimes in the studio. We became great friends.

Jingdezhen
I arranged through my friend Ding to visit the big ware factory on a day they would be throwing a large piece. I wanted to shoot more video of more then two people throwing.

Jingdezhen
These are not even what I call the big ones.....maybe....medium sized.

Jingdezhen
We hit it right. They were going to throw sections for large vessel forms. The master thrower does not work for this company. He is hired by the day to come in and throw. Maybe another day he works for another factory.

Jingdezhen
Centering around 300 pounds.

Jingdezhen
Pulling the walls.

Jingdezhen
I got what I wanted...more then two throwers. This time five! The master thrower doing the splits, three others to support his hands and one to pour water. Amazing!

Jingdezhen
I got a great vantage point to shoot the video by climbing a large tower used when constructing the tall vases.