SHARKSKIN

I received a package yesterday that I was expecting as I had received an email and tracking info for it and it contained a small gift, very small and a chawan that a collector was parting with as he is collecting only guinomi and tokkuri moving forward. That being said, the gift was a great little pair of funky hashioki by Kato Yoshiaki as well as the chawan that is illustrated here. Though I can imagine it may be a bit difficult to categorize, Kato is from Tokoname and therefore this is Tokomane-yaki and the Shino like surface is called samehada. Action packed with lots of texture and movement caused by the varying size nodules across the surface, this chawan is animated and rugged with a loosely thrown form, undulating lip and areas of faceted spatula work around the bottom half of the bowl. When I look at Kato's work I find much of it imbued with  primitive and organic qualities that appear to just happen spontaneously without contrivance or any undue amount of effort. Overall there is a lot packed in to this heavily textured surface with a wide array of techniques and qualities that Kato Yoshiaki was well known for and stands as a classic example of a rather idiosyncratic body of work. 

You can see more of this chawan over on my Trocadero page here; 

https://www.trocadero.com/stores/albedo3studio/items/1444399/BOLD-TOKONAME-SAMEGAWA-CHAWAN-BY-KATO-YOSHIAKI

SOME CLAY, SOME SLIP AND AN IDEAL

My first encounter with the work of Ochiai Miyoko dates back to the Kikuchi Collection exhibition and the wave of simplicity and subtlety is immediate, a dialogue of potter, some clay, some slip and an ideal. Learning much of her craft and perhaps some of her sensibility in clay from Suzuki Osamu (Kyoto), Ochiai made her way to creating Chinese T'su chou inspired slipware at which she excels. Using very few materials and most times sparse and simplified decorations the work is alive with white, black and shades in between that seem spirited and alive on the clay canvas. Flowers, butterfly, birds and even cats are stripped down to the barest essentials and are in flight, moving and even manipulated by the wind though the curves of the pots has something to do with it as well. I am really not sure that I have seen such simple pots that say as much with so little as does the work of Ochiai Miyoko.     

Illustrated is a B&W picture of an eminently simple Ochiai Miyoko meiping influenced vase in the T'su chou style casting its shadow in the late afternoon. The vase is seductive and the lines unfettered creating a rather graceful visage that is as much about purity of form and curves as anything else. The body of the buff white stoneware is first dipped in a rather pure white slip, you can see her finger marks at the base of the piece and then she brushes on deep, black slip which is carved to define the decoration and then fired with a thin clear glaze over. The results seem to spring right out of a different time, perchance the Sung Dynasty though all of the work says as much about modern times as it does of antiquity and that is certainly a rather good thing.         

"The subtlest of subtleties, this is the gateway to all mysteries." Lao Tsu           

CLEAN UP

Among other things, I threw a group of four "lip bowls" this morning. They are stoneware and were thrown out of about 4lbs of clay and once thrown the lips were altered and the stamps were impressed at the four points around the bowls. Once they start to set up a bit, I go in and correct the lines of the lip so that they have a continuous and even curve especially where they have been stamped as well as smoothing off some of the sharpness that was left from the throwing. This clean up part takes just a minute with a damp sponge and then I wait until they are leather-hard to tool the pot and give them pedestal still feet which gives them a small, stable base and a compatible profile to the form. In the end I only threw six pieces today as we had to wait on the heating/cooling guy to clean and service the furnace today and I set about making three various slips and just waited. I think it is always interesting how a window of Noon to Two becomes 3:40 in no time.

AN EXPANDING TRADITION

When I think about Oribe I am always struck by the sheer variety of colors, textures and use of the glaze beyond the established, traditional norms. Even with my own work using Oribe there is a nearly infinite (?) amount of possibility with each new use just around the corner or out of the next kiln. This large Oribe vessels is a perfect example of potential, adding dramatically to an already expansive tradition through the use of incised decoration with washes and inlaid color to alter the designs and surfaces. Though there is a great degree of precision in Usui's works, there is a calculated and almost cerebral playfulness that sparks the mind and emotion into action. I put this short video slideshow together in an attempt to capture the depth and dimension of this Oribe vase and hope that it gives a better glimpse in to what you would see if it were right in front of you.

FIRE TESTED GUARDIAN

Admittedly, I really don't know much about the Shigaraki potter Kawai Koji other than what I have observed from the couple of dozen pieces I have seen by him but this is not really surprising given the sheer number of "everyday" potters in Japan. The pieces, all Shigaraki and all molded except one piece, a thrown small tsubo, have been very well fired and have rather fun, playful features. Other than the ko-tsubo, the other pieces have been suiteki, kogo and koro like this handsome beast, a shishi with removable head, a rather fire tested guardian at that. 

As you can see in the photos the form is compact and effective, the one side is entirely covered with an all natural thin skin of green glass while the other side has some running ash and beautiful fumed fire color that really paints this figure and brings the piece to life. The well sculpted head was fired on the pot using wads and where one wad stuck, there is a small gold lacquer repair which I suggest was done because the maker was rather pleased with the overall firing and thought best to salvage the piece. This is not a great piece but I think that the playful, whimsical qualities of the koro are certainly more than enough to even the critical of collector pleased to have it up on a shelf, guarding the room.

GLAZE DAZE

Today is that day, an essential part of making pottery without actually making pottery, this Monday was glaze day. I spent some spare moments over the weekend making a plan for Monday which involved making up 4 glazes as well as a glaze base for a number of tests I plan on running in the next firing and what you see is for the testing phase. I made the glazes in half batches to top off my temmoku, Oribe, clear and iron glazes while I wait on some pots to finish drying to decorate some and bisque the group together with several thousand grams of material that needs to be calcined at cone 06. With the music playing DEAD CAN DANCE I am sometimes reminded of making glazes at other times and places, like back at Plattsburgh State just a week into making pots, at Cleveland State where Dick would ask "what now? " at Haystack and various other co-ops over the years all leaving me in a bit of a glaze daze. Making glazes is not exactly making pots but where would I be without them? I suspect in some other fringe pursuit though I am not sure it would be quite as satisfying at the end of the day as making pots and the glazes to best suit them.

MINUTIAE MATINEE

I have been playing around with my wife's "smart" phone recently and have tried my hand at making very short videos that I also posted up on Instagram. These aren't great videos but I thought they may give some additional perspective in to various pots that I have handled. These two videos are of a shark-skin Shino glazed Tokoname guinomi by Kato Yoshiaki and a rather crusty, almost Oni-Shino style wood fired Shino chawan by Kido Sadaaki. Not much else to say other than any and all constructive criticism and input is always welcome.

ADVENTURES OF AN ACCIDENTAL COLLECTOR

I keep saying that when it comes to guinomi (and tokkuri) I am basically an accidental collector but I guess if you are shown something or find something and then collect it, that's not exactly accidental. It is not exactly like I went out on a mid-afternoons walk and just stumbled across a guinomi lying in the grass, picked it up, put it in my pocket and brought it home to add to the collection of guinomi. There is purpose and intent behind the purchase but I will say in the defense of my characterization that it is exceedingly rare that I wake up and think to myself, "today I want to buy a guinomi", on the other hand, a chawan more than likely fits that thought process but a sake cup just not that likely. That being said , recently I was shown a rather nice guinomi that even the chawan collector in me said, we really should own that little cup.   

Illustrated is an overall impromptu picture of a Kumano Kuroemon Kuma-Shino guinomi that I posted up the interior of a short while back. Though only a guinomi as with most Kumano pieces this is a handful with a surface to match its size and energy with areas of thick, fractured Shino mingling with unglazed and ash coated areas painting a narrative that only "the Bear" could. Perhaps my favorite feature of this piece is the meandering lip which reminds me of rolling hills, a landscape that I just haven't seen before but am glad to have visited.

ON THE TRAIL

When I first started in ceramics even though I didn't think it was a long term thing, my first group of pots were all just dip and dunk pieces even those with recipes culled from various sources as tests Chinese or Japanese glazes. After each firing Bill Klock could see the disappointment I had in my pieces and he suggested that I actually try my hand at some form of decoration. As I scanned around at what other students were doing from painted designs to heavily carved surfaces these just didn't seem right for me and then while looking for some new tools in the discarded tools bucket I found this magical little blue bulb, an ear syringe and off I went to "decorate" or more likely muck up my pieces. Since I loved the works of Arp and Miro, I tried my best to work out abstract, lyrical designs heavily influenced by those two and have stuck with the whole concept of slip and glaze trailing ever since. The illustrated stoneware teabowl was first white slipped and then had a dark, black slip trailed over in what may appear to be a random, abstract decoration which is based on designs I have used for a very long time. The small group of bowls that I decorated in this manner will be glazed in my saffron yellow which will temper the black a bit though it will show nicely through the surface and add not only design but a bit of texture as well.

WHERE NOW?

Though it may not be Kilimanjaro, The Coliseum or perhaps the Parthenon, these fire and clay landscapes are composed of both wild and subtle beauty ranging from the serene to the chaotic. With each and every piece that I encounter by Kojima Kenji, I see these wide array of landscapes, keshiki that range from experiences and memories of my personal encounters to images, photographs (and video) that I have seen that connect me from place to pot and this chawan is no different. Reminding me of the tail end of winter where ice gives way back to rock face among the majesty of the Adirondacks I think back on the very last snowshoeing treks through  the wilderness where thick ice has made its home on rock and stone at every turn. 

As you can see in this photo, this is a strong, determined bowl with just the right amount of manipulation of the pot to bring attention to the lift of the piece, the shadow line, the posture and the casualness of the lip. The face of the chawan is covered in a translucent coating of natural green ash that gives way to the wet, fumed area of rich brown that concludes in hi-iro on the rear. When you put all of the individual details together, there is a seductive quality to the chawan that is certainly further enriched by its ability to transport you to a different place and a different time with little more than a small amount of clay and the masterful brushwork of a fierce and rather convincing firing.

HONEST PRACTICALITY

In past blog posts I have shown the kodai and interior detail of this shark-skin (Same-gawa) Shino chawan by the late Kato Yoshiaki (1934-2019). I thought it was about time to show an overall image especially as I have be very delinquent in putting together a slideshow video of the chawan. As you can see from this photo, this chawan is really a visual and tactile exercise in texture with varying node sizes of the Shino creating vivid  semi-abstract pattern, the largest of which wrap around the bowl creating an animated feel. I think it is easy to admit this is no masterpiece chawan but thehonest practicality, the function and the sum of its parts make for a chawan that has both spirit and quality that appeals to the eye and the interesting experience one has with the pot in hand and truth be told, not every masterwork can say the same.   

This chawan was photographed on my desk corner as the light of the day was just about to yield to dusk which created this slightly more complex visage of what is actually going on with the glaze. The entire surface, inside and out and into the myriad of crevices is covered in a slight sheen of wetness caused by ash melting on the surface giving the bowl a truly antique, feudal feel without obscuring any of the detail created by the glazes of varying thicknesses contracting about the surface. The form of the bowl is rather simple, with an approachable lip and a practically cut foot and a simple glaze that all add up to a exercise in structure, texture and ultimately character adding a new dimension to the classical definition of what we think of as Tokoname-yaki.   

"I search for the realness, the real feeling of a subject, all the texture around it.... I always want to see the third dimension of something... I want to come alive with the object."    Andrew Wyeth

THE FACETED ONE

This Oribe style faceted teabowl came out of the kiln a short while ago, the first I had made in a couple of months (?) and as I was unloading the kiln I was particularly piqued by the fact that this bowl, the faceted one was in a kiln load of nothing but round stuff. I am not saying there is anything wrong with round pots, they seem to have set the standard for several millennium but now and again something not like everything else does in fact catch the eye. If memory serves me, this teabowl was thrown out of what was left of throwing lids off the hump and seemed just about the right amount of clay for the task and once faceted, tooled and fired is just the right weight for a bowl of its size which as always is on the larger side. I was pleased by the way the glaze worked and also of the posture of the bowl which appears to all be moving stage left in this photo. One of the realities of making these faceted bowls is that you can't really be 100% sure of what you will end up with, some disappoint and are wedged up, some are good and others seem to work straight across the board, I would like to think that this one off does exactly that.

YESTERDAY IS TOMORROW

I think this is about as classic a modern Madara-Karatsu chawan as you may encounter. Made by Fujinoki Dohei (b.1949) the archetypical form is well matched by the surface with a dark, iron undeglaze and the creaming, cascading qualities of the streaked tan overglaze that covers the interior and runs down the exterior terminating just prior to the foot and possible disaster. Though I may be prejudice, I think this bowl has that 17th century feel which most Karatsu potters strive for while keeping an eye toward the future realizing that yesterday is tomorrow. I put together this short video slideshow to give a three dimensional sense to the form and surface and hope it doesn't fall short from that goal.     

"Today instead of just carrying on the traditions set by olden makers, we are also eager to improve and make our own designs, thus continuing the old customs and traditions with a modern touch. " Nishikawa Ikko as recorded in the book, KARATSU  by Johanna Becker, O.S.B.