There is that old adage that it takes 10,000
hours to master something or become an expert at it. I wonder how that relates
to a potter with a piece of bamboo cutting the kodai on a pot, is it relative
to hours or number of pots? If you think about how many pots a potter makes,
especially a Japanese potter who hand cuts the feet on many of his pieces, how
many pieces did it take to get good at mastering what seems to be such a simple
task that is in fact, exceptionally difficult? The illustration is a video grab
from a video of Suzuki Osamu cutting a foot out of fairly wet clay with only a
sharpened piece of wood. His cuts are direct, fast and well practiced, almost
to a formula, but if you have seen many feet on his pots, it is obvious each
and every one has its own personality and distinctness while relating back to
his body of his work. As I watch his video, I ask myself, does it ever get as
easy as he makes it appear?
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