THE INTERNET

Not that it has taken me this long to figure this out but the internet can be a great place, well most of the time. I was strolling around the web a few weeks back and stumbled onto a dealer on Amazon of all places with art books, catalogue and magazines and as I looked  around I found an old copy of ART GRAPH from the late 80s, a publication from Japan, a library discard from California. On the cover was a tiny entry that simple said in kanji, TSUKIGATA NAHIKO, so the price was right and I ordered it. The picture illustrated is the back cover of the over-sized publication, this wonderful full cover shot of a crusty Oni-Shino tsubo with enough charisma and character for a dozen or more pots. This particular pot is also in a small portfolio that I have, though at a much smaller scale and considering this piece is an O-Tsubo I can only imagine the impression it must make in person.  Inside the publication was an unexpected bounty of paintings, pottery, calligraphy, bronzes and carved wood panels by Tsukigata Nahiko giving a rather informative snapshot into a specific time period in the same way that the seminal work, ONI-SHINO did for the very early 1970s. Though it was a low and inexpensive risk, I am glad I took it and now have dozens and dozens of new images to use as baseline pieces in a study of a potter who wasn't content to work within the lines and definitely thought, worked and certainly glazed outside the box.