CIRCA 1973

A friend sent me a group of catalogues recently and in the package was two catalogues on Tsukigata Nahiko from 1973. 1973 was the first year that Tsukigata exhibited his new Oni-Shino and quite frankly it is amazing how far developed the style was considering I have seen pots from 1969 and 1971 that don't even hint at this revolutionary style. The illustration is of a Oni-Shino from one of the catalogues and is a form that he used for most of his career. Low and broad this mimi-tsuki Oni-Shino mizusashi has the quintessential Oni-Shino glaze that Tsukigata is known for and the piece has a complimentary lid with a generous knob to ensure a good grip by collector or tea master. Like many of his pots, there is an enigmatic air to the piece that is well balanced with certain aspects of Momoyama revival classicism that in many respects defines the work of Tsukigata over his career of nearly six decades.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

I just wanted to take a moment to wish everyone so inclined, a very Happy Thanksgiving. Though in many respects a truly American celebration, I can not think of anyone who doesn't have something to be thankful for and like many, my wife and I and even Khan the rocketcat have much to be thankful for. I hope that even though this day comes around once a year, you are able to find thanks each and every day.

"We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures."  Thorton Wilder (1897-1975)

A SIMPLE MUG

Illustrated is a simple mug made by Bill Klock back in the 1990s. Thrown in stoneware with an iron slip under a Cardew Shino the decoration was made through the slip while it was still wet. Bill made this mug shortly after working in South Korea with Onggi potters and though not blatantly, it shows some influences of his year long stay. It is a straight forward and direct mug that has a no frills attitude and a comfortable handle and it and its mate has been in use in our household for about 20 years for everything from schnapps, baked beans, cole slaw, nuts, hot chocolate and everything in between. There is a subtle richness to the pot that is made infinitely better while in use as many great pots can testify. Thanks Bill.

"A home-made friend wears longer than one you buy in the market." Austin O'Malley (1858-1932)

SIDE FIRED II

Though the picture came out a bit shiny, it gives a good view of the molten interior of one of the side fired Oribe teabowl. The glaze on the top half of the bowl was thickly applied and the addition of ash and iron made the glaze flow like lava down the sides of the piece to pool at the bottom creating unique and rich flows. Luckily the pitch of the pot was just right or the glaze would have run right out of the bowl and on to the hunk of protective shelf just below. I have learned my lessons with runny glazes over the years and now fire such pots on pieces of firebrick or broken shelf. Better safe than sorry is this potter's motto.

HOT LAVA by the B-52s;

IN MEMORIAM

It was just about one year ago that pottery lost another great way too early. On November 20, 2013, Kirk Mangus (1952-2013) passed away rather unexpectedly leaving a void at Kent State University, among the wood fired community and with family and friends. I knew Kirk and it was his teaching style and ability that drew me to the KSU masters program. He was a driving task master who was always willing to teach, share and help with a clever smirk and a depth of knowledge and ability. Many of his pots shared the cast of thousands of characters that swirled about in his head and just as many found their way on to paper in a graphic and playful manner. Kirk was direct, as were his pots and his firings in electric, gas, wood and salt but he will be truly remembered for his pursuit and dedication to wood firing and the wood firing community. He is sorely missed by anyone he came in contact with.

Illustrated is a large, heavily carved and unfinished pot by Kirk Mangus. Ready to be wood fired it reminds me of all the pots he made and all the pots he was yet to make.

SLOW BLUE MONDAY

Like a number of locations today, it is a dreary, overcast, snowy, rainy day here in the central Mohawk Valley with temperatures hovering just above freezing. Add to the bleak weather the fact that a package was absolutely, positively supposed to arrive today but did not make its destination and you have some of the components for another slow blue Monday. Despite various tasks at hand and some well chosen music, today has somewhat mimicked the weather making for a slow Monday. To brighten the mood a bit, illustrated is a vibrant, bright blue Persian influenced tile by Ningen Kokuho, Kato Takuo. Framed and matted by pale blue-grey fabric, the painting can transport the viewer to another time and place with ease and this is just one of the gifts of this master of Toruko-ao style work. I am always amazed at how quickly a good pot can clear the mind and change a mood.

A novel twist on NEW ODRER's BLUE MONDAY;

SHOGA

At this point it shouldn't come as a surprise that I love good brushwork on clay or paper and the illustrated screen is no exception. Created by the avant-garde expressionist calligrapher, Morita Shinryu (1912-1998) this work is both powerful, expressive and visual poetry. During his lifetime, Morita was a major influence on calligraphers and expressionist painter in Japan and abroad and ranks as one of the most important calligraphers of the 20th century. Painted on gold flecked paper, these two bold kanji command their surface and hold the attention of the viewer whether you can read them or not; they are pure ink expression(ism) and raw emotion. Few have the spirit, confidence and intuitive ability necessary to make spontaneity work as well as Morita Shinryu.

"The final test of a painting, theirs, mine, any other, is; does the painter's emotions come across?"  Franz Kline (1910-1962)

MORE GELT

Illustrated is a larger version of a gelt box out of the same firing as the other one I posted. This one is glazed in a subtle purple glaze made from finely milled manganese carbonate and a touch of cobalt. The terra cotta box is decorated with black and white slip which shows up well through the glaze and creating a bit of dimension to the surface. The base glaze is something I found in a ceramics book from the 1950s and it makes a great low-fire amber, purple, burgandy and steel blue however since several of the ingredients are no longer available, like colemenite and Albany slip a number of adjustments had to be made which included using gerstley borate and dark yellow ochre/ red art combined as well as altering the percentages to get the formula to work. This particular box is about the largest I make, 4" diameter as the interior takes a lot of gold to cover top and bottom and until I try my hand at making my own gold luster, the commercially available luster is not exactly cheap limiting the scale to a modest  and affordable size.

"Gold like the sun, which melts wax, but hardens clay, expands great souls." Antoine Rivarol (1753-1801)

 

 

BUSHI-WAN

Illustrated is a Tsukigata Nahiko Oni-Shino chawan that used to belong to a collector friend of mine. At one time he had the largest group of Tsukigata pots that I am aware of outside of Japan which included a number of chawan, a magnificent chaire, a gem quality mizusashi, tsubo, hanaire and a framed tile to boot. But when I close my eyes this large brooding chawan stands out, its energy and presence palpable as if it were alive. The rich and molten surface frozen in time when Shino, ash and iron coalesce to create a statement about both potter and craft. There really is only one master of this style and this chawan a vivid exclamation about the spirit, determination and mystery of the art of Oni-Shino.

"This inanimate object, this pottery thing holds within itself thought and feeling in some mysterious way different from any other inanimate objects." Ted Randall (1914-1985)

WOOD & STRAW

I assembled a short video slideshow of a Hagi vase by Yamato Yoshitaka (1944-2010). The vase loosely based on ancient jade ritual vessels known as a "cong" which appeared as early as 3300 BCE; these forms are also seen in bronze, glass and ceramics, most notably in Chinese celadons. Covered in a glaze made of a mixture of wood and straw ash, the milky quality of the surface cloaks the carved, slip covered clay creating a number of color variations that run from milky blue to lavender making for a wonderful keshiki landscape. This pot has a sense of antiquity to it, despite being made in the past 20 years or so but this is one of the alluring aspects of this type of Hagi glaze and the touch of a potter who understands both his medium and its classical tradition.

SPIRAL

I am a big fan of the spiral and use it quite frequently on my pottery. It is one of the oldest known symbols used by man as decoration and to express both expansion and collapse. I have found over time that it helps animate a wide array of forms and I am particularly fond of using it as an all over pattern representing an infinite number of galaxies or possibilities. The illustrated large slip trail plate is covered in spirals of varying sizes and the form is animated by the devices which also drift off the edge of the pot extending the pattern ad infinitum.

"The path isn't a straight line; it's a spiral. You continually come back to things you thought you understood and see deeper truths."  Ritu Ghatourey

TANI-SAN III

Illustrated is a classic, medieval style uzukumaru vase by Tani Seiuemon. Though not very large in scale, it has something that gives it a larger than life appearance. The form is simple and the ash has nestled and run gracefully off the shoulder creating its own unique landscape while the carefully crafted mouth of the pot offers an invitation for use, a labor of love. I have long been a fan of the work of Tani-san and have seen hundreds of his pots over the years, most are striped of the superfluous and each piece seems to be created in a bare-bones style in which he relies on the kiln to finish dressing each pot. There is something elemental and comforting about the workman style pots of the countless potters who make pots simply to be used and enjoyed without ego or accolades and this is also what made many of the great pots of the Momoyama era.

"A man's best friend are his ten fingers."  Robert Collyer (1823-1912)