Vol.12. Keiko Jishage

In November 2022, we visited Keiko Jishage for the second time. It has been a while since we saw her, and it was really nice meeting her again. She has relocated to a suburb of Nagoya and made her a studio inside her new house.

She told us she wanted to have a studio in the house, so they planned before construction that the basement to be a half garage and a half studio, one for him, and one for her. Having experience in architecture, and the fact that her husband is an architect enable them to make their dream house. She kindly showed us around the house, and we loved how woody the house is.

In the studio, she explained us how she make her pieces using mold. Uniqueness of her pieces is the drawing on the plates and bowls. They are all hand painted or drawn, so each pieces is unique and one of the kind. She told us she uses common clay, but she wanted to make it somewhat different having detailed texture. She uses iron and other materials to have that effect on her pieces.

She also told us that after the move, she added another kiln to speed up the process. The studio is now smaller than the last place, but it was connected to the house, and easy to use she said. She also made us happy by saying she really appreciates we show her pieces in other parts of the world including Seattle and Taiwan, where we have another store.

Finally we thank her for her time and showing us all the details of her works and the new house.