John Ikeda is an artist-potter living and working from his rural studio/residence in St. Bernardin, Ontario.  Born in Lethbridge, Alberta 1948, his family origins were of struggles within  menial labour on the sugar beet fields of southern Alberta, immediately after the incarceration of Japanese Canadians during the eruption of the Second World War.

I’ve spent the past 41 years living here in this rural region, pioneering a unique lifestyle. I had always dreamed of owning my own studio/residence and a place in the country, leading a creative, independent lifestyle in the wilderness. Prior to moving here, I had few skills and training other than within the fine arts and ceramics, so it was a struggle over time to build a knowledge base of experience in practical skills such as general carpentry, construction, mechanics, electrical, plumbing, agriculture, horticulture, forestry.

A friend once visited from the west, when I first moved here and he described the cultural remoteness of my farmhouse as the ‘land of the green cow’. In fact, it is perhaps a accurate depiction of my existential, surrealist landscape. There have been many periods when I had doubted my location and of choices; whether I should have moved my studio to Toronto, or pursued Masters’ studies in the urbane academic context. There were many failures and disappointments, of my choices, compounded doubly through feelings of isolation. But after so many winters of accumulated experience, so many years of endurance, little events of joy or delight, feeling the warmth of sun through the clouds, blue skies, the emerging sounds of life in the trees birds and animals; I believe things have worked out alright in the end. I’ve the freedom to practice my art and creativity, striving to infuse meaning and content to my life.

I am the creator of my own vistas ...and I know how to fix the roof.