A NEW ORIBE

I fired off the kiln last Friday with a group of pots glazed up in my newest Oribe glaze. Along with the Oribe pieces were a number of iron red and temmoku pots and a few other combinations. The firing went well, with a single mishap from a too runny pot, but when you work with runny glazes, it is bound to happen and why most pots are wadded and fired on either pieces of old broken shelf or on soft brick pieces. The Oribe glaze worked rather well and was a step up from the few teabowls and small jars that have been glazed to date. I fired a few vases and jars that were between 13" and 16" tall and having a glaze that is not dependant on lepidolite makes that scale much easier to glaze. I think this is the green glaze I will be using for the foreseeable future, but I am well aware, I am always one glaze test away from going with something entirely new.

Illustrated is the kaku-kinuta vase I posted up on the blog a week ago. The glaze responded well on the form and allowed the details and marks from the paddling to stand out without obscuring them. Where the glaze ran and pooled on the shoulder it created a neat effect as the copper built up and began to create a rich blue-green texture. The second illustration is a detail of the mouth and shoulder of an Oribe glazed tsubo that has combed slip decoration around the pot. The green is very intense and iridescent around the mouth and elsewhere and there are areas of rich blue-green tendrils created by a saturation of copper in the glaze. All in all, not a bad firing for a test glaze.

MIYAMA

If I close my eyes and think about what the quintessential Hagi chawan would look like, there are several bowls that come to mind. It would have a broad and pleasant form, lots of glaze variations, tones of pinks and lavender, gritty daido clay and a strong and proud foot, not at all unlike the chawan illustrated. Made by Miwa Kyuwa in the mid-1970's, this chawan has all the features that make Hagi-yaki so wonderful and desirable. Named MIYAMA, "beautiful mountain" by Sokuchusai (Mujin Sosa 1901-1979), its name captures the powerful, somber and majestic nature of this bowl. Miwa Kyuwa, one of the finest Hagi potters of the 20th century,  created this bowl which epitomizes a classic tradition and though an aesthetic tour de force, his goal was to create function before beauty. Due to his exceptional skill and eye, he was able to do both without compromising either.

(Photo used with the kind permission of a collector.)

SIMPATICO

I know I have droned on about music in regards to working previously, but it seems to be a topic that comes up from time to time. I recently had a nice series of emails regarding music and we compared notes as to what music we tend to listen to with various tasks; from throwing and trimming, to decorating, carving, glaze making and glazing. I noticed, that we both listened to some of the same music for similar tasks, which I found more than a coincidence and rather interesting. Yesterday, I was carving a group of porcelain bowls and the music I was listening to was a compilation of classical, new age and electronic music which included a few by Tomita, some Jarre and Vangelis, some jazzed up Claire De Lune versions by various artists and Alan Parson's Project, I, ROBOT. The cd is contemplative, soft and without any abrupt or loud interruptions, it is simpatico with the task at hand. I am a firm believer that we each have our own soundtrack to our lives and this is just another group that gets me through yet another part of making my pottery and enjoying it along the way.

ANOTHER KODAI

I pictured the MINE (no) MOMIJI chawan on my blog a long while back and thought it a good idea to show the kodai from this chawan. Keep in mind, this is an old bowl, one of the first true chawan ever made and look at that foot. Beyond being eminently practical and full of purpose, it has such casual grace and strength which when upright, creates a dramatic sense of lift for the bowl. This was created using intuition, experience and dare I say, creative common sense? The chawan was created not as a copy of other chawan but rather as the next step forward from the found objects used early on in tea. There are few chawan like this bowl and the potter who created it made a form and kodai that honestly is unequalled to this day. Surely it was not just cosmic serendipity, this chawan was created through determined and practiced effort and no doubt there were more like it but time has taken its toll and left us with this wondrous example of a Momoyama chawan.

KAKU-KINUTA

I have been working on a stoneware firing and decided to make a number of vases, tsubo and jars for my newest Oribe glaze to see how it looks on larger pots. In the group are a pair of trumpet vases, one with sprigged on and impressed devices as well as a few covered jars with impressed designs and some other forms. Illustrated is a thrown and altered vase, about 15" tall, made in two pieces, that was first thrown round and then paddled square. The neck and body were also slightly textured during the forming and I am hoping the texture stands out once the piece is glazed in the transparent Oribe. I am hoping to bisque the group of pots by the middle of next week and will, with a bit of luck, glaze up and fire as soon as possible when they come out of the kiln. I had wanted to try to make such a form for some time and the last day of throwing for this cycle proved to be the exact right time. One down, hundreds to go.

CANDID

A while back, I was fortunate to handle a rather nice Shigaraki mizusashi by the late Furutani Michio and like many pots, it has found its new home. The form, illustrated in this candid shot, was coil and thrown and is a classic style pot by a potter who had an innate sense  which blended clay, form and firing to create a pot that was meant to be wood fired. In this case, the form, like a pair of stacked stones faced the fire and stood up to the fury of the flame and charcoal which painted the face in a variety of ash effects. The lugs toward the top of the pot and a few delft marks created while the wheel was spinning, add gesture and articulate the piece while the large knob on the lid beckons the viewer to pick it up. It is easy for me to get carried away looking at a pot by Furutani, he made it very easy to do so.

Though Furutani Michio did not lack for any skilled and insightful effort, when I look at his work, this quote often springs to mind; "Experience shows that success is due less to effort than to zeal. The winner is he who gives himself to his work, body and soul."  Charles Buxton (1823-1871)

BLUE MONDAY XI

You don't necessarily have to like blue glazes to appreciate the wonderful nature of this pot. Aside from the magnificent Persian blue glaze, it is the intricate, yet lyrical and casual brushwork of Kato Takuo that makes this piece so captivating. Though eminently modern in creation, Kato has captured a timeless essence in the decoration of the pot which finds its inspiration from old Persian pottery with the flowing, intricate border acting as a frame for the two figures and foliage on the interior of the bowl. The piece ends up as regal as the two princes that the pot depicts and is irrefutably a work of a potter in command of not only his brushwork, but his glazing and firing as well.

KILN CHANGE

One of the fascinating aspects to firing work is the concept of yohen, or kiln change work. In the past I have played with a number of glazes that would change during a firing provided certain anomalies were present. In fact, my first kiln change experience was back at CSU when I was working with a tin based white glaze. At the time I was making pots that were influenced by both Delft ware and blue & white sometsuke pottery. In one firing I ended up decorating the glaze with a chrome based wash and when the pots came out of the kiln, they were chrome/tin pink. It was rather startling as the other pots were stark white and these select pieces were entirely mauve to pink in color with almost crimson tones where the brushwork was. I made a number of teapots, cups/saucer sets, covered jars, bowls and plates and decided to see how uniform I could get the surfaces of the pots. These firings were not so much about getting a desired color, but rather seeing the extent of homogeneity that could be experienced in the surfaces as well as proving out some of the theory from Cullen W. Parmelee. It was an excellent first exposure to getting things to alter dramatically in a kiln and the next experiments were all about altering Shino  and copper red glazes.

Illustrated is a set of cups and saucers glazed in a tin based white glaze and then decorated with a chrome wash. Once fired they transmute from white to this mauve-pink toned surface without any help from Calvin & Hobbs. I believe this set was made in 1993.

MUKOZUKE

Illustrated is a rather involved set of Ki-Seto mukozuke by Iga potter Banura Shiro. Made to imitate teoke, handled buckets, each mukozuke has a thin coat of glaze that accentuates the form, simple incised decoration and is accented with copper. The glaze has run slightly, helping to emphasize the height of each piece and animating the rather strict, almost formal forms. One can just imagine them dominating a table, almost standing guard among an array of small plates, bowls and cups on a table. Though rather conventional in execution, Banura has made this form his own through his simple execution of the idea, design and surface decoration; the loose manner in which the lip is cut on the interior is a wonderful counterpoint to the lines of the exterior of the pieces and breaks up the forms in a way that Banura Shiro is quite adept at managing. In the end, these mukozuke have been transformed from formal to playful with little more that a knife cut and a quick dip in a bucket of glaze.

MOKU-TSUBO

Illustrated is a very stark and bold panel with the single kanji for TSUBO carved into the wood and then covered in what appears to be a pure white gofun (glue and powdered oyster shell) that is painted into the carved recess of the character. The tsubo kanji is flanked on the lower left by a carved seal painted in red which complements the panel rather nicely. Though not carved by Kato Tokuro,  he provided a calligraphy sheet which was then transferred on to the panel and carved by a professional wood carver. The rear is attested in ink by the carver that Kato Tokuro created the original art work for this panel. Having seen a number of calligraphies by Kato Tokuro, the carver has done a wonderful job capturing the attitude, posture and sincerity of the potter/calligrapher at his best. All in all, a wonderful panel that would look marvelous guarding over a tsubo in almost any setting.

TOOLED ECONOMY

Illustrated is an extremely effective and simple foot on a chawan by Sugimoto Sadamitsu (b. 1935). Though at first glance, it could seem this foot was cut in haste, the well conceived kodai compliments the cylindrical form of the chawan very well. In fact, everything about the form of this pot speaks to a tremendous economy of thought, process and execution like many of its medieval antecedents. The bowl has been created in a style that has stripped away any superfluous additions to allow the purity of form and clay to interact with the will and determination of the firing. Best known for his woodfired Shigaraki and Iga wares, Sugimoto is also a master at producing Raku chawan of sublime and beautiful simplicity, another style that relies of the simplicity of form, glaze and firing to create subtle yet effective master works. Though this foot is the model of efficiency, I cannot imagine any additions or subtractions that would improve upon what appears to be a perfect kodai for this chawan.

SEEING IS BELIEVING

Having studied chawan for a good number of years, it has become very clear how easy it is to ruin a chawan with a less than well addressed foot. How is it that a potter can form the bowl and glaze it to near perfection and neglect the foot? I am sure you have all seen a nice bowl form, with a very nice surface and flip the chawan over only to see a weak or somewhat perfunctory foot cut in haste and without any sense of complimenting the form or establishing its any style. I am always quick to say, nothing ruins a good bowl faster than a bad foot. I have noticed  some feet and the transition to the body of the chawan are abruptly stiff, without any lift of the form or grace to the line. It is more than a bit hard to describe good from bad, seeing examples in hand is the best teacher, but modern potters like Arakawa Toyozo, Tsuji Seimei, Furutani Michio and Hori Ichiro, among others create very fine kodai, realizing the foot is far more than a place to simply set the bowl on.

Illustrated is the kodai of a chawan by master potter, Ningen Kokuho; Arakawa Toyozo. The direct and swift cutting of the foot can be clearly seen in the delft cuts made using a bamboo knife practiced and perfected over a lifetime of making pottery. There are few better than Arakawa when it comes to cutting a complimentary kodai on almost any form.

"Striving to better, oft we mar what's well."  Wm. Shakespeare (1556-1616)

KOKORO CHAWAN

I enjoy the occasional  snippets found in TV and movies regarding pottery making. In Japan, the craft is explored in a wide array of jidai-geki, chambara and normal TV programming as pottery is considered a noble and essential pursuit to the Japanese. This short video, from SHIN-ZATOICHI, a TV show that is about a blind traveling masseur, who is also a notorious swordsman and yakuza member is just such a moment where Zatoichi has decided he wishes to learn to make pottery chawan. The back story revolves around Zatoichi, over hearing a transaction in which a contemporary chawan (circa 1850's) is sold for ju-ryo (10 pieces of gold) and exorbitant sum, hence the interest in making chawan. It is worth a watch for the blend of humor and sentiment between Zatoichi, a student and the master. Enjoy!