Hitomi & Takuro Shibata are ceramic artists originally from Japan, and currently living in Seagrove, North Carolina, home to the biggest pottery community in the United States. Together they manage their pottery business, "Studio Touya".
Hitomi and Takuro are the jurors for the 2022 Teabowl National.
Hitomi Shibata has a BEd. and a MEd. in Ceramic Art from Okayama University in Japan. She established a professional career in Shigaraki, one of the oldest pottery villages in Japan. The Rotary International scholarship brought her to the United States and she became a special student at the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth (CVPA Ceramics) in 2002. Shen then moved to North Carolina in 2005 with her husband, Takuro, where they opened their pottery studio in Seagrove. She makes functional pottery and sculptural ceramic work, researches, and uses North Carolina wild clays, and fires wood kilns that she and Takuro built together. Hitomi completed artist-in-residence programs at Shigaraki Ceramic Cultural Park, Cub Creek Foundation for the Ceramic Arts, and North Carolina Pottery Center. Additionally, Hitomi has led workshops at Peters Valley School of Craft, The Art League, Penland School of Crafts, The Bascom, and Haystack Mountain School of Crafts. Hitomi is a member of the International Academy of Ceramics in Geneva, Switzerland and Artaxis.
Takuro Shibata has a Bachelor of Engineering in applied chemistry from Doshisha University, Kyoto, Japan. His interest in ceramics led him to become an apprentice in Shigaraki, Japan. Takuro moved to Seagrove, NC after accepting the position as director of STARworks Ceramics in 2005. Since then, he has been researching local clays, and set up a local clay making project at STARworks. Now, his clay team is manufacturing unique clays at STARworks, providing clays to potters, schools, and art organizations. Through this, Takuro has developed a national reputation as a ceramic artist and wild clay specialist. He’s been prominently featured in the media and shared during many exhibitions, workshops, publications, and conferences nationally and internationally. Takuro is a member of the International Academy of Ceramics.
Hitomi and Takuro's first book "Wild Clay" will be published in the Fall of 2022.
In this demonstration, you will learn how Hitomi and Takuro use natural materials with traditional Japanese pottery making techniques. It will inspire your creativity and help stimulate new ideas for your own work.
