17 October 2012, at Montgomery County Community College, Blue Bell, Pennsylvania

Kensuke Yamada is teaching at Tyler School of Art at Temple University in Philadelphia.

His work is generally sculptural, figures with a whimsical flair. He is inspired by all sorts of things including traditional figurines animals and sometimes a written or spoken statement may present an image to create.

Kensuke grabs handfuls of clay off a block and squeezes them into a flat coil. He slightly overlaps the bottom of the coil with the top of the workpiece, then compresses and blends the joint. The outer surface is left with a fairly subtle texture of gentle dimpling. The clay was wet and plastic enough that scoring and slip was not necessary. He uses almost no tools in his work, truly a hands-on experience enjoying the touching of the clay.

Kensuke normally uses a white stoneware clay, but only fires it to a low temperature. He uses multiple applications of stains, slips and glazes, sometimes as many as five firings, to get the colors and textures he desires. Depending on the specific pieces and the drying conditions, he may work on as many as five pieces at a time, cycling around to let the formed clay dry a little before adding more.