Nanshima ware: embarking on the road of ceramic art🏺
Recently, Catherine Lorimer of "Minamishima Ware" was interviewed by "LifeWear Magazine", an online magazine founded by Japan's Uniqlo, and talked about her journey of becoming a ceramic artist. Catherine has a pair of parents who are potters. She has been making clay from scratch with her parents since she was a child. It was not until she grew up that she learned that clay can be bought in a store!
Although she has been exposed to pottery under the influence and education of her parents since she was a child, it turns out that Catherine only started making pottery as a career at the age of 27! Because during adolescence, Catherine, like most people, became rebellious and began to hate her home. She felt that the home that also served as a workshop in the jungle was dilapidated and annoying, so she tried her best to leave. In the end, Catherine dropped out of high school and left Okinawa to work on the island. Until her late 20s, Catherine moved around to work hard. Later, her younger brother wanted to study abroad in New Zealand, her father's hometown. Catherine followed her younger brother to live in New Zealand. She never thought that this trip to New Zealand would be a turning point in her life.
The two of them live very close to the workshop of ceramicist Barry Brickell, and both Catherine's parents studied with this ceramicist. While living in New Zealand, Catherine would go to workshops from time to time, which allowed her to experience the fun of pottery again after many years. A year later, Catherine returned to Ishigaki Island and saw her mother making pottery and felt very stylish. She had never felt this way before. Later, after Catherine expressed to her mother that she wanted to try making pottery, her mother, Nami, readily passed on the knowledge of pottery to Catherine. She and her parents visited Barry Brickell again and communicated with different potters. These experiences consolidated the style of her own works. . 
Last year, Catherine opened her own independent workshop and ceramics showroom in the center of Okinawa. She planned to name her workshop another name, but finally decided to name it "NANTOUYAKI" after suggesting it to her mother. And "NANTOUYAKI" is the Roman pinyin of "Nantouyaki", because Catherine believes that what she makes is not only "Nantouyaki", but also includes her own original works.
The warm and colorful works of Catherine and her mother Nami have finally arrived in Hong Kong! There are a variety of Minamishima-yaki pottery available for purchase in the Okinawa Aragaki Store online store, bringing a little Okinawa color and vitality to your life! If you are interested in Catherine’s story, you can go to the following website to read the original Japanese article and learn more about the ceramic artist’s experience.
Read now (original Japanese text):
https://www.uniqlo.com/jp/ja/contents/lifewear-magazine/okinawa-catherine/
Image source: Ishigaki Minamijima Yaki Facebook
