glass , glass beads, marble , and , paperweight . akihiro ohkama & wakana ogura

　

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I came to know glass work through seeing my father Yasuhiro working on his pieces.

I had always seen his work near by on a regular basis. Being a company worker,

I wasn't interested in glass work at all. However, sitting whimsically in front of the torch to

make one by myself, that started my fascination with the fun and beauty of glass.

Although, my father only taught me the basic practices of glass making,

he said strictly "You need to learn by observing! ". Everyday, continuously,

I observed his work to learn his way and put my consideration into my work.

After one year of study, I started serious production. Since then,

I have devoted myself to the joy of creation, the passion to create better and

more beautiful pieces than others, and I started to feel fulfilled with my work.

Recently, I reached the point where I am not tied to ancient and traditional patterns of

glass beads, but with my own unusual style of realistic patterns and expression.

For example, creating flowers and butterflies as lively as they can be,

this is always in my mind for my productions. It's not an easy thing to achieve, but it brings

me great joy when I can make the patterns just like I imagined in my mind,

and when I can make my artwork in more complete form.

Also, It encourages me a lot and makes me so happy when I hear a customer say

"I am moved" or "it's beautiful"  looking at my work .

My policy and dream is to create not just Japanese but also world level art pieces,

to pull the unlimited possibilities of glass, not to feel too easy with the work I created,

and to try to make not only glass beads but something beyond.


Currently, I have my studio in Nara city and I work hard on production.

Appreciating encounters of new people, I go to the galleries and department stores for

my exhibitions all over Japan and foreign cities.

Recently, I expanding my production into paperweights and marbles which are still new to Japan.

　

                                                                                                                                Akihiro ohkama

　

　

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