I have known Katsumizu Kiichi since our magical meeting in 1994 and seeing his
beautiful
exhibition in Kyoto. My wife, Nancy, and I immediately knew, from looking
at the work of
Kiichi, that he was an extremely talented artist! He not only had great
craftsmanship,
which can easily be found among wood workers in Japan, but also an elegant sense
of the
nature of the material with which he works. Kiichi has an innate sense of the "tree-ness"
of wood and a respect for the life of the trees which find their way into his work.
Upon visiting his Hokkido studio in 1994, I knew this was a very special craftsman! Since
our first meeting we have become good friends. With visits to our home
in the U.S. we
have seen the wonderful response to his work here in the U.S. and can understand
even
further this great artist's work. We in the U.S. are so happy to count
him as a member of
the international Furniture Society which was started in the United States to
promote the
work of studio furniture makers around the world.
