We had the good fortune of connecting with Reiko Miyagi and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Reiko, what principle do you value most?

I love creating art and it’s an important value to me. Simply because that’s the reason to live for me. Also part of my principle is to stay healthy and use my time wisely to be active and efficient in order to achieve what’s on my plan as much as I can. But I should say it’s more of a goal rather than a principle because I’m not succeeding in using time wisely much of the time. I try to make my choices by asking myself, “Would you do that if it’s your last day?.” Even when I know the right answer, it’s difficult sometimes to not get distracted by some other activity so it’s a forever challenge for me.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?

A lot of people who come to my studio gallery say, “Your art looks so different!”. Although the techniques I use to make my pottery are generic and commonly used, the typical comment I get is that my work is unique. This is probably because I came from a foreign country and grew up in a different environment with a different aesthetic, etc. Since our society got the internet the world got a lot more borderless and the speed of spreading the new, foreign things is ever faster, especially with social media. What I make has a different character because of what I absorbed from my Japanese upbringing and education.

I like using organic shapes and keeping the colors used to be subtle rather than vivid. Also my home country has a tradition of using the animals and nature as important elements of the arts and craft, probably related to the animism beliefs. My art is certainly influenced by these and I hope these characters come to offer a warm and nurturing feeling to the people who see them.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?

I would suggest to stay in a mountain cabin instead of a tall hotel in the downtown if you like to experience nature. There is the French broad River running through the area so canoeing or rafting is the activity that I recommend. On a summer evening you can see the fireflies without going somewhere remote in Western North Carolina. If you are lucky you can even see them outside of your cabin. It is a fantastic feeling to see this amazing nature show and enjoy the sound of the creek.

If you miss the summer, the fall color season is a great choice, too. Driving on the Blue Ridge Parkway is a great way to see the sweeping view of the colorful Appalachia mountains. Stopping by the NC Arboretum or the Folk Art Center on the Parkway can be nice additional activities, too.

Besides the nature activities, as an artist, I would suggest to enjoy the art and craft activities. Our area has a quite large art district and you can easily spend one or two days on a self-guided tour if you are an art lover. Of course the downtown has some nice fine art galleries and museums so time flies between these neighborhoods.

Asheville is also known for its beer brewing culture and music so after the gallery hours, you can sit in the one of the breweries or a music pub to enjoy the beer and live music.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?

My full time work is studio artist but I also have a passion for having a vegetable garden and doing DIY around the house. I found a love for growing food and DIY when I was in my 20’s in Japan by assisting my ex-boyfriend fixing an old farmer’s house and building an art studio from recycled materials. I made a vegetable garden from scratch by the studio. This experience opened my eyes what a great feeling it is to see things grow and something built by one’s own hands. It gave me not only joy and satisfaction but the confidence to be more independent.

Several years later I relocated to the US but I wanted to maintain a similar lifestyle. Luckily, I was able to make a living as a studio potter and also, eventually, I met my husband who has the same priorities. Together we found a patch of land in the country with a fixer-upper house so we’ve been doing DIY and family scale farming for some years now

It’s certainly a fun and satisfying lifestyle but also includes experiencing how much hard work it takes. Especially, the farming involves Mother Nature and weather and other wild nature factors can cause unexpected things. From this experience, if I wanted to name some people to shoutout to show my respect it would be the farmers, especially those who are doing it in a sustainable way. The artists make their art which is like a food for the soul but farmers make food for our bodies whichis essential for life.  So I totally respect the people who dedicate their lives to doing that.  I think their efforts are overlooked and deserves more appreciation.

Website: www.studiotabularasa.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/studiotabularasa/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/Studio-Tabula-Rasa-by-Reiko-Miyagi/100063649324275/

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