TSUKI-GATA NOT TSUKIGATA

Tsuki-gata means, moon form (or shape) which is not to be confused with the potter Tsukigata Nahiko though as broad as his range is, this falls outside of his body of work. This hand built Oribe koro was made by the late Kato Yasukage XIV and has a rather playful and unique form that is again echoed in the crescent moon knob he placed on the lid. The glaze is mottled in an array of greens with some iron tones mixed in all while sitting rather securely on three attached legs to hold the form upright. I should mention that besides being somewhat unique in its presentation, this koro is rather large at over 30cm long and has quite a nice presence because of the size and shape of the piece. Truthfully, I have seen a number of Kato's works and other than his more traditional chawan and other chadogu, most of his forms have a unique and individual quality to them which separates his work from the pack and leaves a rather distinct and highly admired body or work inspired by the various Mino traditions.    

"Twas the new moon! 

Since then I waited-    

And lo! Tonight! (I have my reward)     Matsuo Basho

DEEP CHILL

It has been rather cold here recently, well below zero and the trees and deck are covered in ice which got me thinking of this large, bold chawan. The glaze and its unique, piercing color remind me of the cold and not just any cold but that deep, bone chilling cold where moisture becomes ice almost instantly; the deep chill of late Janurary. This evocative, rich, fractured blue seiji chawan was made by Ikai Yuichi and though bares some resemblance to his master, the late Shimizu Uiichi, this glaze and its characteristics are unique to this potter where the glaze thins out at the top and the rolling, gravity induced cascade creates areas of thickness as it moves down the bowl. The fingerprints where the potter held the bowl have become thick with glaze which along with where the rest of the glaze terminates as a seductive boundary of blue separating the glazed from the unglazed foot of the chawan. 

There is simplicity in this bowl that is balanced with the complexity of the glaze structure creating a sense of fractured ice, layer upon layer like an infinite wonder of nature itself. Beyond the aesthetics of this chawan I find my mind wadding into the technical and marveling at how just a handful of clay, a few raw materials and a very small percentage of iron are all transformed by several thousand degrees in an act that at times both potters and collectors take for granted even if chemistry and a dash of alchemy never does.

FINGER OF PROVIDENCE

I spend a lot of time doodling especially while watching TV or a movie at night, it's all about multi-tasking. The other night I was doodling an idea for a vessel form that I thought was a winner when my wife suddenly pointed to what I was doing and simply said, "nope". I was a little miffed, didn't say anything and decided to prove her wrong and the next day threw two stoneware cylinders to cut and reassemble and rolled out some slabs. The next day I set about constructing my Frankenstein monster of a piece and after two hours of work realized this was not ever going to work. Before someone points out that you are not going to necessarily succeed on the first attempt let me reassure you, it was 110% clear this idea was not going to work as the basic premise was to defy gravity and that never ends well. In the end I cut the piece up, put it in a bag, sprayed it down with water hoping to salvage the 8 pounds of clay and over two hours of time.   

Illustrated is the results of the reclaimed clay a few days later, stoneware covered jar with two lids and then with impasto applied slip. I ended up making two versions of this jar, one a bit more slender and taller than this, the other a bit more robust as well as three teabowls so I was able to redeem at least the materials by applying them to forms and idea I am used to and would like to think I have mostly worked out. I guess the moral of the story is a bit murky; I stand by the decision to go ahead and try to see if an idea has any merit but when the finger of providence reaches over and plunks down on your doodle, maybe you (I) should pay more attention.

THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE

Illustrated is another wood fired Shino chawan by Kido Sadaaki from the same collection as the previous one I put up. The first chawan was not for sale but the owner has decided that one chawan by a potter is enough and decided to let this one go as "there can be only one". Like the previous chawan there are a number of influences to be seen in this bowl but on its own the form is very comfortable in the hand as well as pleasingly full to the eye, all balanced on a small but sturdy kodai and the thick feldspar Shino glaze is coated in a crusty layer of ash on the face while the rest of the bowl has a thin veil of green ash across the surface. As if the exterior landscape wasn't enough the interior opens up to a panorama that reminds me of an old Momoyama period painting of mountains above a cool green pool with a healthy dose of other glaze effects to entice the eye to drink in the fuller picture painted by glaze and fire.    

 A rather fun bowl with tons to admire and you can see more pictures over on my Trocadero page; 

https://www.trocadero.com/stores/albedo3studio/catalog/

$5 FRAME

I'll start out by saying that this porcelain Kutani tile is not some incredible work of art and over the years I have seen nearly identical examples but rather it is the story that is of more interests all these years later. At one time we had this up on our wall but given how precious wall space is these days, it has been sitting in a big blue tote downstairs where I happened across it the other day. While at Brimfield a long time ago we happened across a dealer who was selling frames for $5, $10, $25 and $50 a pop many of them with prints still in them, we found this frame for $5 with this Kutani Ryusen plaque in it so we purchased it along with three other frames (well prints really) but that is a story for another time. I think what interested me the most about this plaque is the exceptional level of skill used to paint and fire it over repeated firings, no small feat to end up with a perfect piece time and again. As a potter, semi-commercial or not having worked with enamels from time to time I can tell you that it takes a great degree of patience and experience and at the end of the day, for the price of a Big Mac and Coke I think it was hard to go wrong.

FILLER (A GANG OF FOUR)

I have to admit that usually at this time of the year things are mostly quiet and I keep myself with testing ideas, forms and glazes but thanks to two commissions I have almost enough to fill a kiln, now comes the filler and a good reason to keep busy. The commissions were a set of four molded square plates and a eight dinner plates which take up a fair amount of space so I have set about making a small handful of teabowls, a couple of covered jars and as of today a group of four tokkuri forms. I threw the tokkuri bottles in just over one pound of stoneware clay as well as a group of necks/mouths that I will lute to the pieces once the feet are trimmed and the clay is the right consistency. As of this moment my intent is to decorate them impasto style with thick slip and then glaze them in Oribe or Kuro-Oribe style, time will tell. It is always plus to be busy during this time of year even if it is a high of 60 degrees in the studio, at least I don't have to break the ice from my water bucket while throwing like I did on several ocassions in Cleveland. See, I can look on the bright side of things.  

"Idle hands are the devil's workshop."

N & N

With ever encounter as I as I look at the new to me pot I try to figure out where the pot fits in the potter's work according to quality and when the pot was made. On the odd occasion I am also left wondering where does this form, style or surface come from and is this pot an anomaly as it has an exotic and unique look to it. In this particular case illustrated is a wonderful, serene Hagi mizusashi by Okada Yu, expertly thrown and altered creating a manipulated for that is both organic and spontaneous in appearance. Though thrown and altered this mizusashi has that look of just happening, coming off the wheel as it appears, supple and flowing lines uninterrupted by any external force that is perfect for aesthetic appreciation or practical use in the tea ceremony.   

As if the form and alterations weren't enough the surface is equally as superb with lush blushed areas covering half of the pot that are punctuated with fine white crystals like flower petals cascading down pink silk. The rear of the five sided mizusashi is covered with a soft white Hagi glaze that completes the form and the vertical lines that separate the various planes of the pot are bare to the clay creating the appearance of a subtlety folded five panel screen painting presenting a narrative of nobility and nuance. The finishing touch to the mizusashi is a simple, custom made and perfectly fitting lacquer lid that though is in stark contrast to the piece creates a sense of completion and harmony.      

Though at a certain level a simple pot I found this pot fascinating and during its stay here I had it on a shelf where I just kept turning it round and round to get the best view and none failed to both surprise and please me; a very pleasant experience all in all.

CLOSE ENCOUNTERS III

While working at Cleveland State there was a student there who made what came to be known as "brain-ware", odd ovalled forms with a super thick application of Gustin's Shino. Once fired, the really thick glaze would curdle and crawl to resemble what is in effect, a human brain and the maker was thrilled with the pieces though Dick (Schneider) and I were certainly less so as when it didn't work, the crawled glaze ended up too much for the forms and dripped all over the shelves, thank goodness for kiln-wash. I suspect at this point if you waded through some droll story about my days back at CSU that this illustrated detail has something to do with the moment of nostalgia.

The illustrated detail is from a larger Oni-Shino vase form by Tsukigata Nahiko and like in many other close-up pictures, I think this really gives an insight in to his surfaces that a simple overall photo would lack. The surface is alive with all the elements that make Oni-Shino so potent, rich and complex; the thick Shino glaze has crawled, curdled a bit allowing the rich iron underneath to percolated up and into the crevices between the nodules of feldspar with the entire surface coated in a thin by unmistakable layer of natural ash from the intensity and ferocity of the wood firing each of these pots is subjected to. Beyond the obvious and mesmerizing complexity of the surface there is a jubilant exclamation of texture both visually and tactilely that heightens the impact of this work and makes the viewer all the richer for the close encounter. 

TOOLS OF THE TRADE

Today wasn't particularly a busy day but on the agenda is getting four of this tray form made on this hump mold for hump-day. The illustration shows everything I use to make these forms from mold, fettling knife, credit card, rib, sponge and stamp; these are the tools of the trade for this task, nothing less and nothing more. I roll out the slab and then using a cardboard template cut out the clay to shape and then drape it over the mold and set about defining it to the mold using the sponge, rib and credit card. I usually let the clay stiffen up for about 30 to 45 minutes and then flip it over on to a board, define the edge and repeat the process. After making two trays, I place the mold near the furnace and let it dry for an hour and then I am usually good to go for another two pulls from the hump mold. I used to have two of these mold but I think with little thought you can imagine what happened to it. All in all not a bad use of a hump day and everyday with clay is a good day.

RABBIT IN A BOX

So here is what I do know, this is a Bizen kogo made by Matsumoto Tsutomu and that is where things get a bit fuzzy as I am not acquainted with this particular potter but I can easily spot a rabbit in a box. Though boxed and signed I am just in the dark about the maker though I can say that the kogo in the form of a rather idiosyncratic rabbit (usagi) is rather well fired with swaths of deep rich purple fire color and areas of peppered ash and charcoal yet luckily the top and bottom of the form weren't fused shut. Though it may not appear this way to everyone, I really like the boxy, stylized form of the kogo which conjures up memories of seiji okimono by Suzuki Osamu where the form is accentuated by the minimum of detail to tell it full story. Though this potter is unknown to me, I enjoy the dry, wistful humor presenting itself like a hint of sarcasm locked away in clay and if at the end of the day it says quite a bit more than just "kogo" is there really anything else that I need to know?

TIME WELL SPENT

This simple chawan was clearly made by a Fukui native relying on centuries of traditional Echizen pottery and firing, this bowl has an old soul, medieval in fact in appearance, technique and presence with a flavor, a hint of the modern infused in the clay and natural surface. The form is casual and has some sense of early mountain chawan making the chawan uneven and irregular with a surface that displays a cohesive landscape composed of a myriad of adjoining locals painted with ash and flame and the guiding hand of an experienced master, Nishiura Takeshi. I should have started off by saying that no single, static image can really convey the surface of this piece but will have to appease a viewers curiosity for the moment.     

Once placed in the kiln, the naked form was left to the will and whims of the path and ferocity of the kiln which layered varying ash, thicknesses and texture on the form where gravity also had no small part to play creating a surface that moved under the intense heat and in the right light continues to do so. As for the coloration, the palette runs from the colors of natural fired clay to rich wet purples, hues of grays, blues, white and greens making for what can at times be confused for the interior of a mine wall, deep beneath the earth's surface. Firing for five days at over 1300 Celsius, almost 2400 Fahrenheit and many more to cool, like a small time capsule of time well spent from soil one moment to traditional expression the next, well beyond being time well spent, in many respects this bowl is part of the lifeblood and heart of modern Echizen created by a potter dedicated to a tradition that is on the move with each and every firing.

FIRE AND ASH

A fellow collector from Europe sent me this picture of a classically simple but well fired Iga set of tokkuri and guinomi which I was rather pleased to see though handling them would be even better. This set was made by Fukushima Kazuhiro who's works I have been watching for several years now and on my first encounter I discovered that he had spent time learning under Koie Ryoji  and then worked for a short while in California. Admittedly I was originally surprised regarding the Koie connection as I did not see any of the influence that usually comes out in the clay, glazing and firing from such a strong and charismatic teacher but as you look long enough there are subtleties, like rhythm and posture not to mention his use of Oribe glaze as well. 

As for this set, as I mentioned they are both simple in design, straight forward throwing with age old forms perfect for the task at hand and Fukushima has allowed the firing process and choice of woods decorate his pieces where gem-like bidoro betrays the positioning of the pieces in the kiln creating a luminescent landscape of the interaction between fire and ash. As a final observation it is rather splendid to see the movement of the surfaces even in this semi-formal and static image, one can only image how animated the surfaces are in person.

THROWING IN THE NEW YEAR

There is certainly nothing earth-shattering about this teabowl which I threw off the hump but since Jan. and Feb. are very slow months for me and work is good work and throwing in the new year is a good way to start a Monday. In fact, I needed to throw a group of covered serving bowls and then lids which I throw off the hump and once the bodies were thrown I wedged up a good size cone of clay and threw the four matching lids. I knew there would be clay left over so I threw a pair of matching shallow "using" bowls and four teabowls including the one pictured here. As you can see it is thrown out of stoneware and is pretty generous in scale and I decided to address the exterior of the foot while it was still on the wheel and will tool the interior once it is stiffened up. The truth is that anytime I can sit and throw is a good day which is made a bit better when it includes covered pieces and a few teabowls as well.   

"Choose a job you love and you will, never have to work a day in your life." Confucius. I am reasonably sure he didn't factor in all the packing!