White flowers of Althea bloom quietly in the intense sunlight of summer. One flower after another opening up in their short, precious life span strikes me as fragile yet extremely beautiful.

I make many sketches of growing branches, graceful flowers and green leaves all reaching vibrantly for the blue sky. It is important to closely watch flowers in order to capture their image and shape it into a design for a ceramic form.

I try to draw Althea without pausing at all on the whole surface of a gently swollen jar. By drawing simple lines with a piece of chalk held in my bare hand, I try to portray lively and innocent flowers. The white paint used sparingly over the natural unglazed surface is meant to express the traditional Japanese aesthetic sense of "Wabi-Sabi", understated refinement.