TRANSFORMATION

With all things, there is much about Mashiko pottery that I like and dislike. One of the things I like best about a lot of Mashiko-yaki is the effort to produce objects of utility and function. When I think of Mashiko, naturally I think about Hamada Shoji and then to his best know pupil Ningen Kokuho; Shimaoka Tatsuzo (1919-2007). I have handled a large number of Shimaoka’s pots and have always been pleased with their feel and grasp of utility. Though all of his works are marked (after the death of Shoji Hamada), many of the works with his mark were made by apprentices. Much of his pottery that comes from his kiln has that “people’s art” (mingei) feel to it and as such it embraces function and every day use whether it is made by him or any number of his students.

The illustrated piece is a bit different than the every day Shimaoka pottery. This Yohen-Jomon Zogan mizusashi is intended as a piece of ritual and due to its choice spot in the wood fired kiln (nobori-gama) it has exceeded the everyday object. Fitted with a custom made roiro lacquer lid, this mizusashi shows off the inlaid rope design Shimaoka is so well known for along with natural wood ash cascading down the front of the pot and encircling the lip. It is the subtle choices of form and firing that transforms this Shimaoka pot from a piece for daily use to a master work intended for the ritual of tea (chanoyu). It would seem, these choices are what separate student from master.

THE FURTHER ADVENTURES OF Cu & Fe2O3

I have been playing around with one of my base glazes for some time trying to see how far I can go with it and trying to create a specific type of “glaze runner” that I am interested in. I first altered the glaze by adding large amount of red iron oxide to it and from there began adding amounts of talc and copper. As I moved the amounts of copper and red iron around, I ended up with a very runny, iron saturate glaze that was highly refractory on its own, but showed promise over the basic base glaze.

Over time and some fine tuning, I ended up with a partridge feather (yamatorige) style running glaze that exhibits copper, golden and red iron tones. Though just in its beginning stages, it appears I can control the length of the running, by varying the thickness of application. If you have looked around my blog at all, it may be apparent that I like glazes that are very glassy and also ones that are very runny. I am not sure why, but it may have to do with my interest in wood fired pots with runny ash tamadare and glassy bidoro. At any rate, there would seem to be a number of applications that I can “run” with for this glaze and I have yet to try it on a more or less horizontal surface. One thing at a time.

This bottle was dipped and then pulled out 1/3 and then again out 1/3 to get three degrees of thickness. The three levels are relatively easy to see in the first picture. The teabowl had the interior poured and then in for one 4 count dip. That surface had a wide array of effects and this partridge feather glaze needs more testing and more pots to glaze. It is always nice when you can actually get to where you are going……………..

IN THE OLD DAYS

As I sit down to write this, I am reminded of those “old days” stories. “When I was young, I had to get up a half hour before I went to bed, walk 20 miles through 6 feet of snow in a blinding snow storm before getting to work and working for 20 hours, and I felt lucky …………” That being said, this is not exactly like that.

I remember when I first started making pots, there were stories about all the extinct materials and how ceramics was a different beast now. I listened, politely, and in the back of my mind there was always this thought, but you have ceramic grade spodumene and Albany Slip, what else could you ask for. Then in 1992 or 1993, the well ran dry first on the Albany Slip and then the ceramic grade Foote Minerals spodumene.

In certain respects, I was lucky and saw the proverbial writing on the wall. I squirreled away as much of both as I could get my hands on, a supply that has lasted to this day. Now I must admit, the storehouse is barren and the days of great Shino and various Albany Slip glazes are almost at an end. I have substitutes for most, though they are not quite as lively and rich, but as the supplies dwindle, it is time to move on. Acknowledge and move on.

I now understand all those tales of lament regarding previous extinct materials. At a certain level you become somewhat accustomed to using specific glazes as part of your visual glossary and then you need to find new surfaces to articulate your pots. My lepidolite Oribe is another example of those bygone glazes, but as you look at truly great Albany Slip, spodumene and lepidolite glazes, you see there really is something that we will all sorely miss………….

Illustrated is one of my stoneware teabowls with Albany Slip glaze over a bisque slip.

A MID-RANGE DUO

Like many potters, I use slip for various reasons in each temperature range I work in. I occasionally work in the Cone 5/6 range and have been using this slip, on and off since the early 90’s. I am not sure if I got it from Kirk Mangus or Bill Broulliard, but it has been an effective slip all these years on a wide variety of clay bodies.

Rudy Autio Slip Base (Cone 5/6)
Nepheline Syenite 12.5
Ball Clay 12.5 (I use Tenn #10)
Custer Spar 25
Kaolin 25
Flint 25
Zircopax 10 (this is for a white slip)

This is the clear glaze I have used on and off since about 1994. I am not sure where this FPC (Four Part Clear) came from, but it has been a very useful companion to the above slip recipe. I tend to use this glaze on the thinner side, though it also looks nice a bit thicker and rarely has running issues. With a few additions of colorants, it also makes a nice colored transparent glaze.

FPC (Cone 5/6)
Gerstley Borate 25
Spodumene 25
Custer Spar 25
Flint 25

Illustrated is a black slipped teabowl made back when I was in Cleveland using these two formulas.

KO-IGA IN MODERN TIMES

“I try to enter into the spirit of the old Iga. I approach the masterpieces of that time, and allow myself to be charmed by them at the same time as I coolly analyze them. To make beautiful Igayaki, one shouldn’t fuss too much with the shapes but stat conscious of showing off the beautiful green color.”

“When I am ready to form a piece I always think in terms of trying to express the energy of the clay, but how to express that is always a difficult problem. For my kind of work, as it was for Old Iga, the clay is crucial; it dictates the pottery.”

These two quotes are from an exhibition catalogue filled with wonderful Igayaki by Kojima Kenji (b. 1953). He has been actively working to reproduce Old Iga (Ko-Iga) style pottery since 1973 and even did an apprenticeship in Bizen, to fully understand the nature of kiln firing and forming unglazed clay (yakishime). Though the work is heavily infused with elements of traditional and medieval style pottery, there is a very modern presence to his pots that holds out hope for such anachronistic work for the future.

(The illustration is an Igayaki mizusashi by Kojima Kenji from the exhibition catalogue; KOJIMA KENJI CERAMIC WORKS)

PHONE CALL

I have been very actively working toward several glaze tests that I am conducting. Three glazes are in the secondary stage of testing. I have made up enough of each to glaze up a test-yunomi. As I have mentioned previously, testing is just another part of keeping things interesting and hopefully out of this process, something tangible and within the scope of what I do, will emerge.

In the midst of glazing today, I got a rather unexpected phone call. I was contacted by the Canton Museum of Art (Canton, Ohio) asking for some biographical info. The museum had just acquired a large black and white slip trailed terra cotta plate for their permanent collection. Though I haven’t seen the exact piece, I am assuming it was made back when I lived in Cleveland. I told the curator, I would get back to her with the info she requested in a few days. I have had a number of pieces collected by public and private collections, but from my perspective, this is the kind of news that can sure perk up a snowy, glaze day any time!

SOLITUDE

For a number of years now, I have worked entirely alone, no partner, no distraction other than the temptation of daily distractions. After leaving CSU, I had a partner for a time and then moved on to my own studio. I have worked and taught at several co-ops and at Wesleyan Potters (CT), but all that time, I have mostly been alone from morning to evening. “I have a great deal of company in the house, especially in the morning when nobody calls”, a quote by Thoreau is always in the back of my mind. My days are ordered and I am able to work as I may.

Next to my computer is a copy of a book I acquired at the Kawai Kanjiro Kinenkan entitled, WE DO NOT WORK ALONE by Yoshiko Uchida. The book published some of the thoughts of Kawai Kanjiro on the spiritual nature of art and the creative spirit. His thoughts are deceptively simple regarding how as a craftsman, an artist, merchant or a farmer, they are all “moved” by a higher power. I have thought about this for a great number of years and realize that, as a potter, I also do not work alone. Rather I work on the shoulders of those who have gone before me, those who are working now across the world and hopefully with those that will come after me. I am never alone in my studio, I have a great many to thank for this……………

“What a wonderful Now, It is surely eternity.” Kawai Kanjiro

“Time is not a line, but a series of Now-points.” Taisen Deshimaru (1914-1982)

NI-GETSU

There are a variety of reasons why people like Shigaraki wood fired pottery. In my mind, a unique beauty of Shigaraki pottery is the interaction between the tsuchi-aji (clay flavor) and the hi-iro fire coloring. The tsuchi-aji stands as a testament to where a pot was made and in most cases how it was fired.

The illustrated piece is a Shigaraki chawan by veteran potter Kon Chiharu of Niigata. Kon studied with one of the preeminent Shigaraki style potters of the 20th century; Tsuji Seimei and despite his location, his anagama fired works are Shigaraki through and through.

This chawan has wonderful hi-iro fire color encapsulating the two “moons” (Ni-Getsu) where wads separated pots from one another. The potter's throwing rhythm entice the eye to the seductive lip peppered in ash, and then into the bowl’s wet (uroi) interior. Overall, this chawan is the personification of tsuchi-aji.

More information and pictures of this chawan can be seen on my other website;

http://www.trocadero.com/albedo3studio/items/998387/item998387store.html#item

RIPPLES

I spent the better part of today, and several days last week, working on various glaze tests. I have been trying to get a specific surface for some time and in the testing phase, I can get it to work on pods, rings and small test cups. As soon as I graduate to teabowls or bigger, everything just goes south. From this testing I have managed to develop a very nice matt glaze, as well as a very nice water blue Persian at high temp. Not sure what I will do with them yet, but the testing continues. I am also working with a very refractory red iron glaze and I am using it on a variety of base glazes to see what results may come. I should have studied chemistry instead of history/art history.

All this testing reminds me of one of my favorite bowls. It is a “simple” lobed teabowl with a Seto ash style glaze over stoneware by Bill Klock. Most likely this glaze originated at the Leach pottery, but the simple nature of the bowl in terms of throwing, form and glaze has always resonated with me. As a modern potter, I am constantly looking for surfaces that “speak” while remaining mostly quiet and true to the form. This great Klock chawan does that and is a constant reminder of what I am looking for as potter and collector alike as its ripples influence my work and our environment every day.

USAGI-ZU SUITEKI

One last rabbit themed post to usher in the first full week of the year of the rabbit. This great little suiteki (water dropper) was acquired at the famous To-ji flea market in Kyoto. This suiteki has a thin white slip over the stoneware clay with an underglaze blue decorated rabbit under a clear glaze most likely made from ash. The piece is definitely 20th century and appears to be made in Kyushu, either Karatsu or Hagi, though there always is the Asahi (Matsubayashi Hosai) school right near Kyoto! Where ever it hails from, you have to appreciate the direct and fleet style of decoration on an everyday utilitarian pot.

USAGI-ZU

Does anyone remember the cinematic masterpiece; NIGHT OF THE LEPUS, an invasion of giant rabbits? Really how terrifying are rabbits and what’s next, giant ants? Segway to the year of the rabbit, 2011, early on while studying art history and world ceramics, I realized how pervasive they were as design elements in art and ceramics specifically. From east to west, from Mimbres and Delftware to Arita and Kakeimon, the rabbit has found his place in the pottery world.

When I started making pots, I had been studying art history for well over a decade and infuse the mythical lunar hare together with the central character of Usagi Yojimbo and it was only natural for me to use the rabbit as a decorative element. My use of the rabbit first found its way onto my early slipware and majolica, followed by brushed Karatsu influenced designs and finally carved into slip. The rabbit form is easily adaptable to a myriad of forms articulated as lean and long or full and rounded. Currently I make a variety of carved terra cotta pieces with various rabbit forms to decorate my work from plate and bowl to covered jars and teapots.

Illustrated is a 14” terra cotta bowl where I carved through a black slip to expose the rich red clay. Inspired by the three musketeers the roam our property and very craftily elude the nesting redtail hawks and fox that constantly prowl from the tree line. The year of the rabbit (2011), may just be a good year to make more rabbit decorated pots……………….

A GIANT HAS PASSED

A giant in the pottery field has left us; Paul Soldner, age 89, died yesterday, 1/3/2011.

May he find piece with all those potters who have already left us................

LUCKY WABBIT

What could possibly be more fitting than this rabbit & friend plate for the New Year, the year of the rabbit? This red earthenware plate is by one of the great graphic artists of the American pottery scene, Ron Meyers. I have posted previously about Meyers pottery techniques, but let it suffice to say, based on the rabbit’s expression, he is one lucky wabbit……………….

(Used with kind permission of the owner)