Downscot is an open house based in the beautiful village of Rottingdean and will be showing a selection of Japanese pottery and glassware alongside formal abstract expressionist paintings during the 2006 Brighton festival of Artists Open Houses.
Masayuki Ogura is a Master craftsman who lives in the Kiso area of the Japanese Alps. His studio has a view of the nearby forest and is full of natural light. He creates his pieces using traditional techniques but with modern designs.
Hideo Mizuno is a Japanese potter whose natural kiln has been in his family for 5 generations. The clay he uses is from a local source and the wood used to fire the kiln is taken from sustainable local resources. The pieces he produces are unique in colour, texture and style.
Setsuko Miura knew from an early age that she wanted to be a glassmaker and set out to travel the world, studying and refining her craft. She left Japan with very little English, studied for a year in England, a year in Prague, a year in America and then went to Iceland to work as an assistant in a glass studio. It was in Iceland that she was inspired to create the clear glass works she is now famous for.
Paul Godden is an English formal abstract expressionist painter. Using recognised abstract expressionist techniques he arranges these in formal structured paintings that develop like a language, each new painting expanding on the language of the previous.