I am not in the same league as Akira Satake. No way. (At least for a while.)But here I am standing next to him in his studio. To make a long story short, I had visited his studio as part of the East of Asheville Studio Tour last spring, and fallen in love with his pottery. So when my son said he and his friends from Penland were looking at studios, I suggested they visit Akira. With a phone call, I set it up.
Brian Ransom on the left, is the Eckerd College pottery professor, and has been teaching at Penland for an 8-week workshop. Jessica (did she tell me her last name?) is also a potter, standing with her fiance' Nick Swartz, both from Mendocino, CA. Nick makes pottery with a Japanese flair, and has studied in Osaka. And on the right is my son, Tai Rogers, studio assistant at Penland, and also Brian's student from Eckerd, (as was Nick also.) 
I'm pretty sure Akira is telling Nick something interesting...there were many wonderful things shared between these potters.
Akira told Jessica and Brian one of his studio tricks. (I'll never tell.)
One highlight of our visit was having tea, as Tai and Brian wait for Akira to pour. There was also music playing by Akira, especially for Brian, also a musician.Thank you very much, Akira, for hosting such a lovely visit.
