When he hopped on a plane heading for China in 2013, Alistair Stevenson wasn't about to let any language barrier get in the way of his eight-year dream.An 11th grade art class was enough to kick-start an enthusiasm for ceramics that he would find himself chasing around the globe in years to come.Growing up on Long Island, Stevenson first experimented with ceramics as a student at N.G.M. Major High School, Long Island, when a local cesspit excavation revealed clay in the area and workers handed it over to the school's art teacher. It was around that time that he first met local ceramicist and philanthropist Joann Behagg, who traveled to Long Island from Nassau to conduct a ceramics workshop at Stevenson's school. The two met again later at The College of The Bahamas (COB), where Behagg taught Stevenson, who was then in pursuit of his associate degree in art, and recruited him as her studio assistant. For four years, Stevenson worked and studied under Behagg, leaving only for a job at the D'Aguilar Art Foundation (DAF) in 2012.A year later he was off to China, more specifically Nanjing, where he's been living for the past year, getting a solid grip on Mandarin. His new language skills will come in handy next month, when he'll move to Jingdezhen to begin the first year of his bachelor's degree in ceramic art at Jingdezhen Ceramics Institute. The artist is nothing if not anxious to get his hands mucky in a city with one of the oldest pottery traditions in the world."I figured it was one of the best places for me to go to study ceramics because they have such a long history in it," said Stevenson. "The city in particular where I'm going has at least 1,500 years of history in producing pottery, and is most well known for producing about 90 percent of the world's blue and white porcelain."Having come home for the summer holiday, Stevenson will soon be gearing up to pack his bags again; before he does, though, he's got some business to attend to.On Thursday, the ceramicist opened his second solo exhibition, Outlets, at the D'Aguilar Art Foundation. A fundraising event, Stevenson hopes the sales from Outlets will provide him with living expenses as he begins his studies in Jingdezhen. If his first show is any indication, the artist's prospects look positive. Held a year ago at the DAF, Stevenson's Growth exhibition laid a strong foundation for the artist's reputation in The Bahamas. Inspired by the natural environment, featuring root, tree and coral-like elements, nearly each piece in the collection found a home after the show.Ah show was very successful," he said. "Nineteen out of 20 pieces sold, which I was quite proud of. It's fun for your first solo show to be a sell-out."Outlets pairs up Stevenson's ceramics with a series of his photography and sketches in a marriage reflecting "the idea of an outlet and ways you find to release and find a calm". This year the artist also pays homage to Bahamian folklore by giving Lusca - the half shark, half octopus beast said to be lurking in Andros' blue holes - a starring role as a recurrent motif. "Art is an expression of my interests and my thoughts and sort of a manifestation of that," he said. "Of course people have different means of doing that... for me, visual art is the best way to do that."Even with four years of studies ahead of him, Stevenson is planning his next globetrotting adventure, which he hopes will take him to the Mediterranean."In about five years, if I'm able to, I'd like to go to Italy to study for a bit to do my master's," he explained. "I have a deep interest in figurative sculpture. I think because it's something that's not very common in The Bahamas, I would like to see more of it here, and I think if I can do that I'd be happy to do so. So, Italy has a lot of figurative sculpture, and it's an option right now."Never without a back-up plan, the ceramicist admits that he would be content to return to The Bahamas, newfound skills in tow."I would like to come back home and start a ceramics factory myself," he said. "[The pieces] would be between my own fine art work and domestic ware. I think it would be fun to do really clean, well-done porcelain pieces made in The Bahamas."Stevenson's work will be on display at the D'Aguilar Art Foundation from August 14-22. For the duration of the exhibition, the gallery will be open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. every day.

o Anyone interested in finding out more about Stevenson or his work is encouraged to contact the ceramicist at astvnson@gmail.com or visit his blog at http://astvnson.tumblr.com/.

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