Recently I have been playing with the combination of my version of a toruko-ao glaze over my neriage. At first, there were a few stumbling blocks but those seem to have been solved. This glaze has taken a complete metamorphosis since I originally got the recipe from Colin Pearson back in the mid-90s. I embarked on the task of morphing the glaze into a vellum style Persian blue glaze (toruko-ao) that was very influenced by the work of Kato Kenji
This glaze started out as a semi-opaque copper blue glaze which ran like the dickens and was splotchy and uneven despite a careful application. Over the years it has been altered so much, that the current recipe does not even resemble the original in content or percentages. The current version, TA-Variation-56s, can be used thin or thick without running and now works well over various underglaze slips as well as the cobalt rich black neriage porcelain I use.
Aside from the luminous quality of the glaze, the richness of the blue has a timeless and ancient quality to it. It seemed only fitting that I used it over the black & white neriage pots I have been making which are influenced by suminagashi style paper marbling. The real appeal of these pots though, is the cool and inviting softness of the vellum glaze texture. It has a feel unlike any other glaze texture I know and is truly enjoyable in the hand. It would seem to be the perfect Monday blues……………
(Illustrated are four teabowls and a close-up of a bowl, unloaded from a kiln this morning)
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