SPIRAL BLOSSOMS

I have been working with this ishime surface for quite some time now, dating all the way back to Cleveland State. In that time it has been used in a variety of ways including being glazed in clear or transparent glazes as well as some opaque ones as well. It is enjoyable playing with this from time to time and that brings us to the illustrated mizusashi form which makes use of black, white and iron engobe slips to complete the surface which includes panels of applied color and inlaid spiral blossoms filling the spaces between each panel top and bottom.

The lid and foot as well as the interior are glazed but the rest of the surface relies on the engobes to complete the surface which is loosely based on a combination of early 20th century wallpaper and Japanese kimono design. This rather simple, straight sided pot was made out of stoneware but occasionally I use porcelain for this technique and they can be a nice distraction from the normal glazing process even though I make very few of these pots, just another day and another way from keeping from getting bogged down and as always the music helps out as well.

SINGULARITIES

I really love the details, not just of pottery but of everything, it shows you the measure of a maker, a baker, a lawyer, a scholar and every other person and pursuit. I also really enjoy capturing small detail, singularities that may go overlooked and help complete the puzzle of the whole like the last piece to be added. This particular detail shot is from a rather unusual, Korean inspired pot by Tsukigata Nahiko. In a way looking like a framed abstract painting this small slice of surface shows the effects of natural wood ash mingling with iron and the thick feldspar glaze to create this recipe of movement, color and texture; which to my eye is both molten and alive. It never ceases to amaze me how small specks of ash form free floating geometric forms while cascading down the molten flow created in the intensity of the kiln, mixed happenstance and years of experience, one can imagine that Prometheus would be proud. 

"Beware of the person who can't be bothered by details." William Feather

OFF THE WHEEL

From time to time I end up in a conversation about why I like a particular pot or potter, sometimes it is questioning my judgment (?) but for the most part it is more about asking what or how I see something. On more than one occasion I have mentioned that I have some aesthetic affinity for many, not all of the works by Masamune Satoru (Kengyo, Moriyasu) and my normal response is that I just enjoy the way he has handled the clay. This particular mizusashi is a good example, it is an honest, unforced and straight forward piece that was thrown with a certain directness; the proportions are rather good, there is very little effort to alter or mask the "off the wheel" feeling which imparts a wet and soft appearance which the surface enhances and does not mask. As I look at the pot, the bones of the piece speak of purpose with just the right amount of movement starting at the meandering foot and the undulating top of the mizusashi capped off with an appealing and practical lid and knob. When I have the chance to see or study a pot by Masamune, I see a steward of a cultural heritage that was motivated by a collision of tradition, clay, firing and an internal drive to create Bizen pottery in the modern age.

B+SSH+FP

Each and every project has a distinct beginning, some stuff happens and then there is a finished project, in the case of this illustration, this is the beginning, the pieces parts are thrown and a slab is rolled out, nothing much to write home about. The thrown cylinder will be cut in half to form a pair of ewers with the two "spouts, the furthest to the right being the preferred parts to be attached, the third spout will be an emergency back up or used for seams and ultimately for the feet of each piece. The is nothing fancy to the beginnings but I have seen a number of simple and unremarkable beginnings turn in to some rather dramatic and eventful pots. I am not saying that will be the case here, rather I need to get the parts set up and then comes the "some stuff happens" part and we can go from there. I know I am going to cover the pieces in thick combed slip and an Oribe glaze so at the very least some of the details have been sorted out. I'll post the finished project when they are glazed and fired.

(CURRENT) DESK-MATE

This pot literally just arrived here and was sitting on my desk when the light was just right and snapped this picture. My immediate impression of my new desk-mate was that I had come over the edge of a crater and was about to descend into the abyss of the form. The description may be a bit dramatic but one of the profound things about pottery (and other handmade objects) is that they stir our emotions and conjure up experiences and memories that are actual or fantasy in nature. This particular detail shot belongs to a rather uncommon (?) all natural Shigaraki vase with perhaps one of the most unique surfaces I have seen in some time. I will get around to posting a photo of the vase at some point as well as making a much deserved video slideshow of the pot when I can get around to it. What I can tell you as evidenced by the photo is that the vase has a eye catching landscape composed of various vistas of ash built up in both traditional and unique ways with some vivid tones turning the clay interior a rather interesting landscape that is easy to appreciate.

OZARA

I snapped a picture of this large Kuro-Satsuma ozara by Araki Mikijiro out of a Japanese book on plates, platters and bowls. In some respects as I look at many of Araki's pots, it dawns on me that they are not necessarily definable as Japanese, they could be European or American, they don't have characteristics that just scream out "JAPAN". I do think however that as you study the forms, the specific surfaces and their particulars as well as the way in which the foot is finished and even more so the clay, the origins are there to be spotted and of course the impressed seal(s) and inscribed signature doesn't hurt either. What draws me to Araki's pottery is the useful practicality and the beautiful use of glaze and decoration which create a dramatic sense of movement on forms that are simple and elegant in nature; there is a intense sense of tradition and honesty infused in the combination of material, firing and the craft of the potter.

FREE WHEELIN'

There was a time, a long, long while ago where when I was decorating bowls and plates that I would just throw all caution to the wind, free wheelin' and making up designs with the pot in hand, as you can imagine this was accompanied by a fair amount of crash and burn pottery. Slowly but surely I worked out designs on paper, with pencil mind you and then using ink on the pot surface. This particular carved porcelain "grasses" bowl shows the ink quite well along with a design that I just couldn't make work, especially after having carved over a dozen other pieces that day. The inked decoration was to be  based on an oak leaf design that I have used before though in a set pattern and layout, this attempt was entirely unscripted, not well planned out and 110% free hand. In the end I just couldn't make it work and fell back on the "grasses" decoration which just works so well around round bowls and plates. Maybe for the next go around, I'll spend a few minutes with paper & pencil and see how to make the decoration work before I just decide to just jump in head first.

Just a song I like by Mary Fahl, BEN AINDI HABIBI;

TOKKURI

Illustrated is a rather nice Bizen tokkuri that certainly wears the effects of a rather good firing across its entire surface. I first saw and handled this tokkuri back in 2016 and was immediately impressed with the form and surface though the scale that it presented was also rather notable, did I forget to mention that it is over 13" tall? Coupled with the large size, the box itself is another point of interest, it is made of plywood though the top of the lid is signed as one would expect, I will admit that I have not seen such construction before. I suspect this tokkuri and the box date to the early to mid 1960s at the latest and as you can see, the work is a rather mature and expertly crafted and fired pot that just happens to be housed in an odd box and hold enough sake for a good sized party. I am not usually opposed to oddities, though I do prefer a good mystery now and again and I will share more info and perhaps a video slideshow at some point in the future of this rather eloquent pot.

"The things that stand out are often the oddities."  Pierre Salinger

ORIGIN; JAPAN

Illustrated is the inside view of a Madara-Karatsu chawan that shows off the buttery softness of the glaze which is randomly punctuated, like a night's sky with iron erupting out of the surface and creating streaks thanks to gravity. This chawan was made by scholar and potter Koyama Fujio during the 1960s and was a gift to then Director of the Freer Gallery, John Alexander Pope. Besides this Koyama chawan, Pope collected a number of pots, some gifts, some purchases which included Kawai Kanjiro, Hamada Shoji, Koyama Fujio and an upcoming star at the time, Okabe Mineo of which many of his pieces were then collected by a fellow curator at the Freer and a friend of Pope's, after his death in 1982, Martin Amt. This chawan was collected from Mr. Amt in the early 2000s along with several other pieces and though such provenance is somewhat rare as one usually just ends up with a pot, "origin; Japan" it is interesting to note the hands this chawan traveled through from its "making and baking" to the present day.

MAKING THE CUT

I have to be honest, cutting feet by hand is a real struggle for me. What I should say is that instead of putting the pot on the wheel and "trimming" it as the wheel spins with conventional tools which is what I am used to, this foot was cut with a loop of bamboo "bark" and a splinter of broken wood from out of our wood pile for the wood stove. This approach is anything but conventional especially given my background studying with various Leach trained potters and a definitive Western perspective but I still try my best to match bowl to foot and in this case the foot was carved out with the same tool that quickly faceted the bowl itself.  As you can see in the photo, I let the clay set up to just the right consistency so that each cut would leave a sharp impression and would show even after the bowl was glazed and fired. I have to admit that this certainly takes me out of my comfort zone and not every foot makes the cut so to speak but I guess in another couple of thousand I might at least feel more comfortable in the process.

"I don't like to be out of my comfort zone which is about half an inch wide."  Larry David

FRESH FRUIT

Quite a while back I posted up a picture of this Ishii Takahiro Oribe chaire that I likened to a freshly picked fruit, right off the branch and mostly wet as if with morning dew. In looking through various folders I found the pictures of the chaire and decided to build this short and sweet video slideshow of the piece that hopefully shows off in the best light. Like most of his earlier works there is a wonderful enthusiasm in his pots and this chaire is certainly no exception along with an added dash of playful exuberance.

"A playful mind is inquisitive, and learning is fun." Bill Watterson

LEGACY

In the recent post, BASHO MIKOMI I used a picture of the inside of a Furutani Kazuya Iga chawan that made its way here somewhat recently. As a result of the post, I received an email asking about the chawan and at the very least could I post an overall picture of the piece which is a rather simple, feudal and rustic bowl. Illustrated is the very first picture I took of the chawan using only natural light and luckily a ton of fine details just popped out from the totally covered ash surface and varying coloration to melting feldspar punctuating the bowl, bursting like stars shining across the surface. There are brilliant, emerald like areas of deep, rich bidoro tucked away in nooks and crannies like around the foot exterior which just add to the throwing marks and inviting form and slightly meandering lip. All of these details add depth and substance to this chawan which maintains its elemental posture under the weight of its feudal pedigree and dependence on tradition and the eloquent tutelage of one of the 20th centuries finest Shigaraki/ Iga potters, Furutani Michio. It may be somewhat presumptuous but it is easy to make the case that seeing this chawan, Furutani Kazuya  both maintains and expands on a long standing tradition while adding to the Furutani legacy.

INSTAGRAM

Though I doubt it will matter in the scheme of things the way the world is going at the moment, but I decided that if Instagram is good for over one billion people, what the heck, maybe I should give it a test run. Like my blog which has just sort of evolved and has stayed true to the disclaimer regarding its rambling nature, I suspect that Instagram will just sort of happen and reflect perhaps a broader sense of things that I see, hear and watch. In the course of an average day, I do end up taking pictures that I rarely know what to do with, some have to do with all the wildlife that makes its way through or resides on our property, while other are pottery pictures and quite a few detail photos of all kinds of things here and about. Like the blog where I ramble on about whatever comes to mind, this venture is more about dragging myself into the moment and doing so mostly in a photo or video and a simple caption. I am not sure where to go with this platform but thought it worth giving it a try and of social media in general I am reminded of a famous TS Elliot quote; "Distracted from distraction by distraction" and since I am easily distracted, I hope I can do my best to do just that.

Up from the depths is a combination of two of my favorite things; Shino and Godzilla. What's not to enjoy? 

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