BLENDED FOR SMOOTHNESS

I emailed a friend a while back asking if he may have a particular formula that I am looking for. He emailed back with a suggestion that I do a line blend with several materials, though I had already gone through that exercise, it got me to thinking about another type of line blend. Back at CSU, I had come up with a nice alternative to an Albany slip glaze by blending two existing glazes in a 60/40 ratio. The results were as good as it was going to get in a post-Albany environment. Using the same principle, I took 5 existing glazes that I am using and "blended" them together in 80/20, 50/50 and 20/80 percentage ratios. The results, though just a jumping off point, came out surprisingly well. In all, I came up with at least 3 new glazes worth further trials. I am sure to try different blends as part of my normal testing from now on and see what else shows up.

Illustrated is a  60/40 blend of the alkaline clear with my tetsu-yu glaze, which has become a super rich, iron yellow glaze. I am tentatively calling it Chinese mustard, after the glaze, not the condiment. The glaze needs some more work and is a bit prone to run, but it makes for a rather nice surface on the right pot. Where pooled inside the yunomi, the glaze breaks on the  ridges of the finger swirl, standing up in contrast to the smooth iron yellow.

ITS ALL IN THE PREPARATION

Illustrated is a previously fired mentori vessel by Kohyama Yasuhisa waiting for another cycle in the fire. For this kiln, way back in 1993, about 20% were pots to be refired, which is a common practice in Shigaraki and Iga and has been for centuries. The pots are ferried back and forth from studio and storage to staging tables, just outside of the enclosure housing his Iori-gama kiln, the precursor to loading. The tedious and exacting art of loading is carried out with skill and efficiency to maximize the finite space and to help insure a good firing. It's all in the preparation and the knowledge of the process, which determines the outcome, together with a pinch of luck. If you look past Kohyama's central pot, to the right, you can see a couple of my chawan getting ready to be loaded as well. Despite my current situation in regards to firing, there is little to compare to wood firing an anagama that I know of.

KOHYAMA ON IPTV

In keeping with the theme of Kohyama Yasuhisa, I have uploaded a video I took of Kohyama-san back in 1993 while I was at his studio in Asanomiya, Shigaraki-cho. It is a short video of him throwing a chawan for his upcoming anagama kiln firing, which I participated in. His attention to detail, particularly the lip is why he is well known in Japan and outside for his thrown and handbuilt vessels. At every level, Kohyama-san uses techniques dating back to ancient Shigaraki and Sueki wares instilled with his personal modern approach; the mark of a master potter.


"Working with clay, inspired by nature, I am free to allow creation to happen." Kohyama Yasuhisa

KOHYAMA YASUHISA EXHIBITION IN LONDON

Currently, at the Erskin, Hall & Coe Gallery in London, England from  June 13th - July 22nd 2012, Shigaraki pioneer and legendary potter, Kohyama Yasuhisa is having an exhibition of his work. The works range from his iconic "wind" objects to totemic sculpture and Yayoi and Sueki influenced intimate objects perfect for any collection or habitat. The exhibit is comprised of 27 pieces which span a several year period of Kohyama-san's works and also showcase a wide array of styles, surfaces and forms. If there is anything I could add about the brilliant works of Kohyama Yasuhisa, it is that they stand out of time and illuminate what is possible within the  feudal tradition of Shigaraki ceramics.

The exhibition can be seen at the following link;

http://www.erskinehallcoe.com/exhibitions/yasuhisa-kohyama-2012/

Further, a nice pdf catalogue of the pieces with several short essays can be downloaded at this link;

http://www.erskinehallcoe.com/assets/Uploads/exhibition-catalogue/1206-kohyama-catalogue-web.pdf

CONSTANT EVOLUTION

"A man's got to know his limitations." Dirty Harry

I recently saw a very old pot and was inspired to try my own spin on the idea. I spent a bit of time sketching up surfaces, testing the necessary glaze and materials and then set about throwing some cylinder vases to test on. The first step went fine, but as it came time to add the decoration, the whole idea, surface and concept, just fell short. I know that it can take hundreds (thousands) of tries to get an idea worked out, but as I sallied forth, the concept became more and more diluted and less interesting. Through countless tests, experiments and trials and tribulation, I have figured out what I can do and those great amount of things that I can not. The conclusion, as vague as this may be, is that I just do not have the aptitude to proceed further. Over 20 plus years of potting, I have learned my strengths as well as my weaknesses and at the end of the day, sifting through the myriad of  possibilities keeps things interesting and is part of the continuing evolution of being an inquisitive potter.

In keep with the inquisitive and determined theme, illustrated is a picture of a greenware teabowl that I have just hand cut the foot. I have been working to create a foot that accentuates the bowl form more than does a normally tooled foot. The foot shown has been one approach that works well on both the heavily paddled/distorted bowls as well as the ones that are asymmetrical and pushed oval. Understanding limitations is one thing, but practice does make perfect, lots and lots of practice.

BLUE MONDAY VI

Sometimes I think really good Persian blue pots are like some form of emotional drug for me. The cool, electric color is both visually and emotionally seductive and draws me to them like a moth to a flame. One problem with Persian blue is that very few potters make very good pots in that style. In Japan, there is only a handful that can pull of the technique; among them, Kato Kenji, I have mentioned more than once, as well as Kato Takuo and there is also his son and heir to the technique, Kato Kobei VII (b. 1945). Like his father, Kobei VII works in a wide array of styles, including sculptural vessels, various Mino traditions, and Persian (Mid-Eastern) luster-ware, tin glazed pottery, three color wares, and Persian blue. Though working in an idiom that his father had pioneered and made famous, Kobei's works are his own and are a fitting addition and legacy to the family kiln, the Kobei-gama.

Illustrated is a little, gem quality Persian blue chaire by Kato Kobei VII. The foliage and vine design is painted in silhouette with accents of solid gold foil under the electric blue glaze. The effect is intoxicating and draws to mind the poetry and paintings of the Orientalists from centuries past. The lid is made of the finest core female elephant ivory and the bag a splendid cross between Sosho-in  and Ruskin style textiles. It is a fitting and splendid chaire that admirably follows in those of his father's footsteps.

FUKINSEI

In keeping with my interest in Enso across many media, illustrated is a classical Nezumi-Shino chawan by Wakao Toshisada. I have written about Toshisada before, so I will keep my comments brief; the beauty of this pot and its partial white Enso is its many possible interpretations and its balanced asymmetry. With the roving lip as the horizon, it resembles a full moon rising into the night's sky to reach for its fullest potential as is the potter with this lyrical and simple pot.

DEUX POINTS DE VUE

Illustrated are two views of the same pot that was fired recently. The pot, glazed in my temmoku and tetsu-yu, is shown with its ceramic lid and a roiro black lacquer lid. What never ceases to amaze me is how a small change can alter the appearance and bearing of a pot, like presenting two very different points of view.

"You can not depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus." Mark Twain (1835 -1910)

INCOMING V

I received several pieces on Saturday to put up on my Trocadero website. The pottery collector, who's collection is 99% British and American pottery, decided to part with his Japanese pots to focus on his primary field of interest. There are three pots, all Mino tradition pieces; an exceptional Shino vase by Hayashi Shotaro, and elegant Shino hanaire by Ando Hidetaka and a modern Oribe chawan by Tsukamoto Haruhiko. All three are wonderful pieces and both the Hayashi and Tsukamoto show what modern twists can be applied to Momoyama pottery.

Illustrated on the left is a ovoid, paddled Shino vase by Ando Hidetaka and on the right is a powerful Momoyama influenced vase by Hayashi Shotaro. Either would make exceptional display pieces in a tokonoma alcove or in a tea room, yet both would be right at home in any setting East or West. You can see more of these two pieces and the Tsukamoto chawan at my webstore;

http://www.trocadero.com/albedo3studio/catalog.html

OUTSIDE LOOKING IN

I know, at first glance you have to be wondering, what are you even looking at and am I that bad a photographer. While I will admit, I am not a great photog, but this picture was taken from the inside of a teabowl, the "underexposed" warning in full effect. What you are actually looking at is a porcelain teabowl, exceptionally thinly thrown, after which using a sharpened bamboo knife, I incised a design around the bowl which is then inlaid with black slip. In essence, you are looking at the design, through the wall of the translucent porcelain. The light source behind the bowl is sunlight coming in through the studio window. The exterior decoration is a precise thin lined representation of my "landscapeman" design. I thought it looked rather cool seeing the design reflected on the interior just like the outside looking in.

"Symbols are just symbols; the thing's the thing."  Howard Ogden (1940-2011)

NATURAL BEGINNINGS

A while back, I posted up an early mizusashi by Shigaraki potter, Kohyama Yasuhisa. Along with Kohyama-san, rebirth of the anagama in Shigaraki Valley was in also due to the pioneering efforts of Furutani Michio. Illustrated is a very early Shigaraki mizusashi by Furutani Michio, though I am unsure when it was made, my best guess is sometime before 1975. There is a nice soft dusting of natural fly ash on the face and the rest of the pot is painted in various hues of hi-iro fire color. The work by both Furutani and Kohyama were a quantum leap forward from what had replaced the old medieval style of anagama firing in Shigaraki and Iga. Though wood fired, the previous pottery had an applied ash glaze on the pottery that was then wood fired. The works after the early 1970's were fired in anagama throughout the valley and the surfaces were all natural, shinzen-yu; the results of hard work, good long firings and the build up of natural ash circulating inside the kiln as a natural extension of the process. Though this pot was made at the beginning of Furutani Michio's career, it can be considered a milestone among 20th century Shigaraki/Iga pottery for being the product of a resurrected and all natural,medieval tradition.

HAIGA

Illustrated is a simple, lyrical Haiga kakejiku by Ningen Kokuho, Fujiwara Kei (1899-1983). Like his pottery, the painting and calligraphy are simple, direct and casual with tones of black, grey, light green and indigo washes portraying what is presumably Iris Sibirica, Siberian Iris with  haiku calligraphy running down the right hand side of the scroll. Fujiwara Kei was also known for his calligraphy and paintings and a number of his pots have calligraphy and Momoyama inspired simple imagery inscribed on them. For a signature, he has used his seal, seen on most of his pottery boxes adding the only red punctuation to the scroll. Though small in scale, it is an evocative scroll that has a rather large presence and an honest glimpse into how he perceived the subject.

Fujiwara Kei (1899-1983) had a late start to making pottery when he went to apprentice with Kaneshige Toyo. Unlike his master, Fujiwara Kei was interested and dedicated to creating works in the Ko-Bizen style. His approach to Bizen pottery is probably best characterized as the pursuit of simplicity and honesty in clay, which would seem to be the same approach he applied to this scroll painting.

MORE TEXTURE

Like any potter, I go through these phases of figuring out what does and doesn't work in regards to decoration and surfaces. It is probably apparent at this point that I am rather fond of various textures and the truth is, sometimes I get a bit carried away. I recently made a few teabowls for my lepidolite Oribe glaze. These chawan have to be made out of a blend of two different stoneware bodies or there ends up being a good deal of pinholing. Once thrown, I set about trying a variety of  impressed designs on the pieces and then came to this last one and decided to go all out and cover the body of the bowl in a repeat of two different designs. I think it came out rather nice for a spur of the moment idea and have to admit, the texture feels rather nice in the hand and added a good degree of glaze variation where the glaze is thicker and thinner. It would seem, this less planned out, the better.