Back
while working in Cleveland there was a rather rich environment of people
actively working within the majolica idiom, at CSU Dick Schneider made quite a
few pots in that style as did Bill Brouillard at the CIA followed along by
their students. Having worked in proximity to both and then with Linda Arbuckle
it just became natural to add majolica to the styles that I worked in and it
worked well with my terra cotta clay body. Over the years though I have found
myself making less and less of tin glazed pottery with only the occasional use
of majolica as much to keep up with the technology and experience as anything
else. The illustrated medium plate was part of a small group set aside and majolica
glazed and decorated; four plates, four bowls and several teabowls that I fired
at the bottom of a terra cotta firing. All in all the plates and bowls came out
okay but the designs that I used on most of the teabowls just didn't work out
all that well which explains why I used a rather tried and true grasses and
abstrakt background decoration on the other pieces. Decorating and firing these
pieces was a real clear reminder that I enjoy this process but in an effort to
keep up with what decoration works well with what forms I will need to practice
this more than once or twice a year moving forward. "Everyone
should do at least two things each day that he hates to do, just for
practice."William James
"Shino
which was fired in the Mino kilns during the Momoyama period, stands at the top
of the history of Japanese ceramic art. It is said to be located at the highest
peak among ancient ceramics. It has a plump warm touch like cotton and a simple
yet noble fragrance (this) is the feature I want to express (in) Shino in the
modern age."Enomoto Kyousuke (This
is a rather imprecise translation of Enomoto's quote though the best I could
do.) I posted a photo of a wari-kodai from a Shino chawan in a recent
post and decided that since I wasn't sure when I may get around to making a
slideshow video I would just post up an overall photo of the chawan. Made by Enomoto
Kyousuke this is a generous and lively bowl perched upon its split, pedestal
foot with a thin layer of milky, translucent Shino over a dark iron slip with
the addition of a thick, pure white band of glaze around the chawan. Though at
first glance I can see the influence of some modern masters, this teabowl has
its own distinct personality where thick Shino paints a wondrous snow covered
mountain range against the hazy red sunset of some far off place like a visual
road trip for the imagination. I really like the variety of dimension and
textures to this chawan which is enjoyable in the hand and ever so slightly
reminiscent of some poem extolling the joys of some exotic locale and just how
to get there. I think that this chawan would be best served through a
slideshow and hopefully I will get to it in turn though there are several other
pieces already lined up in the queue.
I
mentioned this chawan a few posts back, made by Sakauchi Ensen
(b.1922) of Okayama Prefecture this unusual, perhaps even a bit unique among the rich diversity of all the Bizen-yaki styles. Sakauchi calls
this style Hishoku Nanban-yaki, secret color unglazed (Nanban) pottery which is
different than any other Bizen of its time or since which makes pieces such as
this stick out all the more from a sea of brown pottery, emblazoned with rich colors, a pronounced visual texture and lots of movement. This chawan was very finely potted and
fired upside down as evidenced by the rich, accumulated ash drips on the mouth
and is covered in a variety of thick, colorful textures on the exterior and
interior of the bowl. Though I have seen a number of Sakauchi's chawan,
guinomi, tokkuri and katakuchi, each one is a unique work because of the firing
process and each teabowl is a classic chawan with the ultimate goal of fulfilling
its basic function for the tea ceremony while presenting a unique and
unorthodox aesthetic which has broadened the Bizen tradition.
I
should mention that the current situation has a rather far reaching,
ripple effect indiscriminately across the board. Pots I started working on in the last month will likely not have
anywhere to go for the foreseeable future as galleries close in an abundance of
caution. I will finish off what I am working on and get the pieces processed
but will likely put on my experimentation hat to work on some tests and ideas
that have been percolating lately and maybe something positive will come out of
this down time. Freshly tooled, slipped and carved, this medium size
XOXO covered jar was thrown out of my troublesome terra cotta and is now set to
dry slowly over the next week or so. The lid is finished with a rather
accentuated silhouette knob which I first starting using as far back as
Cleveland State while using thick slabs that were heavily stamped, paddled and
carved for a series of rather large covered pieces that I was making. The one
thing that is undeniable about these knobs is that no matter the scale of one's
hands/fingers, even in oven mitts, it is easy to get a good grip and depending
on the silhouette, it cast an a rather striking and unique shadow. I have made
about a half dozen of these covered pieces with a total of three different
knobs, each hopefully tying in with the form and decoration, I will try to
remember to post a picture of the finished piece once it is glazed and fired.
I
made a quick composite photo of the front and back of a very sturdy, somber
Echizen hanaire made by Kumano Kuroemon, the same one that I posted the detail
shot of about a week ago. The essence of the Echizen firing and classic Kumano
styling is seen in these photo with a with array of firing effects including a
rich, shiny dark hiiro on the rear which is punctuated by running drips of ash
and a large botamochi style shadow adding a hint of mystery and intrigue into
the aggressive, even ferocious nature of the firing process that Kumano is so
fond of and committed to. There is warmth, strength and honesty in Kumano's
clay, pottery that springs from the spirit and imagination yet rooted in
sincerity and function. I think it is more than abundantly clear as you look at
the works of Kumano Kuroemon, created by half-man, half-bear that if you aren't
going to push the throwing and firing to the very point of chaos and collapse
then why would you bother? "Real gold does not fear the
fire." A Chinese Proverb
The
other day I received a package with three pots in it to sell for a collector
friend that he had acquired in Japan. The first was the Hishoku Nanban-yaki
chawanby Sakauchi Ensen which displayed
a wonderfully exotic array of color and texture that I think I can confidently
say is unique to the potter. This two view photo is of a Bizen chawan by Kondo
Masahiko that is brought to life while simply hanging out, just basking in the
sun light of the afternoon. This photo clearly shows off the rich tan of the
ash covered face of the chawan along with the interior back wall of the bowl
showing off the small pool of liquid ash running ever so slightly into the
interior. The opposite side of the teabowl shows off several other qualities, a
nice blend of texture, ash and flashing all painted by a rather discriminating
firing. The chawan is probably best highlighted by the carefree and meandering
lip, the bold, deep carving and the unseen well conceived and orchestrated foot
cut as the near perfect companion to the form and attitude of the piece. I am
not saying this is a perfect chawan but I will say that through all the
experience acquired during his apprenticeship with Kakurezaki and the years
since it is quite obvious that Kondo Masahiko has a real knack for putting all
the right pieces of the puzzle in just the right place to paint a perfect
picture. You can see more of this chawan over on my Trocadero
marketplace; https://www.trocadero.com/stores/albedo3studio/items/1419751/BOLDLY-CARVED-BIZEN-CHAWAN-BY-KONDO-MASAHIKO
I
was looking for a particular set of photos to show a customer that was
interested in ordering a dinnerware set as a wedding gift and stumbled on a
folder of thrown and made oval lidded pieces. This particular "low and slow"
teapot started off life as a bottomless cylinder with a gallery thrown into the
top to later accommodate a lid, once dry enough it was pushed oval and allowed
to set up over night. The next morning I threw the spot that I felt best fit
the form, applied a slab base and using a piece of the slab, used the top of
the teapot as a slump mold to form and fit the lid. Once the lid was fit and
knob applied, the handle was the last piece of the puzzle in a process that is
summed up in one step at a time. The pot was decorated once close to leather
hard and then once bisque, glazed and fired. The firing process is a bit tricky
in that I want the temperature to go up slowly so as not to warp of alter the
existing oval shape to the mouth or in the end the lid doesn't end up ever
fitting right. In this case the lid fits quite snug and is easy to put on and
take off and stays put while pouring which is about the best you can ask for.
When
you are looking at the pottery of Kumano Kuroemon, there are two broad
categories to his work; unglazed, yakishime Echizen-yaki and his Shino glazed,
Kuma-Shino. In this instance, this detail shot is of the back of an all natural
Echizen fired vase that was fired lying down, this happening to be the bottom
while being fired. As a result of Kumano's intense, almost herculean firings
the ash built up and has run like liquid. In turn this has created these marvelous jewels formed in
the promethean fire of his kiln which combined elements of ash, clay and
calcium supplied by all of the shells used as wadding to protect pots from
becoming permanently fused together like one giant mass. Though this is not my
pot, not my photo, it clearly presents the ferocity and strength of throwing
and modeling the clay and of the fire which fused this pot into permanence
painted with all of the byproducts it takes to turn once wet and malleable clay
in to this grand and expressive object you see before you. "Fire has
proved - for men a teacher in every art, their grand resources."Prometheus Bound (Aeschylus)
I
remember our first trip down to NYC to meet with Dr. Fred Baekeland and his
wife rather clearly and prior to going we had exchanged a few letters and photos
(remember a thing called the mail?) as well as a few phone conversations in
regards to our interests and our "want list". At the time we were
interested in wood fired pots, mostly the six ancient kilns, Shino and Hagi
pottery. When we arrived the good Doctor had a number of pots out and a group
of boxes within view and one by one he showed us a rather nice selection of
pieces, some in our price range and others not even close. We were guided
toward a young Bizen potter who's work we just did not connect with as well as
several Hagi pots by both Hatano Zenzo and Mukuhara Kashun, both of whom had
just recently had exhibitions in Japan which was where these pots were acquired
( I believe the shows were in Osaka and Kyoto respectively). We were taken by
both of these potters but we would have to choose between two chawan by Hatano
and one by Mukuhara and though it took some real mental acrobatics, we choose
the Hatano Zenzo chawan which we still have all these years later. After
several months we contact Dr. Baekeland and asked if the Mukuhara chawan was
still available and it was not and to this day we continue to have a soft spot
for the chawan ofboth Hatano and
Mukuhara . Fast forward more than a few years (!) and this rather nice, simple
chawan shows up with rich colors including some coral tones and a rather
provocative milky white ash glaze over the majority of the chawan. This chawan
is by Hagi potter, Mukuhara Kashun, at least a decade or more later than the
one I had handled back in NYC and has such a classic and traditional appearance
that it escape time, new or old it was created by design and for a specific
purpose. Over the years I have heard a number of individuals talk about what
does and doesn't make for a good chawan, how many are just "bowls" at
the end of the day, to my eye, Mukuhara doesn't go out of his way to make chawan,
it just happens on the wheel; first when it is thrown and then when the kodai
is skillfully yet simply executed. A good chawan reminds me that there really
is truth to the old adage, sometimes thing do just happen and probably all the
more often when you have spent a lifetime in clay. (* And yes, I miss
THE IRON CHEF Japanese TV show.)
In
some respects, this snowberry design is somewhat new, combining sgrafitto and
slip trailing and the majority of pieces that I have made have been plates,
tray forms, teabowls and covered serving bowls. I decided to branch out a bit
and see how the design works on various forms and along with a couple of
covered jars, I made a series of a dozen bowls, two sets of six with the
decoration on the interior and exterior. I think the design works well on the
form though doubling up on the decoration actually is a bit time consuming and
it took me a few bowls to figure out where I should start on the inside or out.
In the end, I decorated the interior first and then flipped the bowls upside
down to decorate the exterior which seemed to be the best way to complete the
task at hand and after completing a few pieces, a rhythm emerges and the
decoration moves along quite a bit faster than expected.
Having
had this Yamato Tsutomu Dai-Kannyu Hagi Chawan hanging around for a couple
weeks, I decided to make a short video slideshow to paint a fuller picture of
the piece presenting it as best I may in the round as it were. I think I first
saw a chawan by Tsutomu's father, Yamato Yasuo back in 2004 or 2005 and just
immediately fell in love with the surface and aesthetic. I love that the
surfaces look like they are literally being pulled apart like some celestial
breakdown of a planet or asteroid which gives telling glimpses in to the
interior of the pot exposing slip and clay in an evocative and narrative of
some distant primal expression. I think that the video also points out the
richness of color and texture and where the pot is visually dissected from dark
to light with a more classic Shiro-Hagi appears on the rear of the pot. In the
end what I hope one takes away from the slideshow is it is clear this is not
business as usual from Hagi but rather something new to father and son and
likely something to build on in an already rich and diverse Hagi tradition.
Enjoy the video. You can see this chawan over onTrocadero ; https://www.trocadero.com/stores/albedo3studio/items/1417067/TSUKI-KAGE-HAGI-DAI-KANNYU-CHAWAN-BY-YAMATO-TSUTOMU
I know in the past I have mentioned an interest in the
unpredictability of runny glazes in my work so it should come as no surprise
that the same applies to pots that I collect and/or study. The movement and
conversations created in a moving surface is pure excitement, it pleases the
eye and the soul which is the most you can ask of a pot. The illustrated detail
is from a Chosen-Karatsu chawan made by Fujinoki Dohei and the surface is alive
with motion as the glaze cascades down the rounded contours of the bowl. As the
tendrils of movement pick up varying tones of color and texture from the base
glaze, a rich tapestry is woven between pot and viewer, a narrative
steeped in a centuries old tradition that was made in the here and know;
centuries of tradition, aesthetics and beauty all frozen in time as the
elements coalesced to paint this Chosen-Karatsu waterfall. I wanted to present
this detail before showing off the whole chawan as sometimes the tree is the
first thing that should be realized before you take in the entire
forest. "Details make perfection, and perfection is not a
detail." Leonardo Da Vinci
I
finally fired a group of new Oribe test pieces including some small covered
jars, a few serving pieces, teabowls and the kotsuzumi style koro that I had
made. The results were pretty encouraging across the board with a nice array of
effects on the various pots, each according to how they were glaze treated. The
kotsuzumi style koro emerged without incident though I must admit until it was
unloaded I just had this sense that it may be jinxed but I was anxious for no
reason at all in the end. The koro came out pretty close to form as I had seen
in my head and the surface has a wild, variegated surface with streaking
resembling drizzling moss across nearly the entire surface with some areas of
thick blue-green to white running down the pierced knob and around the central
portion of the pot. The various sharp edges and lines around the pot as well as
the pierced and impressed squares break up the surface and add more movement
and detail to read. In the end I am both relieved and pleased to see this piece
completed, what started as a quick thought while watching a Mizoguchi film made
its way from a ball of clay to a complete idea in three dimensions, what is not
to love about clay and second chances?
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