SCENIC OVERVIEW

There are advantages to living in central NY State, the Mohawk Valley that out way some of the things you can miss out on living a distance from a large city by the view is not one of them. We live way up on the northern slope of the valley which gives us a wonderful view in to the valley and on clear days you can see for miles and miles south, all painted by white in the winter, lush green for the better part of spring and summer and the dazzling medley of colors during fall. Not far from our house is a small pull off on the route, a scenic overview that allows one to stop and peer out into "our" valley, this view makes it much easier to make pots than one would think.   

Now to the point and how I got here, recently I was able to photograph this piece and what sprung to mind was any number of scenic overviews I have seen over the years. The is a wonderful balance of lushness and dramatic movement that appears more like a living thing than a static object but you can see the narration of material, glaze and fire all laid out like some captivating landscape viewed from a chosen strategic vantage point. The pot in the spotlight is a mostly snowy white Oni-Shino vase by Tsukigata Nahiko covered over in a thin coat of all natural green ash that adds a slight tint to the surface. The vase is accompanied by a nice rich, royal blue shifuku and a signed box and with any luck I will photograph the piece with a bit more time and depth in the coming months which will make for a nice road trip and my type of scenic overview.