REDO

Today was one of those rather busy days, the table is filled with ware-boards filled with terra cotta bowls and covered serving pieces, I spent hours on the phone trying to sort out an existing problem and I had to make up black and white slips and 6000gr of my new, old amber glaze. In other words, time went by fast so I went to my photo file and picked out this sun drenched Echizen chawan by Nishiura Takeshi. I know this is one of those redo posts and photos but it could be a lot worse than this chawan showing off some of its bells and whistles in the sunlight.

MODERNIST ART POTTERY

Despite having a somewhat decent memory I can't say I remember all the details of how I ended up with this mysterious vase other than it was described as "modernist art pottery" and in the end no one bid against me on the rather ubiquitous auction site. I have to admit I was drawn to the simplicity and utility of the form, the dry, modernist surface and decoration and the sensibility it presented which reminded me of the Arts & Crafts movement ushered in by Ruskin and Morris. The pot arrived be it vase or large lager glass and I wasn't disappointed by any of the attributes that drew me in to begin with and the decoration worked well around the form creating an rather animated landscape. 

Once in hand I was able to read the seal which was actually in English, MOMO in capital letters and after a brief internet seach I happened upon the website of Momoda Hikaru who lives and works in Asaka, Saitama. Momoda's website shows a wide array of pottery, mostly using less traditional surfaces and very little actual glaze excepting as liners for the interiors of pots. Having a rather busy record of exhibitions, Momoda also won the prestigous Shoji Hamada Prize at the 7th Annual Mashiko Ceramics Exhibition. Though without a box and a somewhat mysterious origins, this pot has been sitting up on a bookshelf where I get to look at it nearly everyday and not a day passes when I don't think to myself, that would surely hold a fair measure of a good bourbon beer! If interested, here is the Insta-page of Momoda Hikaru;

  

https://www.instagram.com/hikarumomoda/?hl=en

SMALL WIN

This teabowl, still pinging away to its heart's content came out of the kiln late this morning. Though a bit hard to figure it out, the glaze is an old amber glaze I used forever that has been tweaked a bit and then had black iron oxide sprayed over it using an atomizer. As you can see, thick white slip was applied impasto style and then it was glazed and glazed again, fired and here it is. This was one of five distinct test bowls that were in the kiln to reaffirm some glazes I haven't used in a while as well as two new incarnations of older glaze formulas which are quite different that they originally started though for one of them I have to get most of the credit to Val Cushing for a hand out of glazes he gave me many years back (1991 or 1992). What I have learned from these recent tests is quite simple, the straight glaze as it stands works rather well as does the two variations including the one with the iron sprayed over and after some series of glaze tests and combinations, it is quite a welcome outcome to have all five tests work just as I had hoped. That is a small win but a win none the less in my book.

SHINO FLAVOR

I put this short video slideshow together to try to capture the provocative nature of what is a simple bowl with fields of plain white Shino plunged into moments of chaos with a bit of well placed iron under the glaze. This large and medieval style Shino chawan was made by the late Kagami Shukai and is a rather good example of why his work is still so highly regarded. Though perhaps best known for his Ki-Seto works, which are the most sought after, I like his casual and classical use of Shino which compliments his forms and makes for excellent vessels for both use and appreciation. I am hoping this slideshow manages to capture some of the detail and flavor that the bowl possesses and is intent on sharing with the viewer. Enjoy!     

DRAMA

In a world best defined by subtleties and the quiet nature of form and surface I can't help but think how dramatic and animated this chawan by Yoshida Yoshihiko actually is. Having studied under Arakawa Toyozo, Yoshida watched the master and distilled an aesthetic where surfaces became much simpler draped onto pots that have striped any superfluous detail away to get at the very bare bones of form that convey subtle nuances balanced against a credible utility. In this case, the bowl is simple, purposeful and mindful of function, balanced on a simple foot cut from a coarse clay leaving a wonderful crumbly texture that pleases the eye and feels good and sturdy in the hand. The chawan was decorated in an iron pigment segmenting the bowl around the form punctuated by iron dots closer to the lip almost mimicking exploding fireworks with a creamy ash style glaze acting as a backdrop to the brushwork. Despite the obviously more active surface and the drama that I mentioned, Yoshida has assembled the form, surface and decoration in a rather harmonious manner making for a simple bowl, with a simple surface ready to face a simple use and complex conversation with either viewer or user.

https://www.trocadero.com/stores/albedo3studio/items/1481169/YOSHIDA-YOSHIHIKO-IRON-DECORATED-HAIYU-CHAWAN

SANDY YUNOMI

Quite some time ago after handling a gosu blue henko with thick hakeme slip by Kawai Kanjiro, I was a bit surprised at how coarse the actual slip was under the glaze. Once I returned home from Japan I started trying out various "additives" to various slips from molochite to beach sand with an array of effects. Recently I inherited a bag of rather coarse sand with small rocks in it for good measure, perhaps 50lbs or so and have been using it in my small batch white and regular stoneware clays and have moved on to making a rather thick, sandy slip out of it as well.  

Illustrated is a small sandy yunomi, one of a group of pieces that I am using to test out the durability and endurance of the surface. This slip was applied with a coarse 2" brush in a vertical, albeit haphazard pattern and once bisque it was glazed in my two part Oribe that appears more amber than it does green. The surface is of this yunomi is rather coarse with a lot of actual and visual texture that is likely best suited for pots that don't come in contact with the lips but this is where I started. I suspect this is a rather good surface moving forward for vase forms and covered jars an though it bares no resemblance to the genesis of the idea, as with many of my pots, I have Kawai Kanjiro to thank for the inspiration some 30 years back.

 

A WEE BIT

It is not quite magic but at some level there is something magical regarding the molded henko forms of the Kawai school. Though few come close to Kawai Kanjiro's brilliance for capturing spontaneity and spatial awareness most of his nephew (Kawai Takeichi) and apprentices picked up the gauntlet to create their own unique forms in ways best meant to carry on the tradition and speak their own voice through pieces. 

 This rich gosu henko is by one of Kawai Kanjiro's last group of apprentices, Kawai Hisashi and shows the reliance on the master's work while stepping just outside the shadow of his influences. Sturdy and impressive in its presence, the basic form is crisscrossed with impressed decoration creating a highly decorative pattern that surrounds the base of the pot in a lattice which has pooled the glaze to create dark, rich gosu blue areas that define and animate the form. The base of the henko is slightly concave and finished in a clear glaze that allows the henko to rest on a narrow square while the sloping shoulder terminates in a thick pronounced mouth that has areas of mottled iron suspended across the surface from top to bottom. 

I think as you break down all of the elements of form, impressed design, glaze and associated details each one is a simple device but isn't it just a wee bit magical getting all these elements and the glazing and firing to work together if you stop and think about it for just a moment?

 

MARU-GATA

Looking a bit like a weathered and almost barren celestial planet (body), this Iga tsubo was made by Furutani Michio back in the early 1990s. Though I had almost forgotten about our encounter, finding a group of older photos taken and stored originally on discs, I immediately remembered the pot and its simple but excellent form and the areas of ash and shell impressions decorating the surface. Though I have seen these forms quite large what stood out about this pot was that it is basically about 20cm in diameter making for an intimate pot that sits well and fits in the palm of your hand for closer examination. There are a number of this form of all sizes and varying texture in TOH Vol. 2 showing precedance for this form among many others and I should mention on a trip to see Furutani-san in 1991 or 1992 he gave us a small catalogue from a show related to the Northern Lights in which many of the pots were these round maru-tsubo from really small to quite large. This was an enjoyable pot to handle and its reminder in these photos is rather welcome though I wish I had taken more pictures back then and certainly in much higher resolution.  

"The lamp once out    

cool stars enter   

The window frame."  Natsume Soseki

OPPOSITES ATTRACT

Illustrated is an interior shot of a recent kohiki mizusashi that came my way. Well known for his kohiki ware and ash glazed pots, this piece was made by Kimura Morinobu and symbolizes the quiet and simple works that he has crafted over a many decades of making pots on the outskirts of Kyoto. While created as a practical and purposeful vessel for use in chanoyu, tea ceremony Kimura added some aesthetically pleasing touches that add to the serene and somber kohiki surface from areas of iron ringing the base of the pot to a rather stylized "bird" knob gracing the handle which has a rather archaic appearance. Perhaps the most surprising touch that was unexpected is the yuteki style glazed interior that radiates as soon as the lid is removed, creating a sense of movement within the interior of this otherwise simple pot. While the exterior has a rather quiet appearance, the interior is the opposite having a rather potent and robust presence that as I mentioned was not totally expected but works in harmony with the mizusashi overall. Like the way that black and white work together, as opposites in harmony, I think the balance of kohiki and temmoku are a perfect combination where opposites attract, especially the eye.

CENTURIES PAST

Illustrated is a rather lush Ki-Seto hanaire that has a surface that is actually alive with movement and activity created by the ash glaze and the wide array of shimmering nodules that proliferate the surface and an abundance of bidoro spheres that punctuate areas of the pot. Though it may seem hyperbolic, this Ki-seto created by Hayashi Shotaro is easily the most complex and unique of its type where a blend of tradition and modern inspiration collide to create a unique surface (and pot) that adds to a rather distinguished and long line of potters that have gone before. 

Beyond the somewhat uncommon surface the form is also particular to the potter, at its base it finds its roots in centuries past leaning on an anthropomorphic ideal in form articulated by vivid throwing grooves, spatula marks and the intentional distortion of the round form adding a bit of tension and drama into the mix. Despite the evocative surface and expressive form, at its core it tells a story about rustic and weathered beauty, made to be used and considered as yet another contribution to a long tradition and a body of work that spans decades and nudges the present just a bit closer to the future of modern Japanese pottery.

TIME & LABOR

Quite often when I am making pots, I find myself when left on my own to make various forms a particular size, large teabowls, 14" v-bowls, 18" plates, all within a practiced and zone of familiarity and comfort. Now and again though I decide to make pieces that are more labor and time intensive for their size and this 9" vase was part of a group where size and time formed an inequity of sorts. This vase is comprised of four stoneware pieces, base, neck/mouth and two lugs though I could have made the body and neck as one I choose to lute the pieces together once the vase was firmly squared up. Thrown and altered, the base was made reasonably square and the corners nicely recessed from the base, the neck was attached on the wheel and then the pre-cut lugs were attached. Using thick white porcelain slip, the texture was added impasto style and then all I needed to do was wait on the vase to dry, bisque and glaze. 

As with quite a preponderance of my current work, I opted to glaze the piece Kuro-oribe style realizing the slipped and unslipped stoneware areas would be rather different in appearance as is plan to see. I like the dark, somber top contrasting against the light and animated base which though seemingly diametrically opposed in tone and texture work quite well together in my opinion. As a mentioned, though somewhat time and labor intensive, the outcome was close to how I invisioned the form be it 9" or 16" tall so I will agree to call this a maquette for a larger, future project.

"AND POTS"

Though I don't think there is anything rare regarding guinomi by Tsukigata Nahiko, there really are not many illustrated in catalogues, books or portfolios. The majority of guinomi that I have seen are either ones I have encountered in person, perhaps a half dozen and the ones offered for sale on any variety of website. I have seen a number of really wonderful Oni-Shino examples with the Oni-Iga examples coming in second as to my personal preference. Illustrated is a rather nice Oni-Iga guinomi that comes in at a good size that fits well in the hand and is both easy to hold and appears rather easy to drink from (though I have not done so). The body of the form is wider at the bottom, tapering a bit and holding a good shot of one's preferred spirit while resting on a wide foot ring that shows off the three wad scars that seperated the guinomi from being perpetually attached to a kiln shelf. Unifying the form is the icy, light green glaze over which splashes of iron bring movement to the pot which has a slight appearance of a three dimensional Zen painting as you fondle the guinomi and spin it between your fingers. 

 As I said, I don't think this or other guinomi exactly rate as rara-avis but like most of the good works by Tsukigata Nahiko there is a rather unique and memorable exchange between pot and user with each and every encounter. It was the famous French author, Guy de Maupassant who said; "It is the lives we encounter that make life worth living" but somehow I think it is safe to wedge in "lives and pots" into his sentiment.