THE VERY FIRST

I was digging through a box in the studio filled with pottery tools, sponges, clock parts and more when I found a little pot wrapped in a piece of THE CLEVELAND PLAINDEALER newspaper from 1990 where I discovered the very first. To be clear, this is the very first "tea caddy" that I ever made or fired and not at all traditional like a chaire I basically made a diminutive covered jar with a cut, tripod foot. The surface is four layers, three sprayed to create this look and well the squares were liberally borrowed from a well known Hagi potter. This series of pots were a lot of fun to make and though it isn't really anything but a small covered jar, this was how I thought an American potter would develop a pot specific for powdered tea if chanoyu evolved here. That is my story and I am sticking to it.

FIRST

It seems only fitting that the last piece I received last year and the first piece for 2024 were by siblings*, the previous a maple ash glazed guinomi and the later a yuteki-temmoku one. Illustrated is a yuteki-temmoku guinomi by Kimura Moriyasu which depending on the dimensions could be a guinomi or a chawan, a form typically used in both for this potter along with the way in which the piece was glazed. The background is deep and dark, almost black on which the rusty, spotted iron is sprinkled about excepting the lip which has a band of solid color that helps act to define the diminutive form. The foot's exposed clay is a rich dark black with a wonderful crinkled texture and a simple excised foot looking as if over a thousand or more have proceeded its creation. Perhaps a curious feature of this guinomi is whether by happenstance or planning there is a large rusty spot on the inside and out at almost exactly the same place adding a hint of visual flavor to the small pot. This particular piece has a nice weight and solid proportions feeling quite nice in the hand with a perfect lip for use and holding a generous but not unweildy amount of liquid and when all is said and done, it is quite clear this was not Kimura Moriyasu's first run at making a guinomi or even his 1000th.

 (There were three siblings actually; Kimura Morikazu, Kimura Moriyasu and Kimura Morinobu.)

IMAGINATION

Illustrated is an Oni-Shino chawan by Tsukigata Nahiko likely made sometime in the early 1980s that was originally put up on my blog and Youtube a decade ago as a slideshow video. This style of Oni-Shino is predominantly a feldspar Shino with some iron perculating up from the surface and a coating of ash about the surface having a passing resemblance to Bizen tamadare. As you can see the form is low and wide with a prominent and sturdy foot and lip that meanders just enough to get one's attention. The overall surface has wonderful punctuations of iron trying to seep out of the pocks of the glaze and there is a shadowy darkness under the white exterior composed of iron which together other features makes for an engaging landscape. Though this is neither my pot, nor my photo and I have not handled this piece, what I can say from previous observations is that this shape is sturdy and comfortable in the hand or just resting on a shelf, it has an almost defiant posture and commands its space with just the right lift from the kodai to create a wonderful shadowline and be just inviting enough to handle its form, feel its surface and get a sense of its weight, volume and presence. I realize a photo just does not suffice to fill in all the gaps but sometimes you have to make due with a crisp static image and a well tuned imagination or you can get a bit more perspective by going to Youtube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_AGtIE4w7k&t=49s

TEXTURE IN MOTION

Before this chawan was pulled from rotation as we rotate our small collection, I decided to make this short video of this vividly textured Shigaraki chawan by Kengo Saeki. I was hoping that this video may convey the sense of form, surface and texture far better than a single, static photo would. Let me know if I succeeded at that task.

IF ITS MONDAY, ITS A NEW CYCLE

                        

After getting pots made and delivered for the holidays, I had some down time partly to let my elbow rest up a bit (tendonitis) and honestly other than pottery addicts, who needs pottery directly after Christmas anyway? I decided over the week-end it was time to get some traction in the studio again and if its Monday, it's a new cycle which will be a terra cotta group of snowberry, falling leaves and tebori pieces. Before getting started, I got the studio cleaned up a bit, well cleaned up for me and then made up two different white slips, black slip and various colors (yellow, green and red). Illustrated is the first two pieces from this morning; two 3lb covered serving bowls and lids likely to be decorated in the snowberry design. These two pieces were followed by pieces for several vases, four wall bowls, and a group of small and medium v-bowls. I didn't end up throwing too much as I am a bit antsy about my elbow acting up but so far, so good. This will likely be a short cycle of about 30 pieces or so but at least I got started again and there is nothing wrong with that. (I should mention, I made up more slip than appears in the picture, these smaller containers are just far more manageable.)

LAST

Illustrated is what ended up being the last piece I received for 2023, a rather spontaneous purchase of a potter whose work I am rather attracted to and a piece just filled with character. The guinomi is a kaeda haiyu (maple ash glaze)guinomi showing off its wide, open form with splendid effects created by a bit of heat and the creativity ash specialist, Kimura Morinobu. The innermost interior and the area where the glaze terminates into a precarious roll at the foot have both turned to glass while the rest of the surface runs from an iron rim to olive green where steaks, tendils of glaze run into the interior feeding the glassy pool. Where the glaze ends, the rich, wood fired clay has a dark, brooding quality equipped with a crisp, quickly cut foot with a small spiral in the interior. The glaze, kaeda (haiyu) is made from maple tree ash, I am not sure if it is from the leaves or the tree itself, as he does both but this would appear to be a rather singular glaze to the potter which I have never encountered before and admittedly was partly responsible for my semi-impulsive purchase and I have to say, I would love to find a chawan utilizing the same surface but if it must, this guinomi makes for a pretty good stand-in.

THIS IS JUST A TEST

In the last terra cotta firing I did (in Dec.) I decided to glaze and decorate a single majolica teabowl to see if the five year old glaze (?) was still good as it stood in a bucket, totally dehydrated and was hard as a rock. I set about slaking it down and reconstituting it for dipping and the test was ready to decorate and fire. I resorted to one of the most simple designs I could think of using cobalt, copper and black stain to decorate the bowl and this is what I ended up with. It proved two things, the glaze is still good and majolica looks really quite nice against a very dark background. I should also mention that this pot has now been relegated to the island of testing misfits and one-offs landing for use in the  kitchen so it panned out to be a halfway decent use of clay, glaze and time.

LIKE FATHER-IN-LAW, LIKE SON-IN-LAW

What is rather clear looking at this chawan is the old adage, like father-in-law, like son-in-law, well perhaps not an adage but based on Japanese pottery history, maybe it should be. This classic mashiko chawan was made by Kimura Mitsuru, son-in-law and student of Kimura Ichiro who went on to run Ichiro's kiln after his passing. Broad and sturdy in form and scale, the form has a distinct commonality with bowls that both Hamada Shoji and Kimura Ichiro are well known for where the foot is just wide enough to create a sound and stable perch while conforming well with the other various proportions.

 The coarse stoneware clay is covered in a fat, opague nuka glaze with just the smallest amount of curdling here and there and on either side a rich iron, tetsu-e decoration of flora adds movement and a richness to the bowl. The decoration which ranges from dark to rich iron highlights has hints of both Hamada Shoji and Kimura Ichiro in the brushwork but as you survey the bowl and surface it is clearly from another hand. The foot was quickly cut with a deep interior where the nuka glaze shows off its curdling, crawling the best and is a welcome detail as the bowl is examined. This nuka and tetsu-e chawan is a classic piece relying on two predecessors who pose wonderful paragons to strive for and in this bowl Kimura Mitsuru's dedication to that ideal is clearly on display.

 

POORLY PLANNED

Way back when on our very first trip to Japan to say that we were ill prepared would be a profound understatement. I have mentioned previously regarding the hospitality and generousity of the Honiwa family in acting as our impromptu tour guides of the area visiting the Takahashi, Ueda, Furutani, Kohyama, Tani as well as a few others. Let it suffice to say that our Shigaraki trip went a bit better than some of our other day excursions that in retrospect were poorly planned though we somehow managed to met with almost 30 potters in all on our first trip to Japan, most through happenstance and serendipity. What I don't think I have mentioned previously is that our initial trip was partially guided by the book; EARTH'n'FIRE by Amaury Saint-Gilles and a thin, nearly worn out catalogue from some exhibition from 1989, a catalogue that was lost during our move from Cleveland to New Hampshire. From these "resources" I compiled a list of potters that I was keen to meet or at the very least see some of their work which included Tamaoki Yasuo, Furutani Michio, Kaneta Sanzaemon VII among perhaps a group of about 20 most of which we did not meet on that trek. Among the potters that I had earmarked to visit was Kanemori Sowa (Noburo) but he was not at home when we called. As we visited several galleries no one had any pots by him at the time excepting one small yunomi which was just not our taste so for yet another potter, we left empty-handed. Many years after that trip, a gallery sent us a large number of past exhibition cards of which one was for a show of Kanemori's work and just a short while after this the vase pictured on the exhibition card popped up so we were fortunate to collect the piece.

 Illustrated is the super-fired Shigaraki vase by Kanemori Sowa that is best described as a lesson in texture of every form and variety where at points the built-up, pebbly ash is actually close to 1cm thick and thicker in some areas. The face of the hanaire is quite dark koge effects that is smooth to the touch and a bit ominous in appearance that gives way on either side to rather radical accumulation of texture reminding my of some of the ash and firing effects from the works of Kohyama Yasuhisa and Kanzaki Shiho though taking a bit further than these potters. In the midst of the koge effects and all the texture are small pools of green glass punctuating the surface adding a slight break to the somber and stoic quality of the vase and its exterior. It was a rather long wait to actually end up with a Kanemori pot and from my perspective worth it as the rich and unique environment that this vase presents is unlike anything else I had handled up to that point, did I mention not one month later a Shigaraki mizusashi showed up with what can only be described as equally idiosyncratic surface looking like it had just dropped in as a nearly spent meteor though with a lid and a box. Serendipity 2.0.

SEASONAL PUSH

Illustrated is a small group of "jeweled" tebori decorated terra cotta pots made during my seasonal push to get pots made for galleries and holiday sales. These are typical of the work in this idiom that I made with a serving bowl, a covered serving bowl and a v-bowl, thrown out of terra cotta clay, black slipped, carved and then having slip trailed dots added. There isn't anything too complex here in design, form or technology but they were built for function and hopefully with some attention to aesthetics and certainly work well together as matching pieces. These jeweled pieces were one of five groups made for various venues including "It's Still Life", abstrakt resist, tebori and just plain old B&W slip trailed pots using about a dozen or so forms which still work well together even if the surfaces don't exactly match and besides, what possibly beats an eclectic table?

CONSIDERATION

The can be elegance in function, beauty in utility and I think thid covered bowl is a study in those attributes. Beyond all of the attention of use from sturdy form and foot, strong lip, generous volume and eye catching handle terminating the lid, Bruce Cochrane has considerind the aesthetics in funtion to create a structure that invites use and satisfies the eye and fingertips. The design of the evocative form is contained by a simple and effective texture that is completed by a wonderful and subtle glaze choice that not only accentuates the minute topography of the body and lid but glistens, perpetually wet and draws the inquisitive viewer in for a more thorough inspection. To complete and compliement this covered pot, the very top of the lid is concave with and well concieved handle bridging the depressed area. I think it is quite easy to use various superlatives in regards to Bruce's work but to my mind, once you have seen and handled his very thoughtful vessels, utilitarian of otherwise, there is quite a bit to be said about these deceptively simple object where consideration takes a front seat in driving his creations. 

I made this short video to try to convey what this pot is like in person and hope it speaks the most convincingly for itself.

SEKKI

Classic, even textbook sekki vase form by 20th century stand out and non-traditionalist, Yasuhara Kimei (1906-1980). Thrown out of a dense porcelain clay Yasuhara added a distinct blackish stone like surface in which all of his disticnt pottery marks are washed over, filled in mishima style with a rather bright white to accentuate and animate the designs and overall surface. The form is distincly that of Yasuhara right down to the wiggly (?) added lug, handle on the side of the elongated neck and in truth, as soon as you get a glimpse of this pot it is rather clear who made it. 

Yasuhara Kimei was born in Tokyo and joined the Totokai, studying under Itaya Hazan which would point to his wide range of glazing and surface technology ranging from ash glazed pots to his original sekki and many others he pioneered and used along his time in clay. As you can see the body is covered in three bands of casually depicted triangles filled with a cross hatched design and inlaid scratching to fill in some of the negative space about the pot creating a surface that is alive with movement and intrigue from the base to the lip. There has been alot written about Yasuhara over the years but it is not until you see the pieces in person where the emotion, playfulness and lyrical design all come together with concept and form to create an object not static but so animated it is best to keep them away from a shelf's edge.

GRAB KNOB, LIFT LID

The idea and execution are simple enough, thrown stoneware covered bowl and lid covered over in black and white slip and then combed for decoration. I like making covered serving bowls quite a bit, the forms, uses and possibilities are almost endless as are their uses not to mention size from singles to large pieces intended for gatherings. I like to focus on smaller family oriented sizes for two to four people of which this would do quite well, it is easy to carry and the knob friendly to almost any size hand and fit to serve its hidden contents. The knob was made out of a left over thick piece of slab that I then paddled and folded to create a means in which to operate this complex mechanism; grab knob, lift lid. I also like the mystery of a covered pot, does it contain cale or brussel sprouts, heaven forbid or homemade mashed potatoes with scallions and herbs, your guess is as good as mine though I prefer the latter. I made a group of these in varying size, shapes and surfaces and with different knobs though it is likely that Oribe will not be my first choice here rather depending on either an amber or soda blue glaze to show off the shape and surface. Though the use is entirely up to where ever this ends up, hopefully nothing soggy or alien will fill the volume of this rather simple pot for any that end up on my table.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Just wanted to wish everyone a very Happy New Year for 2024. I am truly hoping that the worst moments of 2024 exceed the very best of 2023!