Axel Vervoordt Quotes

As an artist, he accepts his place as the in-between person.

He lived life in his own way. It seemed he had no rules at all.

Over the years, I've learned how to search for the universal, to uncover an essence that is common to both historical and contemporary things.

There's an art to occupying a house. The atmosphere should reflect your personality, character, emotions. Above all, it should make you happy. This process takes time.

She taught me that you can win in life and you can lose, but ultimately, you have a choice. Winners are the people who take their wins and losses in both hands, but they continue playing with only the winning side

Nature is our greatest master. They said that I must find a reason for everything that I do and seek to express that reason. They told me never to be decorative - to avoid it at all costs. To be decorative is to do things just to please others, to create beauty for the sake of beauty.

You receive what you accept.

I inherited joy from those days. Once you have it, you want to share it.

I believe stones are created by time and carry the power of the earth. Stones are like silent, slow-living animals - they have a spirit that resonates for thousands and even millions of years. I believe that there is a distinctive spirit in different types of stones - my practice is a reminder of that. It's a way of giving nobility to an earthy object that looks humble, but actually has weight and meaning.

A kneeling or bowing branch is nature's design - a symbol of time passing, a symbol of humility that adds harmony to the environments of life.

We wanted to create a style where East meets West - a geographic and architectural dialogue that would create a new language.

He reduced the size of the tearoom to the most essential space. He eliminated material things. Through the rituals of the tea ceremony, he affirmed the idea of a spiritual interaction between people. He valued the type of beauty found in imperfect and irregular objects, often in their most natural state. He focused on austerity, selflessness, and finding peace through simplicity.

I admire the way the family inherits the burden of tradition, particularly Raku XV, and accepts this duty with a sense of freedom.

If you look at the first black Raku bowl ever made it's simple and unsophisticated. Some would even say it looks too humble, even meagre. That's exactly what I love. It has the Wabi ideals of transient imperfection. Raku pottery is connected to nature. It's a link of the past. Sometimes Raku pottery looks like a living creature - prehistoric, otherworldly, even cosmic. A work by Raku shows us that we all have the ability to see the universe in a flower, a stone, a piece of wood, or a simple bowl of tea.

It was a reminder of how our stories are sometimes wrapped up in objects, wrapped inside stories that exist within other stories.