In an old house that evokes a sense of nostalgia, nestled in a residential area of Kamakura, Toyoda Urara continues to quietly work with the soil in this space bathed in soft light.
"I started pottery simply because I loved the feel of mud. I also wanted to learn a trade as a means of expression that didn't require words. However, once I started, I realized that it's not only broad in scope, but also deep in depth. It's a world that will remain unknown to me no matter how much time passes."
Ms. Toyoda has loved the paintings of Joan Miró since he was a child. She majored in Spanish at university, and while studying abroad, she came across the workshop of Juan Galdi Artigas through a friend of his parents.
The studio's founder, Josep Llurens Artigas, had a deep knowledge of Japanese ceramics and was a close friend of Shoji Hamada, a central ceramicist of the Mingei movement. Together with his father, he created works with Miró and other artists from a young age, and the studio remains a creative space that attracts artists from all over the world.
"The workshop, located in a small village on the outskirts of Barcelona, has buildings dating back to the 11th century, is a brightly lit space, and is a place where people who create art gather...it was truly a dream place."
After graduating from university, she studied the basics of pottery in Seto, a pottery-producing region, and then returned to his hometown of Kamakura to find the job he wanted. However, his health deteriorated during her busy days, and he had to take a break from pottery for a while.
Then, just after returning from a trip to Spain to put an end to pottery, he saw a notice recruiting assistants at the Artigas workshop, which he had always admired.
"In Barcelona, I worked as an assistant to create ceramics as works of art, rather than just vessels. This was a major catalyst for me to continue working in this field to this day."
For better or worse, Spain (Barcelona) is a place where individuality thrives. People assert themselves, express their emotions freely, and speak out. For someone who grew up in Japan, the atmosphere was a little dazzling, and somehow breathtaking... But it was this freedom and energy that was such a great inspiration for Toyoda, giving him the breath of new creativity.
The tranquility of Japan and the heat of Spain.
Her pottery, which understands both, seems to have a definite pulse of life deep within its silence.
The workshop is a calm, Japanese-style space where time flows slowly and peacefully. 
From the moment you pick it up until you finish using it and put it back on the shelf, Toyoda wants his tableware to blend in with the flow of daily life and live peacefully in the hands of the person who uses it. This wish is what she creates.
Her signature work, the Arboles series, is striking for its soft texture reminiscent of wood. This series was born from a search for the form in which plants and flowers would most naturally blend in, and it is reminiscent of the mountain roads of Kamakura and the Montsein mountains of Barcelona, landscapes that remain in his heart.
Flowers, trees, wind, sea, clouds, and sunsets. The shapes and colors he receives from Mother Nature are gently sealed within the soil. Toyoda touches the soil and finds shapes, as if capturing the breathing of nature.
In these small, palm-sized vessels, the memories of nature seem to continue to live on gently today.
Click here for a list of works by Toyoda Rei
