Hideaki Miyamura (born 1955) is a Japanese-born Americanpotter working in New Hampshire. Miyamura is best known for his unique iridescent glazes, including a compelling gold glaze, the "starry night" glaze on a black background, and a blue hare's fur glaze.
Miyamura was born in Niigata, Japan, as the son of an architect and civil engineer. Miyamura wanted to be a medical doctor but believed the schooling was too expensive. Instead, he traveled to the United States and studied at Western Michigan University. Studying art history at Western Michigan, Miyamura became interested in art. After college, Miyamura decided to take up pottery in Japan.
Miyamura spent over five years working with master potter Shurei Miura of Yamanashi, Japan. During that time, he experimented with over ten thousand test pieces, using countless formulas to develop original glazes. Through this process, he developed glazes that he describes as "yohen tenmoku," after a Chinese pottery tradition. More recently, he has conducted over two thousand additional test cases.
Many of his glazes are inspired by the tenmoku style of 12th and 13th Century Chinese glazes used on tea bowls in monasteries on Mount Tianmu in the Zhejiang province in China. Some have argued that his work is also influenced by Scandinavian pottery.
