I
was quite aware of Phil Rogers and his work before I ever met him, I had
several of his books and seen a number of his pots at various places with their
rich ash glazed or salt fired surfaces.
I was fortunate to have met Phil in 2003(?) at
a Wesleyan Potters workshop and found that we had quite a lot in common
regarding what potters and pots interested us so we kept in touch by email over
the years. Beyond a few email exchanges it was clear that Phil was interested
in collecting Hamada and Shimaoka pots which I stumbled on to from time to time
and he was very keen on trading his pots for theirs when I would find
something. By trading I was able to acquire a few very fine pots by Phil
including a really large salt fired jug and a faceted cobalt bottle among other
thing. After his trip to South Korea we lost touch as he was busy with a new
family and working toward some wood firings but I enjoyed our trading and
emails over the years quite a bit. Illustrated is a rather well salt fired
cobalt bottle faceted across for planes that shows a rather diverse topography
of depth of color and texture. Beyond the color and texture the neck and mouth
are perfect and ringed by a wet ring of slat that varies in color and the foot
is crisply and expertly cut and flanked by his personal mark and the mark of
his pottery. Having some personal insight into a potter leads to a deeper
connection with the pot and at times helps answers regarding the how and why
certain details are the way they are and to be perfectly honest it really
doesn't hurt knowing that both Phil and I were looking at exactly the same pots
which make their way in to our pots even if it doesn't look like it.
.JPG)