Journal

Not sure what the Sculpture Factory in Jingdezhen is all about?  Well… it’s not a factory as such… but was once many moons ago.  Today, the Sculpture Factory is a like a little village all on its own, scattered with masters, craftsman and artisans in just about every nook and cranny.

Today is a new day in Jingdezhen and the Sculpture Factory and I can’t wait to get started.  There’s a small clay shop just up the road and I find some beautiful coffee-coloured stoneware/porcelain clays and a rather gritty/groggy pepper-speckled porcelain to play with.  I’m in love.  One of the young volunteers from the Pottery Workshop has accompanied me and she can thankfully can translate because I’m stuffed if I know how I’m going to be able to carry back 40 kg of clay.  I’m told not to worry; we’ll call the Carry Man.  She calls, he comes.  That’ll be 20¥ thanks.

Jingdezhen and the Sculpture Factory

It’s not until months later that I learn how the Sculpture Factory came about.  What I’ve learned today though is that there appears to be a ‘Man’ here in Jingdezhen for everything.  Now… I mean that in the nicest, possible, polite way of course.  🙂  If you want a mould made you see the Mould-Maker Man.  If you want beautiful flowers, you see the Flower Man.  If you want your work glazed professionally (and I mean professionally! – ie by the masters that glaze work day in, day out, and have been for 20+ years), then you see the Glaze Man.  For firing, go see the Kiln Man…. and so it goes on.  A man for everything indeed… I must tell my husband. 😉

The Flower (and insect) Master at the Sculpture Factory (© Deanna Roberts 2016)

The glaze shops are next on the agenda.  OMG.  I’m a kid in a lolly shop.  What a selection!  It’s crazy.  I’m handling all the samples… one in every colour of the rainbow no doubt.  I love the look of a dry-red speckled glaze, oh but wait… there’s a gorgeous green one as well, and oh, a beautiful soft blue, and a white, and a gorgeous black… But then I’m told to wait because there’s so much more to see.  What?  More glazes than this?  Yep….a whole lot more.

Travel hint no. 15 – Don’t bring any glazes – there’s simply no need.

One of many glaze shops in Jingdezhen (© Deanna Roberts 2017)

We cross the road to head for Paint Town, a shop that sells cobalt.  I’m going to need this for my china blue and white painting class.  Expecting to walk in and buy a small tub of dry cobalt oxide, I’m shown to at least 56 different flavours of cobalt; wet, and in a multiple shade of each.  This is insane.  I’ve never seen anything like it.  There’s blue, darker and lighter blue, really mega-dark blue, and so dark it’s almost a black kind of blue.  Oh wait… it is black.  Oh… and there’s a green, and another gorgeous, royal blue.  I settle for a rich, darker blue that looks like it will do for a beginner.

I ask one of the staff why the cobalt is wet and next thing the owner appears, invites me to sit down and gives me a lecture on wet cobalt and can’t understand why I would want it dry when it comes already prepared for painting.  When I try to explain I want it for adding to my own glaze recipes it doesn’t seem to register.  I’m interrupted over and over again and told, not asked, to remain sitting down.  Inside I’m bursting with laughter, but I’m being polite and allowing this guy to share his view of the world and cobalt.  He explains in fine detail how long it takes to prepare dry cobalt requiring it to be put outside to dry and then for the labour to grind it down and into a fine powder.  It doesn’t seem to matter to him what I want to use it for.  I’m in for the long haul here… a half-hour lecture is happening whether I like it or not.  I’m still grinning on the inside though… this guy is fascinating.  I’m listening intently.  He’s also loud, very loud and I can see in my peripheral vision that the other customers are smiling at my expense.  No doubt they’ve seen it all before.

Paint Town and wet cobalt (© Deanna Roberts 2017)

Finally, I’m directed to another little shop just up the road; a tiny little corner shop that sells dry cobalt and I’m glad to find that it’s about a quarter of the price of what I’d pay at home.  The guy with the loud voice, the uncomfortable yet beautifully carved wooden seat I’m told to sit in and the smorgasbord of cobalt will be forever etched in my mind.  I’m happy though.  I have a few glazes to start playing with.  So will you once you get to the Sculpture Factory in Jingdezhen.

Travel hint no. 16 – Never make assumptions.

Suddenly a rickety-looking cab (it has definitely seen better days…) appears outside the front of the hotel and a strange man and lady have come to collect me to take me to the Pottery Workshop.  After some introductions we head off and it’s goodbye to Diana for a few days.  I’m driven only a short distance (certainly less than a couple of kilometres) and have completely no bearings at all and we pull up on a small road that runs between two main roads.  It’s like a different world here… it’s own little community.

The Pottery Workshop artist residency (© Deanna Roberts 2016)

I’m led to a long building with a cafe and gallery downstairs and notice other little shops, a bar and pathways leading to mysterious places.  I’m shown upstairs to my room, the bathroom and kitchen areas and the studio space where I first meet Leanne, Maggie, Camille and Emily sitting at a table with Huang Fei who is guiding them through the art of cobalt painting on ceramics.  Looks interesting.  Definitely have to find out more about what’s going on there.  It’s nice to see some Aussies again whom I seem to have an instant rapport with.

Huang Fei and his finished demo piece (© Deanna Roberts 2016)

My work table is large enough for me to spread out my creativity and we manage to shift a potter’s wheel into position and on to a few bricks for me to comfortably work on for the next few weeks.  I’m somewhat in awe of this large studio space.  It’ll take a bit of getting used to but I’m revelling in the huge amount of natural light and so relieved to find airconditioners and fans running.  It’s soooooo hot and humid right now.  You only need to move an inch to build up a sweat.

Travel hint no. 13 – Drink plenty of water.

I look around the space and notice that some of the other artists are quite prolific and churning out the work.  Others are happy to sit and sketch, modelling clay a little bit at a time.  Each artist at their own pace.  I’m in a good place.  Like-minds all working together, harmoniously and quietly, subconsciously and productively.

Pottery Workshop studios – Jingdezhen (© Deanna Roberts 2016)

This studio is all part of the Sculpture Factory.  There’s a lot of history behind it and I’m yet to learn more about it.  It’s not a factory as I’d imagined, ie it’ not a large warehouse type of setup or a group of them; it’s more like a village, with small pockets of experts dotted around.  There’s a mystery around every corner an buckets of history to go with it.  I’m shown the 3 public kilns, the dining room, the mould-makers, the shops, the cafe, the bar and the office, where the local constabulary has rocked up to register my arrival.  I hand over my passport again and wait while he completes the paperwork and speaks a lot of Chinese to the office staff.  No point in me listening really.  It’s not like I have a clue what they’re talking about.

All I want to do is rest now.  I’m exhausted after the flight, the hotel, the Sculpture Factory tour and the stairs… up and down, up and down, up and down.  I can see this is going to be challenging in more ways than I imagined.  Humidity, stairs, language… mmm.

Collapsing into my bed… OMG, it’s like lying on a brick.  If you like firm beds then this is for you.  If not, be prepared for a lot of spinal adjustments and a few sleepless nights.  At least I have a great view.

View from Pottery Workshop residency (© Deanna Roberts 2016)

Travel hint no. 14 – Bring a self-inflating mattress if you prefer your creature comforts.

I do, however, sleep rather well.  I guess exhaustion contributes to that.  Felt good to shut my eyes; really, really good.

Departing Shanghai for Jingdezhen – Shenzhen Airlines (© Deanna Roberts 2016)

Travelling to Jingdezhen via Shanghai means doing some research first.  There’s only one flight to Jingdezhen from Shanghai each day at 9.30 am.  It’s easy enough to find the check-in counter but going to the wrong terminal at Shanghai, let alone the wrong terminal can mean a very long walk.  Hong Xiao Airport is the one to visit for domestic flights.  Going back to Pudong airport will mean you’re heading for Customs and Immigration all over again.  The plane from Shanghai to Jingdezhen (usually as a stopover to Shenzhen) is particularly cosy and I, being 175 cm tall, can’t possibly sit with my knees together.  The food is… well… a lot to be desired.  If you like eating spongy cardboard you’ll be happy.  Ick.  Served in a cardboard box you’ll most likely receive a dry bun, a cake with imitation icing and some crunchy, hollow, sesame flavoured snack that look like nuts but taste more like a mouthful of salt.  A cardboard diet on a cardboard plane.

Disembarking and humidity hits.  It is the end of their Summer after all… its early September but this is particularly wet, without any rain.  I’m a bucket of perspiration before I even get to the car.  Danyun, Master Liu’s daughter and great friend of Diana’s, meets us.  Of course it’s only been a few minutes and she’s not sure about me yet, but it’s easy to see that she and Diana are close and have shared many stories over the years.

Travel hint no. 7 – Bring twice as much deodorant as you think you’ll need.

Jingdezhen footpath under construction (© Deanna Roberts 2016)

Travelling to Jingdezhen via Shanghai – Day 1

It’s my first day in Jingdezhen and as we head for my hotel for my first night’s stay, we drive an all-too familiar route for Danyun and Diana but of a course, a completely unfamiliar one for me.  In some parts the roads and footpaths are in dire need of repair.  In others, the roads are very good.  There’s construction happening everywhere and demolition too.  It saddens me especially to see the destruction of some old, ancient buildings and I wonder what memories they hold.  There are also some buildings untouched by the wrecking ball, but probably should be…. but then where do these poor people live?

A woman is washing her child in a bucket and the dog is rummaging through rubbish looking for food.  There are foreigners driving by – that’d be us – and we’re obviously a bit of a novelty here.

Travel hint no. 8 -Prepare to be stared at…. a lot!

Vision Fashion Hotel passageway – Jingdezhen (© Deanna Roberts 2016)

The hotel is nice enough and we’re met by another friend of Diana’s, Chunggen, who graciously carries my heavy suitcase up these tiny little stairs, to my room.  Damn it… I’ve caught the back of my sandal under the automatic swing door.  3 pairs of shoes has now become 2.

Travel hint no. 9 – Unless you have the physique of a teenager, forget about buying size 10 or 11 shoes or size 16+ clothing.  BYO.

Jingdezhen – Hotel remote control in Chinese (© Deanna Roberts 2016)

I’m left alone in the hotel for a few hours to settle in while Diana heads for her apartment.  It’s like a sauna in my room.  I can’t tell the TV remote from the airconditioner controller and I can’t ring anyone because all the buttons are labelled in Chinese.  Ugh… frustrating.

Travel hint no. 10 – Organise a translator app on your phone that can utilise your phone’s camera to read other languages, before you leave home.

Travel hint no. 11 – Ask about Wi-Fi before you get to your room.  Those stairs are a bitch.

Jingdezhen Vision Fashion Hotel wall – pottery shards (© Deanna Roberts 2016)

While I’m waiting for the others to get settled in their respective abodes I look around the hotel and find a wall embedded with pottery shards.  I LOVE this!  They obviously see the beauty in broken pottery and use it to decorate.  Perfect.  It reminds me of how much of a disposable society we are.  I can learn a lot from these people and I’m excited about it.

Jingdezhen Vision Fashion Hotel wall – pottery shards (© Deanna Roberts 2016)

It’s not long before the others return and we head out again for dumplings at Diana’s favourite shop and as we walk in I see an old photo of her on the wall and I’m introduced to the owners.  Diana raves about the pork and coriander dumplings and their famous cucumber salad.  Yummo!  I know I’ll be returning to this shop several times.  Most shops too, I soon discover, offer free wi-fi.  I am finally able to connect and I message home that I’m safely in Jingdezhen, exhausted, challenged by the lingo but busting to explore my surroundings.  Travelling to Jingdezhen via Shanghai does make for a lot of travel but it’s worth it.

Travel hint no. 11 – Be prepared to walk… a lot.  Be sure to bring comfortable shoes that are unlikely to break apart when caught under a door.

So…a camera shop…  mm…  I don’t think so.

John’s pearl shop – Shanghai (© Deanna Roberts 2016)

At the top of the stairs we’re met by the photographer in his studio, decorated with, well… various little sets to pose in… the compulsory love seats with the floral backdrop and something that looks like a temple.  We show him the dodgy camera and he disappears into the next room muttering something in Chinese.  He returns with a huge pair of pliers and without hesitation yanks off the lens cover to reveal a shattered UV filter underneath. I’m putting all my trust in this guy.  He laughs and mutters something again that I don’t understand, but it’s clear the camera still works.  Phew!  I’m ever so grateful and the photographer graciously sends me on my way… no charge.  I’m surprised at this but I wonder if he’s good mates with our new friend.

Mr John, the man in white, shows us the exit but it’s not the way we came in.  There it is.  His pearls shop.  There’s the catch.  There’s always a catch….literally in this case.

Travel hint no. 5 – Safety in numbers

After saying no to millions of offers of ‘bargain’ pearls, I walk away with a $50 pair of earrings.  John’s been so nice after all!  Guilt + kindness = purchase.

“Ok John,” we say.  “Where can we get lunch?”

Again we follow him to an upstairs location tucked away above a strip of shops that you wouldn’t know existed.  Nice view, but the menu is pretty limited.  Nope.  Not an option.  Next restaurant please.  Now we’re seated at a much more suitable place and the food is yummy.  Gotta love those dumplings.  Mmm mmm.  Dammit.  Where are my reading glasses?  I want to check out the menu to see what’s for dessert!  John kindly offers to back-track everywhere we’ve just been; the other restaurant, the stairs, the studio, the alley ways, only to return with nothing.   Damn, damn, damn.  A busted camera lens and now I can’t see anything clearly.  Feeling somewhat annoyed at these little mishaps.  John however…. He is a good, kind man.  Buying those pearls was worth it.  We swap business cards.  We’re happy.

View from restaurant above Yu Garden – Shanghai (© Deanna Roberts 2016)

Travel tip no. 6 – Carry a spare pair of glasses.

Turns out I’ve left my glasses on the tour bus… fallen somewhere between those bright red seats no doubt.  Ugh.  Hate that.  I called the bus company… nothing handed in.  This is simply a day to lose things… except my cool.  That just ain’t gonna happen.

Back seat tourist – Big Bus Tours – Shanghai (© Deanna Roberts 2016)

Ok… so I’ve made it to stop no. 1 – Shanghai.

Shanghai is simply huge.  Massive.  Ginormous.  23 million people in 1 city.  That’s Australia’s population all stashed into one big-arse city.  Shanghai is cosmopolitan.  It has history everywhere yet is also very contemporary.  Depending on which corner you’ll turn, you’ll find a modern, new-wave, designer-style cafe and outside a father will be holding his child over a gutter with the child’s pants around its ankles, having a pee.

The French Sector – Shanghai (© Deanna Roberts 2016)

Around the next corner someone’s sleeping in a doorway and on the opposite side, outside the bank is a bride and groom posing for photos on a pedestrian crossing.  Go figure.  It’ all about survival I guess.

The Bund is nearby and we get on one of those 2-storey tourist buses to get a great view and tour of Shanghai.  We stop off at one of the touristy areas, Yu Garden and a fabulous marketplace and my expensive digital SLR camera falls out of my backpack, lens first, on to the footpath with a sickening thud.  Goddammit.  We have only just started.  Well, the on-off switch still works but there’s no way that lens cover is going to budge.  We need help.

Don’t stand up on the Big Bus – Shanghai (© Deanna Roberts 2016)

We’re walking and talking and attempting to get this bloody stubborn lens cap off but its persistent.  It ain’t moving.  Witnessing our struggle is a nice-mannered man offering to help.  He can’t budge it either and so offers to take us to a camera shop.  I’m already sus about this dude in white.  Let’s call him John, because that’s his ‘English’ name.  We follow him but keep our distance in case we need to make a quick getaway.

Yu Garden – Shanghai (© Deanna Roberts 2016)

We’re lead around different corners, past various shops and alley ways, then up some stairs, sign-posted with all sorts of Chinese symbols.  I’m hoping that one of those symbols at least represents a camera shop.  But more on that later…

Travel hint no. 1

Fly direct to Shanghai or go via Sydney from Melbourne.  Avoid any stopovers.  It’s such a drag having to get off the plane after 8 hours to have to go through security all over again, to break any sort of sleep you might’ve had and then to wait another hour and a half for your next flight.

Travel hint no. 2

Take plenty of tissues with you.  It’s a hygiene thing.  Not all toilets are of western design, nor do they remain stocked with a good supply of toilet paper.  You might need to clean up a little before you even think about doing your business.

Travel hint no. 3

Make sure you have travel insurance.

Travel hint no. 4

Stay somewhere in Shanghai where you can have a good, hearty breakfast before you explore the city the next day.  There are plenty of places to eat but you’ll burn up your brekkie before you know it.

Breakfast at Astor House Hotel – Shanghai (© Deanna Roberts 2016)

Layered slip platter –  Deanna Roberts © 2016

Diana’s arrived at my place… I’m somewhat embarrassed by my amateur pieces.  I’ve studied this art of ceramics.  I’ve done the hard yards.  I’ve sat the tests and exams.  I’ve done my homework.  Yet I feel I’ve done nothing by comparison.  Diana gives me praise here and there and loads of encouragement, which I graciously accept.  She then asks me what I want to do with ceramics, ie where I want to take it and I explain that I don’t know but I do keep coming back to Japanese designs.  She notices that that’s exactly where I excel.  She points out the difference between the ordinary and the exquisite.  I’m flattered but also inspired and encouraged.  This woman really thinks I have something special.  I’m truly honoured by her support and admiration for my work.

Japanese ‘Armour’ – Deanna Roberts © 2016

Then she says it… “You must come to Jingdezhen”.

“Jing de what?”, I asked.

“Jing-de-zhen”, she spells out.  “It’s the porcelain capital of China and I usually go there twice a year for 2 to 3 months at a time”.

“Really?”, I ask… “Why?”

Diana sits me down and tells me how she came to meet Danyun and her father, the great master Liu, how she paints for him and is now venturing into sculpture.  I’m in awe.

Diana leaves and I do some research online.  There’s actually not a lot of information. I need to talk to her some more.  I’m wondering if she’s serious about me going with her.  Could she really be prepared, this amazingly talented woman whom I’ve only known for a few hours, to hold my hand all the way to the other side of the world, just for porcelain?

As it turns out Diana is quite prepared.  We’re not exactly rolling in cash right now.  I’m in the throws of dissolving my other business and seeing to become something more to do with art and business and run a whole lot of workshops around NLP for artists.  It’s difficult.  Do I spend the money we’ve saved for a rainy day or do I pass up this amazing opportunity to share in the experience of something wildly different and definitely out of the box?

After lengthy discussions and lots of red wine, it’s decided.  I’m going.  I’m excited!

2014 – Who is this Diana Williams bird?  We’re friends on Facebook… how did that happen?  Can’t remember.

Copyright – Diana Williams 2016 (published with permission)

There’s her post of an image of one of her finest creations – this incredible artistry.  Wow!  What an amazing piece of work!  The image of a life-sized baby clinging to a missile grabs my immediate attention and I marvel at this bedazzling talent.  Her website gives me enough information to know that I simply must contact her.  I could only imagine how much work was involved in putting this piece together, let alone sculpting a life-sized baby.  I simply had to speak to this woman, Diana Williams.  I thought it would be a marvellous idea for her to come and speak to my pottery group, Treefern Potters, about her journey into clay and her inspiration behind her creativity and expertise.

Deanna Roberts – Pit-fired Exhibition pieces 2015/2016 (© Deanna Roberts 2016)

Facebook messages and 90 minute phone calls later… we have talked about her, her family, the influence that war, and how this has affected her family over the years, has had on her work.  We agreed to meet first.  (To this day we still haven’t done the speaking gig thing… funnily enough).  I like how this bird’s mind works.  I can see we’re going to get along just fine.  Treefern Potters was holding an exhibition and sale at the local community centre and Diana popped in to say hello.  We had a lovely long chat and I introduced her to the other members of the group and she was off and running.  I like her.  What a beautiful soul.  From that point, there were more coffee catch-ups and lots of talking, visiting each others’ studios and artworks.  Instant rapport.  This was my kind of friend.

It’s a long trek to her home.  I reminisce about driving this route many years ago, every day – to and from working in the city.  Its a long way from everything and I’m greeted with open arms, warm chicken and salad for lunch.  Her hubby disappears after a short introduction and we chat like we’ve known each other forever.  We laugh a lot and share stories.  You know you’ve got a true friend when its all just so easy and you don’t have to try.  Truth is easy.  Laughing is a cinch.

Diana takes me through her home and explains how each piece has come about  She empties out these beautifully-decorated, embossed fabric boxes, each of which contains her prize pieces.  Its a tragedy that they’re shut away where no one can see them.  The occasional exhibition is simply not enough.  Its a crime to keep such talent under wraps.  Then she shows me that Facebook piece ‘Innocence’.  The baby on the missile has a $20k+ price tag and I get to hold it.  My God.  I’m gob-smacked.  The work… the story… the craftsmanship… the technique.  I’m blown away.  If I haven’t told her once, I’ve told her a million times; her work should be in the Louvre.

Next stop… my place.  Oh dear… will this be embarrassing… comparing my works to hers?  I think I’m looking forward to this.  I think…