Amemiya & Gatewood

I have been producing wood fired ceramics in Waiakea Uka for over 30 years.  The vast majority of my firings have been with Ohia, due to it's availability, but I have used a variety of firewood like lychee, keawe, eucalyptus and pine.  My kiln, an anagama (tunnel kiln), fires pots for approximately 100 hours using over two cords of wood and this long firing produces fly ash that coats parts of the finished pots in a natural glaze. 

 

I first learned pottery in Okinawa in the mid 1970's, under the guidance of Sensei Seisho Kuniyoshi.  He travelled to Hilo in 1986, and together we built the anagama that I use today.  Although the kiln has been rebuilt once due to earthquake damage, the general design for the kiln has remained the same.  It took a number of years to learn how to fire such a kiln, and I made  trips to Okinawa that coincided with firings of Sensei's kiln.  Hands on experience is necessary to learn the anagama process.

 

My work is included in public and private collections in the United States, Japan, China and Europe, and I have held solo and group exhibitions mainly in Hawaii and Japan. Notably, my work is included in the collections of the Honolulu Museum of Art, the Hawaii State Foundation on Culture and the Arts, and the Okinawa Prefectural Museum.