John Fukuda is a longtime Venice resident, who's spent most of his life in the fast lane. He's been an actor and a professional gambler, but then he needed a change of pace. That’s when he discovered a new passion in life and he's been practicing it ever since.

This is the Temple of Mediclaytion, a workshop dedicated to the art of ceramics.

"I’m addicted to it," he says.

He's been coming here every day for the last four years.

"Some people have AA, but I have a Temple of Mediclaytion," John explains.

It's a lengthy process. Even making a simple vase can take a minimum of four weeks. So John has learned to be patient.

He likes them quirky, kind of like him.

"I like to make it as weird as possible," John notes.

Usually talkative, he doesn't say a word as he gets to work and his vase suddenly takes shape. Even though this is just the first step, it's now time to sign.

John has multiple projects in varying stages all waiting for the next step and he's ready to take the top, bottom and base, and assemble it after it's been drying for two weeks.

In the clay world, longer is always better.

For a man looking to slow down, ceramics has proven to be perfect for John. He's calm and focused and more importantly, he's been productive - things he struggled with in the past. And unlike his vases, he feels centered. Nowadays, you can find John selling his pieces at the Venice Art Crawl.

From start to finish, his next project took four weeks to complete, so John’s excited to see the finished product.

"It's like Christmas," he says with a smile as he holds up a completed vase.

It's just something ceramicists say because everything takes so long to complete.