I love the subtle and often
times not so subtle details that you can discover by studying a pot. Some are
all in your face and others have to be uncovered through a thoughtful and
thorough examination of the piece, in this particular case, the detail is
easily spotted but not so easily forgotten. Clinging to the bottom of an
attached lug, this rich green bidoro drip hangs precariously while being
perpetually fed by a cascading river of ash running down the pot. Though forever
suspended just as you see, the detail gives the pot a sense of being
perpetually animated, one can almost imagine the sound of the ash dripping from
pot to table top. What makes this even more dynamic is that it is not one of
the usual Shigaraki or Iga potters that spring to mind, rather it was made by
the master of the casual and direct, Suzuki Goro. Best known for his wide array
of Mino traditional glazes, Suzuki has made a number of wood fired pots though
it is a small percentage of his work, I have to say they are not only distinct
and adventurous they are all uniquely his own and exceptionally fired for that
dramatic Goro-effect.
A few years back I decided I
would like to try my hand at a glaze that is loosely based on the gosu of Kawai
Kanjiro and before you think it or say it, I certainly realize this to be a
rather lofty and impossible task that would test my limitations of patience. Once
started, I am not sure what I thought or expected but the tests started piling
up with little to no success and few promising avenues. I encountered shivering
at one point, crawling at others and a quest that was stalling due to lack of
real direction until by happenstance in a conversation with another potter I
had an idea as to how to proceed. My first tests after this point showed promise
and went from test to 20" tall vase within just a couple of months and
along the road from then till now and constant testing, I have gotten as close
to this glaze as is practical and can honestly say, I arrived at this without
existing recipes or formulas to create my own glaze from little more than clay
and oxides. To be clear, this is not bragging, like many potters I have come up
with a number of glazes that I didn't pluck out of a book or handout, simply
put my real point is that with enough hard work, good and sometimes lucky direction
and lots of tests (over 100) it is possible to get exactlyor darn close to where you are going to say,
I have arrived. My goal was to make a blue gosu style glaze that I like, would
enjoy using and would hopefully compliment my pots and how I work and I think
that is exactly what has been accomplished. Now if only I could get every other
glaze I have been struggling with to work, I would be all set. Illustrated is a Ao+ covered
jar from my last firing. It has a thick, combed slip under the glaze and the
depth and color of the surface is a bit richer in person. It is always
rewarding to see that I can repeat the result from firing to firing, the last
true test that the glaze actually works. "Adopt the pace of
nature; her secret is patience." Ralph Waldo Emerson
Illustrated is a close up of
the interior of a rather large (aren't they all) chawan by the Bear of Echizen,
Kumano Kuroemon. Known as "GO" for the five drips in the mikomi, molten
drips from pots above, shelves and the kiln itself have found their way to the bottom
of the bowl and have run into one another to create a design reminiscent of an
abstract plum blossom. There is a great deal of happenstance when firing a wood
kiln, some good, some bad and that which is expected or hoped in one manner or
another. I have seen a number of wood fired pots with seemingly random drips on
interiors and exteriors and in the case of Kumano, a number of his chawan and
hachi have such drips to testify to the volatility and ferocity of the molten
ash that few potter's can get where the clay, glaze, kiln and potter are all at
the borders of their physical limitations. "A man who limits his
interests, limits his life." Vincent Price (1911-1993)
Illustrated is a rather
serendipitous confluence of two individual ash runs that meet to form a single
gravity defying drip. In actuality, though this large Shigaraki tsubo is firmly seated on its
foot, it was fired on its side and this view is the bottom as the pot was
situated in the kiln. During the firing, the ash built up on the opposite side
and melted, running down and around the pot to meet at the very lowest point of
the belly of the piece. Though it is serendipity, I suppose that gravity hadan enormous amount to do with it as well as a
well fired kiln. Beyond the physical laws of the universe, I suspect that
having a lifetime of experience for knowing exactly how to position the tsubo
encouraged the myriad of possibilities that can happen when clay, natural ash
and flame are introduced to each other.
I was chided recently that I
should rename my blog to "Stuff I Like" as most of my posts are about
pots that I enjoy as potter and collector. The big question I have though is
why would I write about stuff I am not interested in or passionate about. Should
I start a blog about spinach and broccoli both of which I intensely dislike? To
be perfectly fair though, there are a number of pots that are on my blog that
may not be pots I would collect for myself, they were sent here to sell,
identify or even just study, they are good pots in every sense just not my cup
of tea. I guess as someone who was a reluctant blogger I am going to continue
to write about stuff that interests me and hope that in sharing, it may
interest people who stumble on or follow my blog and open lines of
communication to others. Illustrated is a pot that I
like quite a bit. I have seen forms like this before but this illustration from
a Japanese ceramic magazine just really spoke to me from its feudal appearance, form
and posture to the truly weathered and simple surface, this pot just exudes a
visceral dialogue that I find palpable. Made by the late scholar, author, mentor, connoisseur
and potter, Koyama Fujio (1900-1975), this Karatsu/Nanban bottle has every
quality of a timelessness, the appearance has an unconscious quality to it,
unconcerned with any thoughts of perfection, a pot meant for use with the
aesthetic resonance a distant after thought but a sheer joy to drink in. When I
think of the myriad of terms associated with Japanese tea aesthetics, this
little pot always springs to mind, it prossesses nearly all of them.
What is the old adage,
"you get what you pay for"? Though I am fully aware of what happens
when you over-saturate a glaze with oxides (carbonates, etc.) my recent tests
with manganese dioxide were exceptionally promising right up through small cups
as tests. I made up enough to dip several pots, a teabowl and a small covered
jar and fired them in my most recent firing and you know what happened, crap
happened. The surfaces just boiled and droozed creating something resembling
over burnt metal. Just nasty to say the least. When I opened the kiln, the only
thing I can remember is saying; "CRAP", later it became very apparent
that I was very lucky I only fired the two pieces and on tiles that were on top
of bricks or I would have had a real mess. Like something out of the ALIEN
movies, the glaze dripped off the pots and burrowed their way through the soft
brick tiles and stopped at the hard brick underneath. Sorry for another oft
used cliché but in this case, chance does favor the prepared mind at least in
terms of when crap indeed happens.
When I first saw this chawan
and the accompanying photos, there was no real specific potter that sprung to
mind and at first glance my inclination was that it would pan out to be a
Hamada school bowl. I was far a field in my assessment as the bowl is actually
by Bizen master and Ningen Kokuho, Fujiwara Kei who was known to have made kohiki,
Hagi, Oribe, Shino, Temmoku and Seto-guro among other styles and honestly the
form threw me way off base. After doing a bit of thinking about it, it dawned
on me that this form is not that different than some of the more classical
Bizen chawan he had made so in the kantei process this should have lead me
closer to identifying the actual maker. Secondly, Kaneshige Kyosuke, son of Kei
and younger brother of Yu made a number of Oribe pieces with exactly this glaze
so this really should have been the tip off that the teabowl was no oridinary
green bowl. It is easy to rush to quick judgments regarding makers, age,
quality and style of pots but I need to remember, there is always more to learn and sometimes slow and steady
will win the race. "Hesitancy in judgment
is the only true mark of the thinker." Dagobert D. Runes (1902-1982)
Thrown, formed, paddled and
scrapped, this squared kinuta mallet vase is a classic form made by the late
Bizen potter, Kaneshige Michiaki. Though very similar to a mallet by the same
artist that I put up a while back, this one is close but shows some differences
that distinguish the forms and the surfaces show similar styles of creating
fire color, the effects however paint a different picture. This well conceived
exercise in geometry crisply intersecting showing a great deal more control in
squaring up the base and neck. The four singular planes define each side
allowing for the kiln to create surfaces that wrap around sharp edges and
create a more harmonious vessel. The flashes of fire color within the resisted
areas and the fine white stones peaking through the clay add to the visual
appeal of the pot which could only be improved upon with a well thought out
floral arrangement to complete the vase. For Wednesday, BRAND NEW DAY
by Sting;
Throwing a simple form and
using a simple temmoku and ash glaze over it, I made this piece after seeing an
old black and white photo of a bunch of jugs in the remains of a boat under
water. Despite being on the submerged for over 100 years, the jugs were elegant
in their utility and simplicity and it was these elements that I tried to
infuse in the series I have made. Thrown with a narrow base/foot, a decided
swell to the belly and a rapid taper to a very functional and defined mouth, I
threw these pots trying to strip any superfluous details away and arrive at the
essence of the form, well at least I did my best. Each jug had a small but
useful handle attached with my stamp at the base of the attachment and as you
can see the ash glaze ran and broke around the handle creating another facet to
the surface where the ash cascades on either side of the handle. Overall I am
pleased with the results though I am wondering what they would look like in one
of my Oribe glazes and how would I decorate them?
Illustrated is a simple
bottle form made by salt and wood firing pioneer, Jack Troy. Thrown in
porcelain with an ever so slightly bulbous mouth, the pot was paddled flat
creating two larger planes flanked by pointed sides to define the form. This
bottle was fired in a wood kiln some where away from the heavier ash deposits
creating a soft flashing of ash overall with a few areas of build up which
melted and ran down the right shoulder and by plan or serendipity, the pot is
completed. All in all this is a rather eloquent bottle but it has a sense of
purpose (I know, I use that word to often) where the sheer simplicity of the
form has a tremendous amount to share with the viewer. I will never tire of saying
this about a really good pot but the
simpler a piece is in its throwing and form the more complex it is to make it
so and this is where the thousands of hours of throwing and creating make all
the difference. "To gild refined gold,
to paint the lily............ is wasteful and ridiculous excess." (from
King John) William Shakespeare
This impressive and well fired Shigaraki oni-oke style mizusashi was
coil and thrown on the potter's wheel and has a rich surface and a lid that
sits well on the turned in mouth. Made by veteran Shigaraki potter, Tani
Seiuemon I, the pot was fired in an anagama wood fired kiln for nearly a week,
the resulting effects paint the surface with deposits of natural ash some of
which has turned to glass across the surface. Though fired with the lid in
place, the velocity of the fire pushed its way into the interior which settled
on the floor of the mizusashi creating a soft covering of ash adding just a bit
more to the interior aesthetics. You can see more of this mizusashi over at my trocadero
marketplace by following the link; http://www.trocadero.com/albedo3studio/items/1331556/item1331556store.html
Illustrated is an cap jar
that I made recently where I matched up a band of thick combed slip on the body
and lid of the jar. Covered over in my Oribe style glaze, the white slip shines
through the surface and creates both a tactile and visual texture that ties the
piece together while focusing the attention on the belly of the pot and the
contours of the lid. This downward view shows off the decoration and gives a
sense of the vertical feel and the sturdiness of the pot as well. I am
particularly fond of making lidded vessels and being able to match or harmonize
lid and body is both a constant challenge and a rewarding pursuit. A nice touch for a rainy
Monday, BLACKBIRD by Julie Fowlis;
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