Ceramics

Here's a sampling of my recent works...

1984 and a Trip of a Lifetime

In 1984 my Dad was an electrical engineer for Texas Instruments. TI asked him to go to Japan and visit the Texas Instruments plant outside of Tokyo as a part of an exchange program. He had the opportunity to take Mom along with him. After some thought (get carpet or go to Japan...Mom made the right choice after a friend asked her if she was crazy) Mom decided to go as well. Afterall by this time I had obtained a driver’s license, a car and a job and had high school to keep me entertained, there was a high probability that the house would still be standing when they got back if they left me. What ensued was the trip of a lifetime. Both of my folks were young kids when WWII broke out and had very clear memories of when Japan was our enemy. They really did not know what to expect, but upon getting there discovered a warm people and a fascinating, beautiful country. They were there for two weeks. Dad had a week of work responsibilities while Mom explored Tokyo, getting a sewing machine, doing other cool textile stuff, discovering the unique department stores, the subway system, and other amazing wonders for a gal from West Texas. The second week they toured a variety of places including Mashika, Shoji Hamada’s home and studio, Nikko, and even saw snow monkeys in hot springs. This is a trip my Mom fondly remembered to the end. I intend to visit Japan in the near-ish future and hope that it holds as much wonder for me as it did her. As an interesting footnote, TI Japan sent an engineer to TI Lubbock for two weeks and Mom and Dad got to give him the experience of a lifetime west Texas style, visiting their ranch, see live cows, eating a huge platter full of KC style steak and schooners of beer. I often wonder if his visit became family legend for his family the way their trip to Japan did for my folks. Maybe I’ll look him up when I go and ask him….