Sometimes (most times actually) I still can’t believe that this is my life.

I was invited by one of the trainers at the gym I go to in Jingdezhen to his town on the outskirts of Jingdezhen to play some basketball and have dinner with his family.  It was an awesome day and I think I was the first foreigner to have ever been there in a very long time if ever.  His family was extremely kind and generous, we had an amazing meal of fish, garlic shoots. eggplant, pork and bell peppers, egg and green peppers, potatos and an assortment of other tasty treats.  I also took the number 4 bus back and got some great footage of the city at night.  Apologies for the shaky camera work, hopefully it will not make anyone car sick when watching.

Here are some random shots of my Chinese life.  Some pictures of a local factory area, a scooter ride we took up a nearby mountain, the open market and a typical lunch spread that I eat at the PWS.  When I look back through these photos I can’t help but feel “is this my life? I live in China!” I’m still amazed that life has brought me here to such an amazing and off-the-wall place.

apologies for the poor picture quality, my little hand-held video camera doesn’t take great photos. Now to be glazed, fired and then more building of surface.

Here is night one in the tile factory. Going back today, to clean up the lines, put in the border, apply a underglaze transfer pattern around the edges and maybe start tile #2.

Here is a sampling of some drawings I did this Sunday.  Hopefully they will become tiles that I will create.  The plan is to build up the surface with multiple layers, underglaze, carving, glaze, china paint, luster and decal.  It has been very interesting to be in China during such expedient change. The same way that I have been interested in the modernist manic need to sweep away anything old (pattern, decoration, common sense), I have found a current cultural phenomenon in China that I find to be quite akin.It seems to be something started during the cultural revolution where everything of the past was swept aside and I see it has evolved into this zealot westernization.  Living so much of my life in the wake of the slow death of once great industrial cities and moving to Jingdezhen, a place bustling with activity, has created a palpable contradiction. On one hand I love being in a place that is full of energy and spirited optimism for the future, on the other hand I see the same mistakes being made culturally, ecologically and socially. BSG so aptly described the crux

“All this has happened before, and it will happen again…again…again…again…again…again…again…again…again”

Though I have spent most of my “art life” deeply mired in my nostalgia affliction. Making work became a eulogy of a too often lamented relative. Whereas in China, there still seems to be time to save that which is worth saving. Though I do see an absorbent amount of blue and white porcelain malformations that really should have been aborted long ago…

This Past Wednesday was the Autumn Moon Festival.  This holiday coincides with the full moon and celebrates the beginning of autumn.  We had a great dinner with the traditional moon cakes (made from sesame seed).  After that we headed back to The Sculpture factory to write our wishes on paper lanterns and set them free in the blustery winds brought on by the typhoon hitting land fall farther east.  It was an amazing night to spend with my fellow coworkers and the resident artists.