During empty bowl season, everybody club in to create bowls to feed the hungry. This event is held yearly by the Salvation Army Womans Auxiliary.

​Cultural exchange

EMPTY BOWLS WITH JAPANESE LADIES IN TUPELO

A group of Japanese ladies who are connected with the Toyota motor factory just outside of Tupelo Mississippi visited my studio in 2016 and created 2 bowls each.  One bowl became their own, while the other one was donated to the Salvation Armies annual  Empty Bowls event.

​Marguerite Johnston work with Japanese woman to help them settle in the Tupelo community. She brings a group to my studio. They like to create memorabilia to take back home with them. This is a fantastic opportunity for me to connect with these ladies, especially since Japan is one of the leading countries in the world on traditional porcelain.  Kutani ware, Arita ware and Imari ware are a few well known porcelains that were developed in different time periods in Japan.  Functional ware associated with Japan is "yunomi" and "chawan" 
Sumida Gawa pottery was manufactured in Japan around ​the 19th and early 20th centuries. The factory was named after the Sumida River that runs through Tokyo. 
Marguerite Johnson and 8 ladies from Japan joined Antoinette in her pottery studio to make bowls for the empty bowl event of the Salvation Army in Tupelo. They are all related to the employees of the Toyota plant in Blue Springs Mississippi.