If somebody had told me a month ago that I would be starting 2013 in Jingdezhen I would have laughed it off. Yet here I am… The new year is only three and a half weeks old and I’m back in the porcelain capital on a whirlwind trip.

Twelve hours after making a decision to join a friend on his delivery task and hit the road, I found myself drowsily sitting in a spacious Mercedes SUV, coffee in hand, ready to make the 7-hour drive south-west to Jingdezhen. Neither of us had ever made a road trip in China and had no idea what to expect, and I was pleasantly surprised.

We passed by small towns with old traditional houses, industrial cities puffing out smoke, scenic hillsides of bamboo groves and tea plantations, and drove through countless tunnels. The often odd Chinese way of doing things and funny language bungles made for an amusing road trip. On arrival in the porcelain city (which was hazy, on top of its permanent layer of ceramic dust), we unloaded our cargo, and I got right to work, running around to collect everything I would need to make my 72 hour stay worthwhile.

Now after toiling many focused hours over forty pieces, and having everything glazed and loaded into the kiln, I am finally allowing myself to relax and enjoy the rest of my short stay. Time will tell what the kiln will spit out. There is nothing I can do except to wait… and in the meantime to admire this beautiful ever-changing landscape of the glaze man’s wall.

Thus starts my year of Creativity.

CATEGORY: Insider
POSTED by blue bean	January 26, 2013