Shards Mashiko Poetry

"Shards" is a poetry memoir on the potter's life in Japan, illustrated with photographs by the author. The setting is the pottery village, Mashiko, located a hundred miles northwest of Tokyo. The early Mashiko potters derived their style as an outgrowth of the "mingei" movement that revived tradional Japanese crafts early in the twentieth century. Ms. Holmes weaves poetry and photography with an analysis of the evolutiion of the Mashiko artist-potters, animated by the spirit of Mashiko's former master potter, Shoji Hamada, designated a "National Cultural Treasure" by the Japanese government. "Shards" is divided into two parts. The first section, "Clay," describes Ms. Holmes' apprenticeship with the Mashiko potter, Shoji Kawajiri. the second section, "Potters," Ms. Holmes writes from the perspective of the artist-potter-- in response to an image, a phrase, a dialogue, exploring the metaphoric and mythic alchemy of clay and fire.