As I
child, I was amused, fascinated and somewhat enthralled with the wit, wisdom
and humor of James Thurber. I read what I could lay my hands on by him and
searched out every cartoon available (remember, this predates the immediacy of
the internet by a few decades!) and watched every episode of ITS MY WORLD AND WELCOME TO IT (1969-1970) . One
of my favorite stories and also movies based on Thurber's stories, was THE
SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY, the perfect
foil for Danny Kaye, possibly only surpassed by, THE COURT JESTER. I realize
you may be wondering what any of this has to do with pottery and I could say nothing
or everything, but truthfully, one of Thurber's quotes reminds me of a photo I
took some while back.
Last year
I had a very fine Kumano Kuroemon Shino chawan come through my hands. Beyond
the obvious sheer scale of the pot, the surface exterior and interior was
covered in a luscious coat of natural green ash from his intense wood firing. I
examined the piece thoroughly and documented it in a myriad of photos, but none
seemed to capture the real beauty of the bowl. By happenstance, in one of my
favorite places to display pots, the sunlight came through as an illuminating
sliver and finally showed the real presence and essence of this particular
chawan. All I had to do was point and shoot and keep the pot in focus. I have
said enough, I'll let the photo continue the narrative.
"There
are two kinds of light - the glow that illuminates and the glare that
obscures." James Thurber (1894-1961)
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