鯱鉾

From time to time I find myself doing some calligraphy as the mood hits me, though Japanese inspired, I am a huge fan of the abstract expressionists and would like to think there is a mix of both East and West in what I do. I use both ink sticks and bottled ink in a wood fired suzuri that I have made for myself but I always find myself using a small cup for my suiteki as I have never bought one. This brings me to my recent purchase on e#ay in which I found a rather cool Shigaraki suiteki for a price I couldn't resist, $10 and nearly two months later it finally arrived. The suiteki is a molded piece, made and fired in Shigaraki by Kawai Koji and works just as I would expect with no dribbles and a nice flow. I have seen a number of kogo and suiteki by this potter as well as some of his smaller thrown pots and his subject matter runs from the various zodiac subjects to tanuki, small huts and minka, floral design and the shachihoko just like the one that recently arrived. To those unaware, a shachihoko is a mythical beast with the head of a tiger and the body of a carp and is associated with the ability or properties to protect things from fire which is the reason there are large sculpture of these beasts on either side of the main roof of Osaka Castle. This suiteki is a fun, useful piece that has been a pleasure to use and look at and I hope this short slideshow video conveys that.