Rachel's Time in Taiwan

     Leading up to Taiwan I felt a lot of different emotions. I was extremely excited to go, but at the same time rather scared and nervous. I may be a minor in art but I have never really felt like an artist, which made me anxious on how well I would do at TNNUA. For months and months I had been planning out what I was going to make in Taiwan because I feel like when it comes to being creative, my thought process is rather slow. I had planned on making one thing for ceramics, one for felting and one for metal casting. Looking back I have no idea why I thought I would be only making one thing for each subject. However, it was the complete opposite of what I thought it was going to be and all my plans went out the window. It was a non stop production of clay and ideas. At first this was a little difficult for me but once I realized where I was and who was surrounding me, I was inspired.

      The work that went into the wood kiln I will never forgot. It was in the jungle with centipedes, crabs, praying mantis, spiders the size of me, dragonflies, and mosquitos! Because of all these creatures we had to wear pants, long sleeved shirts, and shoes in 95 degrees with around 90% humidity, while working at a wood kiln that was 1050 degrees. I managed to make it up to the wood kiln four times and hated every second of it, until I got back to my shower. Once I was showered is when I felt accomplished and that I was getting the experience I came for. The last night of the wood kiln happened to be my shift. When Flor and I showed up at midnight to see almost everyone there we were shocked. Most stayed for hours and some even stayed all night. I knew that night how lucky I was to be with this group of people. And with all the love I gave that wood kiln I only had one piece come out because I wasn't physically able to go back and get the rest of my stuff. Damn, looks like I have to go back to Taiwan.

     I went to Taiwan without any real knowledge of ceramics and in those three weeks I learned more then I could ever imagine. I had demos from Ching-Yuan, Po-Ching, Sheri, Rick and Shin-Yu. Shin-Yu didn't give us a demo but she worked next to us where I would watch her and how she would work with the clay. We also had lectures from visiting artist. Hsu Yungshu is an artist that went to TNNUA 8 years ago. He gave us the opportunity to come to his warehouse and check out his work space and his pieces. I have never seen anything like what he creates and was so fascinated by the scale of his work. Because of all these people I know that I will never be able to replicate this trip and that it was a once in a lifetime opportunity that I will never forget.

     My plan for Taiwan and I was to soak up everything, including their cuisine. I wanted to try everything and anything. I was successful for the most part, but somehow I never got to try the stinky tofu. I am not too sure how I missed out on it, but it looks like once again I might just have to go back to Taiwan. The night markets were amazing, and the food there was incredible. Octopus, squid, oysters, mushrooms, fish eyes, fish sticks, chicken sticks, pork burritos, duck feet, duck heads, duck blood, the pastries and the fruit! The pastries would always come home with me because within one hour of each night market I was too full to try anything more. And even though I am terrified of heights, I made it up to the top of the second tallest building in the world without a hitch. Wether it was because there was mango beer at the top, I will never know.

TNNUA!!

A beautiful sunset in Kenting

Working hard at the wood kiln 

Working hard day and night

Ching-Yuan demo

Rick and Sheri demos

Glazing

I don't think there was a sunset in Taiwan I didn't fall in love with

My view everyday after getting a smoothie in the morning

The reservoir behind the school

Night market pastries! 

     

I also fell in love with felting

Always take a picture of where you started out, that way you will be able to find your way back.

From the top of Taipei 101

Rick and Alice coming out of the mist in Qintang

Temple that was built in 1855

The top of the temple

       Spending three weeks in Taiwan wasn't nearly enough for me. I never once got homesick, which took me by surprise. We managed to do so much in so little time. We went snorkeling, we rode scooters, we created and produced, we experienced three different cities night markets, got to dress up like a traditional Japanese woman (by the way, anyone have pictures of that?) saw a couple temples, went to art museums and private galleries, went to the creepiest old gold mine city called Qintang, and most importantly we made friendships and memories that I will hold on to for the rest of my life. This was definitely life changing and solidified that I want to be an artist in some shape or form and I can't thank you guys enough for that. Oh and how could I forget DRINK LOTS AND LOTS OF WATER!!!