Friends of the Museum:
T:"Hey, so what else are we going to do next? I'm taking up pilates now. It's expensive, but I like it."
N:"Ako, guess what? I'm taking voice lessons at the Ryan Cayabyab school in Galeria. It's 500 for 30 minutes and my instructor's very strict huh. Today nga I learned he died of a heart attack, imagine that! O, Armi naman di ba you're doing yoga, so how was it?"
A: "I like it but it costs P500 per session so I'm taking badminton classes now..."
T: " Ano pa kaya what we can do, I'm thinking of taking pottery classes at Petty Johnson.. Wait, there's this Jazz dance class at Rockwell. I think that should be fun. "
N: " I heard about this strip tease class naman.."
A: " Oh, is that the one with the pole? I heard about it from someone else eh.."
N:" Hindi ata..hahaha..i can't imagine myself with a pole. You know, T has tried almost everything, she also took up make-up classes, that's 11k for 8 saturdays"
T: " Yeah, I really wanna do something with my saturdays. This is my me time. What about massage kaya?"
A." I'm not sure i want to learn that because it's hard- i get it all the time and I know it's hard work for the therapist.."
T: " Yeah nga, pero di ba it would be nice if you learn how to do it yourself so your hubby won't look for it elsewhere..."
A and N: " Ahhh....oo nga.."
We were at the Toushin Maruyama pottery class, and it just struck me funny that while we were molding, pounding on the clay and having our Ghost pottery moment, I was actually having this conversation. I'm actually very jologs, but I must admit I like conversations about ideas. What fun 'ey?
It was an interesting class, and Maruyama-san has a lot of showmanship and talent. I was touched with his intro speech.
On Being Alive
"I was in Dumaguete, and walking along the beach. Walking with the wind blowing in the air, blue skies, very calm and beautiful beach. At that moment, that single moment, I felt alive! It felt good! And eventhough I had no swimsuit, I took off everything (except my briefs) and I swam for an hour..Art has nothing to do with that moment, but nature has touched me, and in one way or the other it will be reflected in my work.."
On His Creations
"It's not a boat! Everyone says it is, but it's called Dawn in Winter (my favorite piece in the museum's japanese pottery exhibit) ..I tried to capture the texture of the snow. I did not make this, it's borne out of the kiln. Sometimes it takes me 30 hours using a compressor or using various temperatures with my stick to create different colors and textures. 30 hours non-stop, pounding at the clay, and I swore i won't do it again, but 2 days later im there again. I use charcoal to create the grayish color, heavy fire creates pink color. I like shapes and color.To make a shape, you have to cut the clay,dig it out to make it hollow, otherwise it will explode, then you have to attach each layer. It's strange. I can't recreate each work. I have some typical japanese work (plate with a very zen-like feel to it), I don't like it but i must survive.. so please buy. So i can go back to japan..." he jokes.
On Sakura
"I feel sad everytime I see cherry blossom, because I know this thing of beauty will be gone soon."
I knew exactly what he meant.
Domo arigatoo gozaimahita,Maruyama-san.
Postscript:
When I was at the pottery-forming machine Maruyama-san said for first timers like me, I have to touch the clay, feel it, then be not afraid to push it, to create a form. He grabbed both my hands, making me feel the clay, pressing, pushing, gently forming, and it was a good experience, to touch, to feel a different texture. He told me NOT to think, but to just FEEL, go with the flow..
On the freestyle, I found out after not really knowing what I'm supposed to be creating that I was a bit obsessed about curves, folds, shape and texture- whether it was in the ashtray or vase I made. I dunno, we'll see next week if this turns out to be something worth keeping. It was fun interacting with my classmates, we were all having a blast, seeing what each one would make.
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