Yosuke Koizumi Demonstration

This past Saturday, Yosuke Koizumi of Shimpo Ceramics visited the Lillstreet clay department to present a very inspiring throwing demonstration and slide show on Japanese ceramics. The event was very well received and attended by folks from both inside and outside the Lillstreet community.

The afternoon began with Mr. Koizumi talking a bit about his background in ceramics and his time as a production potter in Shigaraki, Japan. His accompanying slide show illustrated many of his experiences along with providing insight into historical Japanese pottery and forming techniques.


After the slide show, Mr. Koizumi moved to the trusty VL Whisper for a bit of throwing. The first pieces created were an array of body and decoration styles thrown off the hump. He used this time to introduce a variety of Japanese throwing tools as well as some newly designed American offerings.

Following the off the hump demonstration came the main event. Mr. Koizumi swiftly and seemingly effortlessly centered 40lbs of clay, opened it up, and proceeded to throw. Using this virtual mountain of clay, he was able to create one of his signature bowls -- on a grand scale. With the addition of three of his trademark frogs, the piece weighing in at 40lbs with an approximate diameter of 3ft was complete.

Thanks must go out to Mr. Yosuke Koizumi and Shimpo Ceramics for being able to present such an inspiring and informative demonstration. All in all this was great afternoon of ceramic knowledge sharing.