SWEET DREAMS

I recently put up an older fluted Oribe teabowls on Instagram and it got me thinking of perhaps the oddest pot that I have ever made. Well to be clear, I have made pots that would certainly classify as odder but rather it is the purpose that I found a bit out of the usual. This Oribe covered jar was made as an homage to a Sukhothai style temple, not my design as the final resting place for a Thai giant rat, rescued from the fur trade and raised as a house pet. I can't remember the name of the rat, I just referred to it as "biggie" after the rapper, Biggie Smalls. As for this jar, it was thrown thick and had the horizontal fluting tooled into the surface and was glazed in my very first Oribe glaze back in the 1990s. Perhaps the neatest feature was where the Oribe glaze pooled in the furrows creating rich, dark bands around the pot which became darker and darker as it ran down the pot. Once "biggie" was cremated, he (?) was placed inside the jar in a plastic bag, just barely fitting and the lid was sealed on the pot using thick sealing wax. Though I have made a number of special commission pots over the years, the final resting place for the large rodent ranks as perhaps the oddest thing I have made, sweet dreams "biggie".

MEMORIAL DAY 2023

"And they who for their country die

shall fill an honored grave,

for glory lights the soldier's tomb,

and beauty weeps the brave." Joseph Rodman Drake

RARE AND UNUSUAL

When I first saw this Shigaraki mizusashi it immediately reminded me of a rather important piece by Kato Tokuro that was made in Showa 48 (1973) and that I think of as a somewhat rare and unusual example of his work being best known for his Shino, Ki-seto and Seto-Guro. Looking at this mizusashi I can see details that certainly show the influences of the Tokuro piece in this rustic and casual pot which is only natural since the maker, Ando Hidetake studied under him beginning in 1960 and was more than likely acquainted with the original. Though I clearly see the influence of the master in this pot the form is lighter in attitude, casual in its throwing and in the way the lugs are attached and very little was done to put marks on the pot allowing the earthy, rocky clay and the fire to carry out the majority of the "decoration" as it were. The pot has a slightly wet coat of ash across the majority of the face while the rear has patches of a rich hi-iro punctuated by the appearance of the rocky clay and feldspar coming out of the clay. There are a pair of cumbly lugs attached to the pot adding a hint more of an anthropomorphic presence which is tied into the knob on the lid which completes the pot. 

Though this is a classic pot by a well known Mino tradition potter, the form, posture and animation of the piece is clearly duplicated in the numerous other mizusashi that Ando has made in varying incarnations of Shino and his unique Ko-Mino works as well. At some level it may be fair to say this is a rare and unusual work by Ando Hidetake but truth be told if you look at enough work and through enough catalogues there is just enough Shigaraki pottery to say that they were made every now and again and more than likely when just the right mood struck him.

WHAT'S IN THE BOX III

I made a couple of these covered boxes recently and glazed both in the surface I refer to as Kuro-Oribe whether it is accurate or not. Both are rather simple forms, roughly the same dimensions but each a slightly different form and with different knobs or finials. The covered box form illustrated has a rather dome like structure and rests on four feet, the surface is a graded version of the Kuro-Oribe and the lid is fitted with a cornucopia style handle that functions perfectly and hopefully compliments the volume and idea of the overall pot. I think that all in all the sunlit pictures shows off the actual surface rather well with areas of green showing through the slightly darker surface as well as the clay texture where rib met clay and left marks around the pot. I like making smaller, intimate pots that hopefully see some use beyond sitting up on display, though functional or not, a hand made pot up on a shelf is not such a bad thing after all. 

 "Whatever you have to have, try to have something that is handmade." Nirmala Srivastava

https://www.trocadero.com/stores/albedo3studio/items/1478573/ORIBE-CORNUCOPIA-COVERED-DOME-BOX-FORM

HOSOGUCHI HANAIRE

I can't honestly say I know quite where this form comes from, perhaps the kinuta mallet, a musical instrument, a boat anchor, I just don't know. What I do know is that Hagi veteran Yamato Yasuo has made a large number of these forms going back to the 1970s and continuing to the present day. The box this vase comes in has the following description on the lid; KOHIKI SAI HOSOGUCHI HANAIRE or colored kohiki, narrow mouthed vase and is as good a description as I could imagine. The round, globe-like body is further decorated in large iron red squares a design that he uses on nearly all of his forms and the long neck has a soft and lustrous appearance due to the way the piece was glazed. Though this vase looks a bit fragile and even precarious, the weight of the base makes this function perfectly for its intended use, balancing a single blossom of small branch without flinching from its duty.

SHISA

Over the years my wife and I exchange small gifts on special occasions, gifts that usually don't include the democratic process of collecting, simple and personal pieces and in recent years both kogo and koro seem to be at the top of this list. Illustrated is an Okinawan kogo that was a birthday gift for Mindy several months back, it is simple, fun and fits in with other kogo and koro that we have been collecting. This shisa (shishi) guardian kogo (シーサー香合)  was made by Tamada Akira who has won a number of awards and commissions in and around Okinawa including making dinnerware used at the Shurijo castle in 2000 and works for the Hyatt Regency (Naha) and the Ritz Carlton (Kise). Clearly a studio piece, this idiosyncratic shishi is used for a number of Tamada's pieces from kogo and koro to yuhin and teapots making their origin immediately recognizable where shishi are everywhere standing out a bit from the crowd is never a bad thing. All in all a fun little omiyage style gift that brings a little smile every time it is approached, especially from the rear!

EVERYDAY TEAPOT

I put up a post about an everyday covered jar made of terra cotta and decorated in what I call abstrakt resist. From that firing here is another everyday pot, a teapot using the same materials and basic decorating idea. This teapot was made to be a familiar and easy to use pot, it will hold enough for four but honestly is intended for a more intimate engagement among two friends. the basic idea for my teapots comes from my time spent making pots with Bill Klock who brought the English tradition of making and drinking tea into his studio where we would take breaks and discuss all kinds of things over a good strong cuppa or two. Beyond making pots we would discuss pottery, Leach, Cardew, Kawai, current politics and his philosophy on life. I am not 100% sure I have got to that point but I have tried to build this sense of purpose and use into these everyday pots made from of simple forms and rugged materials, maybe with the next group.

OUT OF THE SHADOWS

I don't usually put up additional posts for the same pot but I thought this shot of the Kaneta Masanao Hagi chaire looked quite inviting and mysterious coming out of the shadows. The sunlight has heightened the blushed surface allowing the white crystals to shine like stars in the night sky while the form sinks into the darkness of the shadows. This was a rather enjoyable pot to have out and about, documenting the chaire in a series of photographs in various locations and light sources so that down the road, the experience can easily be revived with just the click of a mouse and the opening of a folder filled with a wide array of images. Shine on you crazy diamond.

A KINUTA REVISITED

A while back I posted up a rather shadowy picture of this Iga kinuta vase by Furutani Michio and thought that though these aren't the best pictures that gave a fuller accounting of the pot. As you can clearly see, this simple form has what I consider to be rather spot on proportions with a surface that takes full advantage of the vertical surfaces as well as the slightly depressed shoulder. Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of the landscape of this vase is the way in which it seems segmented from foot to mouth adding a variety of glaze effects and hues to add to the movement of the form upward. Like many of Furutani Michio's pots, this form is simple at its core, communicating antiquity through the study and influence numerous archetypical pieces but there is individuality and modernity in most of his work adding to the Iga and Shigaraki traditions to which he was dedicated to for the majority of his life and I think this Iga kinuta easily fits within that treasured and finite body of work.

 

VERTIGO III

Every now and again I find myself straying back to older ideas, sometimes it is just easy, some time comforting and at other times it is more about what can come out of the older design or technique that wasn't explored before. Though not a monumental leap this vertigo bowl was a slight departure from previous way that I had employed this technique and I think it has articulated the decoration and ideal on the interior of the piece to maximum effect. I like how the round border of the wall cuts off the angular spirally design creating the vertigo pattern and confines it as if it were trapped in the bowl. 

When I was inking out the design I decided early on to offset the center of the decoration to add a bit more interest to the piece and hope that I have succeeded to that end. The wall of the bowl is perhaps a couple of inches high with the pot sitting on a tall pedestal foot and glazed over in what was left of a rather old Oribe version by brushing on the glaze and adding a bit extra in the grooves to create a deeper green. In the end I only made a small group of five of these bowls, two small and three from about 3 pounds of clay all variations on the same thrown round theme. As it would seem it occurred to me after the fact that I should have made a couple of these bowls though squared to see what effect that would have on the way the pattern descends into the interior. I guess there is always another cycle and still a bit of this old glaze left to make it happen.

AZURE WAVES

Illustrated is a rather tall, elegant vessel covered over in varying hues of heki-yu glaze with areas of the clay having subtle and overt texture creating azure waves and evoking scenery from some far off and distant place. Made by Kimura Yoshiro this heki-yu vessel was thrown round and part of the upper neck and mouth were pushed into an oval cross section and the mouth was sculpted to complete the form. As Kimura's work matured his pieces become less decorated and more about purity of the form, in many respects they are a three dimensional homage to form and the line and volume become the central players in the narrative of his work. The combination of the deep, dark and the lighter blue brings a subtle sense of movement and verticality to the pot aiding in moving the pot from functional vase to sculptural vessel. I thought this was a perfect  image for a blue Monday bringing calm and reflective appreciation to the spirit.    

"Blue is the only color which maintains its own character in all its tones." Raoul Dufy

HEXAGONAL EWER

Dating to sometime around 1977 to 78, illustrated is a classic John Glick hexagonal ewer with his patented style of surface decoration which is as animated as it is playful. Measuring in just under 14" tall this ewer has a stopper that unscrews to seal the piece and as you can see the handle is created by rolling and pinching a log of clay which adds to the charm and purpose of the pot. The flared mouth with ample pouring spout shows off a rich iron glaze which shows up intermittently across the surface along with areas of a transparent celadon style glaze that highlights the slip-work combed underneath. Though this pot is clearly dated and reminiscent of the 70's and early 80's Glick's pot represent the emergence of the studio potter movement where individuals flush with ideas and enthusiasm went from university and college students to potters across this country starting back in the 1960s. It is clear from this pot and nearly all of his work, Glick set about marrying form and surface, the landscape of his pottery aimed at daily use, function for everyday consumption together with an aesthetic that far transcended the proliferation of the industrially made pottery of the time.

GREEN ENERGY

This short video was one of the first that I made using my new phone camera and I think it gives a good insight into the actual look, texture, color and dimension of this Oribe impasto bottle which has quite a bit of green energy to show off. Though the surface color changes depending on the light source, this video at least shows off the depth of the surface in terms of both glaze quality and the actual topography of the tokkuri bottle. The stoneware bottle was thrown and squared up and then I applied a thick white porcelain slip impasto style to alter the surface from where the slip ended and the stoneware capped off the form. Nothing revolutionary but the video is a nice addition to helping give a fuller perspective to a pot on a screen.  

O-GUCHI

Illustrated is a detail of the shoulder and mouth of an early and large Oni-Shino tsubo by Tsukigata Nahiko. I used this piece in a previous blog post quite a while ago and stumbled on this picture this morning and thought that Tsukigata is always a good way to start the week. I really love the crusty texture around the mouth that gives way to the animated texture created by the glaze flowing down the vertical surface. Though made earlier in Tsukigata's pursuit of Oni-Shino all the elements of his style are on display on this wood fired pot from feldspar, iron and ash creating a distinctive landscape that is clear synonymous with a style and surface that will forever be linked with this pioneering figure who added to and moved the Mino tradition that much closer into the 21st century.