A BARREL & A CUP

As one may imagine just from the name of where I live, Little Falls, there are not a lot of dining possibilities but there are a few places here and close enough to keep us happy. Back in March we went out to dinner with friends at the Copper Moose Ale House* here in town and had a rather nice, casual meal but in some respects the high light was this wonderful Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale* that I had. As the name implies, the beer is aged in old bourbon barrels giving it a rich and unique flavor and when served really cold, it is just delicious. Luckily a local outlet carries this beer and we are able to get it at our leisure or until the supply runs out. It is all the better in these small slipware terra-cotta slip beer or bourbon cups that I made some time back that we use whenever we get the chance. Like many of the pots we use here at home that I have made, these cups are extras from a cast of thousands made as an order so there are only 3 hanging around. Just as well, I am not too keen on sharing this ale and a lack of cups in a potter's home is as good an excuse as any not to share as I can come up with.

(* This is in no way a commercial endorsement of either the resteraunt or ale, decide for yourself and if you are going to have an excellent cheeseburger or an ale, do so in moderation and responsibly.)

JUST ROUTINE

The illustrated kohiki mizusashi is a picture I have had on the hard drive for some time now. I don't have much info on the potter, Tamura Hamao but what I can say is that I really enjoy how the piece was made, slipped and glazed. In fact, I would go so far as to say that this is one of the most casual, non-chalant and honest pieces I have seen in some time. Please bare in mind that I am making observations from over a dozen photos (none of them mine) and it appears like Tamura threw this mizusashi like he presumably had many dozens before, quickly faceted the surface and once green, dipped it in a fine slip before it was bisque and glazed, in other words, the pot was made purposefully from an experienced routine with little thought given to the process beyond muscle memory. The mizusashi is the epitome of simplicity of form and exectution but the uneven facets, random iron spotting, active slip and mellow clear glaze create a pot that is filled with subtle nuances, complex and hidden gems, making the whole so much more than what the description of the pot and process whould indicate. I really enjoy pots like this but it is hard not to like and not for the lack of the potter trying, doing just what he does, day in and day out.

ENSAI

Here is a short video slideshow of an Ensai-Hagi hanaire by veteran potter; Okada Yu (b.1946) which I had here for too brief a time. The surface matches well with the form and there is a nice array of textures with the crisp white juxtaposed nicely against the shadowy grey-black at the top of the piece. I tried to capture the vivid sense of movement and atmosphere that surrounds the vase and hope it is conveyed well in the video, enjoy!

TLALOC

I should start by saying, please don't ask me exactly how I got here but let it suffice to say the imagery is very loosely based on the ancient Aztec rain god, Tlaloc. At some point early on in my pottery career, I had made a number of designs that represented Aztec gods from visits to the CMA, BMFA and the Met, this particular design of Tlaloc was meant to represent the deity nourishing the earth with the figure in the midst of a stylized storm. This large teapot was handbuilt and then the incised design was adapted to the form and then inlaid in a white engobe which was then lightly dusted over the surface and then fired to temperature. Despite appearance, the piece functions as an occasional teapot and the flattish spout pours fairly well. This ishime-ji, stone texture piece is loosely based on ancient stele and I tried to create designs that fit the form and technique to appear like old carved or incised stone. I continue to use this technique now and again when the mood strikes and a particular design dictates a specific method of execution.

"All the gods, all the heavens, all the hells, are within you." Joseph Campbell

DO OVER

Several years back I posted up a single photo and a video of a Furutani Michio Iga chawan. The video was shot using a cheap turn-table and an equally as inexpensive digital camera that let me take 3 minute videos. Considering the date, I thought it would be only fitting to try to build a new slideshow video with the photos I have on hand to do the piece the justice it deserves. A first glance it seems a rather simple Iga teabowl but in truth it is a noble and complex chawan that has many of the tell tale characteristices of Furutani Michio's pottery from form, firing and foot. I hope this slideshow gives a more insightful and comprehensive look into a classic chawan by perhaps one of the most important wood fire potters of the 20th Century.

You can see the original post and video here;
https://albedo3studio.blogspot.com/2014/07/timing.html

YURI-HAKKIN-SAI

Illustrated is a rather large bowl I was able to study a while back by Kyoto potter Furukawa Toshio (1949-2005) with the aid and assistance of my potter and I guess photography assistant, Khan. I was forced to take several shots of this large bowl on the floor as it is just about 20" in diameter and doesn't fit where I normally photograph and that is when curiousity got the better of the cat. Furukawa Toshio specialized in a number of glazes of which celadons proliferate including multi-colored celadons that create shaded seiji surfaces as well as rich, deep copper reds. This particular piece is created by putting cut and sgrafitto platinum foil under a very deep Persian blue style glaze a technique (yuri-hakkin-sai) that his son Takuro (b.1979) continues today. There are several pieces with this exact style of surface exhibited in the EXHIBITION OF TRADITIONAL JAPANESE ART CRAFTS and it would not surprise me if this piece was exhibited there as well though that will remain to be seen. There is a lot I could say about this piece but perhaps the most striking feature is how luminescent the surface is, catching and refracting (reflecting) light from every angle and any light source and as you can see, even Khan is drawn to this pot.

SPACE FILLIN'

Two cycles back while I was finishing up an order and some commissioned pieces I ended up with a number of odd areas that needed to be filled and set about making a few filler pieces that were not teabowls. What I hit upon were several small ewer forms that have some of that Kohyama Yasuhisa influence but were mostly influenced by an old Sueki ewer I had seen and studied some time back. The bodies, thrown off the hump are simple closed forms resembling larger river stones with a thrown neck added and small feet pulled off each pot. The decoration is black slip under an Oribe style glaze with each ewer perched on three small feet and the lip had the black slip sanded off to create a focal point. In truth, these are rather small and wouldn't hold much sake or bourbon but it would be more than enough for soy or some other such condiment which was my real intent.

"The least movement is important to all nature. The entire ocean is affected by a pebble." Blaise Pascal

SOLITARY

Illustrated is a rather solitary henko form by Kawai Takeichi. I like this form quite a bit as it is simple, has rather honest lines and acts as volume for a expressionist style painting created through glaze and fire. The base glaze for this pot is Takeichi's simple ash glaze which is a good back drop and helps activate the additions of shinsha, tetsu-yu and a copper based addition to the frenetically executed decoration. Though clearly not by his master, Kawai Kanjiro, the concept, form and pace of execution can easily be spotted in this piece which is a wonderful addition to the Kawai school of pottery making though a clear voice articulated by Kawai Takeichi rings true in this piece as it does for the vast majority of his work. It must have been intensely difficult adding to a modern tradition without making copies and various other stylistic faux-pas related to one's master while clearly creating a large body of work the is a blend of one's heritage and one's inner voice. As I survey Kawai Takeichi's body of work it is obvious that he learned so well from a master that taught above all that, "everything is but an expression of the self"*.

(*From THE WINDOW OF LIFE by Kawai Kanjiro)

TRADEMARK

A while back I had the opportunity to study and photograph a nice, early Kohyama Yasuhisa Shigaraki mentori-hanaire which is a master class in faceting and surface. In taking quite a number of photos for my personal reference and for an impending slideshow video, the vase was put up on a shelf which is one of my favorite places to look at pots and in the late afternoon as the sun pours in, the pot though bathed in light begins to recess mysteriously almost disappearing as the sun goes down. This time of day let's me see details, lines, marks that may other wise go un-noticed reminding me of several old movies like McKENNA'S GOLD and THE VALLEY OF GWANGI where the characters wait on the sunlight to point the way to their treasure or goal. This particular photo shows off not only the form created through the faceting process but also high lights Kohyma's trademark pebbly surface created by a specific process nurtured through years of firing experimentation and adaptation which builds up ash through a skillfull use of stoking, temerature fluxuation and a unique baffle system at the rear of the kiln. The sun also brings out the range of colors on the vase ranging from greys, blues, corals, faint iron reds and even peach tones creating a pointilist style expression written across the planes, angles and curves of the form. Late afternoon is a great time to look at pots after a day of throwing, tooling or glazing making me look forward to tomorrow where the process starts all over again.

V-3VU

Illustrated is a 3-Vu collage of a recent Oribe style vase thatI made and fired. It is a waisted form with protruding points at the foot, waist and the lip that help define the shape and act as points of visual interest in breaking up the surface. I attached lugs to either side of the lip/ mouth area which I finished off with a stamp I happen to favor which adds a bit of texture for the glaze to react with along with. The edges where the Oribe breaks a bit makes for an amber to light green, clear boundry at various points of the pot adding a bit more visually to a pot covered in a single glaze. The black decoration under the glaze is of a modified "enso" style circle I use and a square and triangle sitting atop each other on the other side and between the main visual elements I have used a design based on a combination of a Rimpa design and the haori decoration from the Chushingura. The close up of the mouth gives a good idea of what the glaze actually looks like in person with a variety of varying colors and textures all captured in the depths of the surface. And before anyone says or thinks it, I know it is just a vase but at least it isn't another teabowl, that is likely saved for next week.

FILLING IN THE BLANKS

Some time back, about 2 years or so, I posted up a lid detail of an Iga mizusashi made by Imai Yasuhito. Quite recently I received an email asking if I could post up a full picture of the mizusashi so I searched through one of my storage devices and found this photo. I should say that I did not take these photos, rather they were found floating about on the web and I apologize to the owners of the images for using them but I though this piece too nice not to share. Obviously the surface stands out as a pot that was subjected to a wonderful firing and the form is one of these old forms that many modern potters like Furutani Michio, Kanzaki Shiho (d. 2017), Sugimoto Sadamitsu and numerous others have used as an inspiration. This particular mizusashi has that perpetually wet appearance as if it is a pair of stacked stones in a garden that are constantly watered to bring out the best of the sculpture, an ash surface frozen by fire. I looked for other photos of this piece and came up empty and hope this single image will fill in the blanks where all the lid detail did was leave more questions than answers.

SEVEN/FOUR

Happy Fourth of July to everyone here in the US and hope everyone else around the world is having a wonderful Wednesday!