European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 16, 2007, Darmstadt, Hesse                                12 stripes Okinawa an advertising supplement Friday March 16 2007 this is an example of a finished dragon plaque enter the dragon with Crafty things it was in the Dusty Back room of a pot Tery shop in Tsubota that i first fell in love with a japanese dragon it was coiled in Long loops around the base of a Teapot that sat on a wooden tray although the Teapot was smooth and simple the dragon was full of texture and detail from the tips of its menacing fangs Down to the ends of its individual Scales i would have bought it on the spot had it not been for its Price had a Trail of zeroes almost As Long As the dragons Tail it want Long after leaving the dragon Teapot behind that i discovered Kaulenas arts and crafts Center Crafty things offers several ceramics classes some of these classes give students the Opportunity to dabble in the Potter making for which Okinawa is famous the dragon plaque and dragon vase classes involve making Clay dragons very similar to the one i fell for in Tsubota so i decided to try my hand and signed up right away the dragon plaque class is taught by Story and photos by Melissa Terlizzi Jorge Itokazu a talented master Potter who has been teaching for Dodds schools and Crafty things for the past decade Jorge came Here from Lima Peru 23 years ago he has been working in Clay Ever since All of Jorges classes Are two sessions Long each session is Only three hours so he completes some of the prep work ahead of time for his students for example in the dragon vase class Jorge makes the vases beforehand so students can concentrate on shaping and attaching their dragons to the read made pots during class Jorge said that if students had to make their own vases no one would Ever Complete the project for the dragon plaque class my classmate Leigh Ann Robinson and i were Given rectangular slabs of Clay which would form the foundations of our plaques then during our sessions Jorge led us step by step through the dragon making process teaching us a lot about Eastern dragons along the Way the most obvious thing about the dragons of Asia is How remarkably different they Are from the beasts slain by Gallant knights in Western mythology Western dragons Are big bellied and Dinosaur like with fire breath and scaly wings the asian dragons Are Long and serpentine and while they move easily through both water and sky they have no wings an Eastern drag on is made up of characteristics from Many other animals it has the head of a Camel eyes of a Rabbit neck of a Snake Scales of a Carp and the claws of a Hawk some dragons have horns on their Heads resembling the Antlers of a Are dragons of the mountains according to Jorge okinawan dragons never have Antlers because there Are no mountains Here even the number of toes on the Eastern dragons claws is significant in China Only dragons representing the Imperial family were permitted to have five toed claws the further away from China a dragon flew the fewer toes it would have korean dragons were depicted with four