ARTIST’S PALETTE
the potter’s clay
AKIRA SATAKE BLENDS CLAY, FIRE AND PASSION ARTICLE TORI CARRASCO PHOTOGRAPHY STEPHAN PRUITT
NESTLED
IN
THE
HEART
OF
ASHEVILLE’S RIVER ARTS DISTRICT IS AKIRA SATAKE’S CERAMICS STUDIO, A SHOWCASE OF HIS WIDELY RECOGNIZED CONTRIBUTIONS TO MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
AND
VISUAL
ART.
The Philadelphia Museum of Art awarded him the National Award for Excellence in Contemporary Clay. His life and works were also featured on A Craftsman’s Legacy on PBS. While standing among his various wood-fired pieces, Akira described his transformational journey from musician to potter and how those experiences have guided and influenced his success today.
Akira Satake was born into a family of artists and musicians in Osaka, Japan. By the age of 13, he was skillfully playing the banjo and Japanese shamisen. He moved to the United States 10 years later to further develop his musical talent and interests. As a music producer in New York City, he founded a successful production company and recording studio in the historic Ed Sullivan Theatre. Publicly, Akira was gaining recognition in the music industry. However, privately, the mounting stress from a hectic lifestyle began to affect his sleep. He tried yoga, deep breathing, meditation and Buddhism to address the insomnia. Nothing seemed to help until he decided to enroll in a pottery class, which catapulted his transformation. “The first day, I knew I wanted to do it as my lifework,” he says. Since moving to the Asheville area in 2003, Akira devotes a majority of his time toward handcrafting 24
Asheville Lifestyle | February 2019
