CARRYING ON

Over the years I have seen quite a few pots by Kawai Takeichi including at Merlyn Dailey's EAST WEST SHOP in Victor, New York. My wife and I would stop there every chance we got on on treks between upstate NY and Cleveland. Merlyn always had quite a few Kawai Takeichi and other modern pots on hand as well as numerous prints including those by Kosaka Gajin who's minimalist black and white images we greatly admired. At one point he had two mizusashi at the gallery, both molded and square in form, one rich gosu and the other in this exact pale green ash glaze over slip trailing, both were sold the night before we showed up during an exhibition of Japanese prints.    

Flash forward a couple of decades and this mizusashi came our way in a slightly different form than the previous two we had handled as it is truly square and the lid fits in any position you decide to set it, the others were almost a bit lozenge in shape and only fit in two positions. Made in a mold with an applied inner lip, the body was quickly sliptrailed in a gritty, almost sandy slip. The texture in the sliptrailing gives the decoration a wonderful visual and actual texture with each plane of the square decorated in a similar manner pulling the form together and presenting bold almost calligraphic designs at the center of each side. The lid has a simpler decoration in which straight lines define the geometry and borders the edges, finished with a perfect handle that reminds me of earlier English pottery. To complete the form, the mizusashi and lid were glazed in an ash glaze that makes for a pale green surface that builds up slightly on the northern side of the slip trailing creating areas of glassy and wet accents carrying on a tradition inspired by Yanagi, Hamada and the Mingei Movement. Now to be clear, I am in no way comparing this pot to the work of Kawai Kanjiro but to my eye Kawai Takeichi has captured the essence and presence of the master's work and certainly is an exceptional addition to the school founded by a quiet and humble artisan decades before this pot was even conceived of.

ELEVENTH HOUR

Today was one of those days that doesn't have throwing/ making in the cards but rather a couple of errands and several hours of packing pots from the firing that was unloaded yesterday morning. In the firing were several orders as well as three teabowls that had to be quickly photographed and then packed up. I started with the serving pieces which need far more attention than the smaller pieces and worked my way to the teabowls which sold to a customer as soon as I sent him the photos. In the eleventh hour I received an order through my Trocadero marketplace and packed the last package that I am going to pack today (then off to the Post Office and one last errand.)

Illustrated is one of the three Kuro-Oribe style teabowls from this firing thrown out of a small batch, sandy white stoneware and faceted. As per usual, it is hard to know exactly what the surfaces will look like given the glazing process and usually each one is a welcome surprise with highlights here and there, especially around the interior walls and floor of the bowl. The one feature that I am pleased with for the longest is the shelf that is created from the faceting process which fills up and creates these deep, dark pools of almost black though more amber and rich green in the right lighting. This bowl and its compatriats are all now packed up and going halfway cross the country, it is always pleasing to see my pots collect dust somewhere other than my studio, so hasta manana

 

IN CONCERT

I saw my first show of Tamaoki Yasuo's work back in 1991 at a gallery in Kyoto and honestly was immediately hooked on his pottery. First and foremost, I really enjoy the way he handles clay and creates his forms out of a rather fine and textural clay. Secondly the simple yet elemental manner in which he decorates his pots, especially his Shino work just speaks to me from the use of layering of iron under the glazes to the use of varying layers, thicknesses of the Shino glaze itself creating pots, chawan of real textural wonder.   In the illustrated Shino tsubo, Tamaoki has combined a rich, crackle iron engobe or slip together with a simple, even primal rhythmic design composed of both Muji-Shino and Aka-Shino adding to the sense of undulating motion that surrounds the ovalled pot without any breaks in the action. The tall, ovoid form holds the surface and decoration together in harmony which could have easily gotten out of hand and created an incoherent aethetic but instead all the players acting in concert, present a rather  unified vessel. Tamaoki used this technique for two decades creating a body of work where form as canvas and glaze as palette have contributed to a rather busy modern Mino tradition.

THIN CRUST

Illustrated is a detail shot of a Oni-Shino mizusashi I was able to visit back in 2020 if memory serves me. This picture is from a take-gata mizusashi with mostly white Shino and some areas of a thin crust of golden brown ash and some traces of running green ash around the piece with what amounts to a kaleidoscope of color and texture that is just A+ in my book. It is nothing short of amazing how well this process of glazing and firing works for Tsukigata to produce a never ending narrative of visual abundance, the interplay of the varying texture and color of the surface makes for an unending conversation between potter, pot and viewer which quite frankly is the best outcome for a lump of clay, a handful of materials (chemicals), a bit of heat and a determined and adventurous potter can ever hope for. The next big mystery is trying to figure out how to get the owner who mostly collects guinomi and tokkuri to part with such a luxurious pot! 

(I apologize for the singular detail shot, as the mizusashi is not mine to share, this was the best I could offer.)

BITS & PIECES

Realizing the heat dome was making its way into our neck of the woods, I decided to try to get a handful of pots made before it got a bit to warm. The first smal group of pots were a group of medium size serving plates and bowls in terra cotta which dries unevenly in the heat and humidity so I switched over to making a three pieces in stoneware, two high footed covered jars, lids, knobs and a single teabowl with the clay left over from throwing the bits and pieces off the hump. The next morning I set about first tooling and decorating the six terra cotta pots followed by tooling, assembling, slipping and raking the three stoneware pots.    

As you can tell the two covered jars aren't that big, perhaps 10" tall at the moment, thrown out of a bit less than three pounds of clay. I decided to go with the large generous knobs to accentuate the jar forms and make for an easy to use lid. I first learned to make various styles of hollow knobs way back at Kent State where Kirk Mangus was demonstrating a variety of lids and knobs that he used in his work and that was a very long time ago. Two of the hollow knobs were made by throwing them off the hump and later attaching them to the lid and the other he left extra clay in the lid and then later used that clay to throw up the knob and close it at the top. At any rate, no throwing today but at least I got the terra cotta and stoneware pots finished as the temperature hovers in at 91 degrees and may get even hotter.     

The current weather sort of reminds me of the famous Harry Truman quote; "If you can't stand the heat get out of the kitchen" but in this case, maybe it's the studio.

 

TIDAL POOL

As I look at this rather large piece I am reminded of lapping waves swirling around in a tidal pool where the dark recesses speak a bit ominously of what is hidden under their depths. The wonderful texture and surface of this large Iga platter was conceived and executed by Kojima Kenji bringing a good idea into outstanding results. The Iga green of the surface coalasces into deep, dark pools at the depths of the swirled texture creating sheets of gem-like bidoro across the breathe of this modern osara inspired by the longevity of the Iga and Ko-Iga traditions. 

Attached  to the overall photo is an exhibition card which once again clearly shows a vastly different surface from the here and there photos. For whatever reason, my photo was taken using normal lighting and the surface is predominantly green in appearance while the card photo shows a rather distinctly brown pot is if in contrary universes of illuminating wavelengths. At the end of the day if you asked me which best represents the actual presentation of this large Iga osara I would have to say that I guess it depends on the light source you are viewing the piece in and whether or not you are wearing sunglasses.

DEMO PIECES

I am not sure why, but Bill Klock has been on my mind a lot lately. I used to be able to pick up the phone and pick his brain, just say hi or discuss any number of things including his world view which I respected and held in high regard. As I make pots, Bill is one of those voices in my head along with a few others that guide me away from my worst impulses and at times finds his way into my pottery. As I came upstairs today I passed a small group of his teabowls on the living room shelves that are that constant reminder of not only Bill but the ideals and experiences he brought to clay from his earliest introduction to clay, to working with Leach and then Onggi potters and his years of teaching and helping spread the word about contemporary ceramics and crafts in general.   

This simple teabowl, now glazed in Cardew Shino was one of a group of demo pieces Bill made the very first week I had started in clay, casually and quickly thrown with a folded over rim for durability and to acheive a specific look, the bowl sat around for a few days under loose plastic before he tooled the foot, trimming off very little but creating a deep well inside the foot ring on each piece in sucession. This lesson set me on a path and direction and taught me to think about the finished bowl while it was being thrown and how addressing the foot would alter the original thrown form, it was a simple  exercise but it was never fogotten. Thanks Bill.

END OF THE DAY AGAIN

I really didn't have a lot I needed to get done today (for orders or commissions) so after throwning for a while at the end of the day, I switched over to white stoneware and porcelain to get a handful of test pieces made in order to escalate some ongoing glaze combo testing. As you can see there are a group of sandy, small back clay faceted guinomi along with some waisted yunomi and even a larger, waisted teabowl that will have thick slip apllied. I will be using these as tests for glazes that I currently use with additional glazes and washes built up to see what the overall effects will be and I predict a fair amount of movememnt when I am using several glazes and several washes to boot. Currently one of the Oribe glazes, the Kuro-oribe is actually two glazes with several washes on top and I am moving that theory forward to the amber and my older temmoku glaze to see where I end up with by throwing everything and the kitchen sink at them. As I mentioned, I expect a lot of movement and running so once glazed and loaded into the kiln, each will have its own, individual tile to rest on to protect the shelves and give me some small measure of confidence that shelves and pots will not become one.

BROAD SPECTRUM

Exuberant, whimsical, spontaneous, all three of these words spring to mind as I look at this Iga hanaire made in Echizen by Yamada Kazu. Quickly thrown and marked up a bit by Yamada, the form transitions from the solid base to the slooping shoulder and determined neck and wavering lip and moth while being flanked by two assymetrical and almost uncorodinated lugs that add movement to the upper form. The casual nature and movement of the vase is the perfect canvas for the woodfired surface that adds even more movement and visual interest to the pot from running green ash, areas of slight charcoal scorching to thick brown ash here and there.  

Despite the fact that Yamada Kazu is presumably best known for his various Shino glazes, Oribe and Ki-Seto, he was brought up under the watchful eye of various Tokoname potters and family before relocating to Fukui Prefecture, the home of Echizen-yaki. Though he is well known for his pursuit of the varying Mino traditional wares including his rather idiosyncratic Enbu-Shino, Yamada makes a number of wood-fired pots as well as mishima and even Karatsu pottery. Diverse and inquisitive, his body of work is rather broad and this clearly playful Iga style vase is a rather illustrative example of that though as even a casual observer may remark, his works are unified by his casual throwing and the bones of his pottery. These attributes tie his pottery together, perhaps not exactly neatly but well enough to spot his work out of a crowd of other potters intent on creating works on a broad spectrum of styles, surface and forms.

BROADENING THE HORIZONS

Back in the earlier days of collecting my unofficial motto was; "if it isn't chawan its crap", we well I was 110% focused on chawan as the end all and be all. In walks Elizabeth Wilson of ASIATICA in Kansas City whom my wife met on a business trip many years ago and struck up a relationship with the gallery owner. Within a few weeks of that visit, Elizabeth had sent us photos of a large Tsujimura Shiro osara and a truly enigmatic Tamba tsubo by Ichino Etsuo along with two copies of the Arts of Asia magazine in which each issue one of the pieces was illustrated in ads for the gallery. This early encounter was destined to reshape our, again my understanding of modern Japanese ceramics broadening our horizons and kicking open the door to a vast array of varying forms as well as styles, traditions and surfaces.      

Illustrated is just such a piece that is not a chawan, this curvy koro with the cool blue glaze was made by Ono Kotaro and despite its scale it surely has quite an impact blending aethetics, function and animation all within its somewhat small form. Thrown out of thick porcelain and then festidiously carved to create rythmic waves like poetry in motion around the koro which is perfectly accentuated by the pale blue seiji surface. The lines and shadows created by the form add dimension and animation to his work which at each and every turn appears to be filled with vitality. Focusing on three primary surfaces; hakuji, ouji and seiji, Ono Kotaro has built a large repetoire of forms, some carved other smooth, using a limited but expressive palette where less is more and perfect to work in sync with the purity of the porcelain and the implied motion of the peaks and valleys of the pottery. There is rarely a day that goes by that I don't think back on those earlier formulative years with modern Japanese ceramics and think it was a really good move broadening our horizons.

BLUE GRASS

I am back to using this old soda blue glaze again which dates back to my days in Cleveland, I think the formula came from either Bill Brouillard (CIA) or possibly Linda Christianson who was teaching in Cleveland at the time. I have been using the glaze on both stoneware, with slips and on porcelain as seen in this example of carved black slip through to the clay body. I thought I had to get around to expanding the possibilities, making a few pieces with my "grasses" pattern and I think it works well despite not being easy to photograph. In this case a small eight or nine inch bowl with small divets implying lobes around the circumference which works well with the border and pattern incised and carved into the piece where the black slip turns truly dark and bold. Its a simple form, decoration and overall idea but I just won't complain when all three come together and avoid the necessity for the hammer to get involved.

 

IRON & ASH IV

Wonderful and powerful ash and iron glazed (haiyu(no)tetsuyu) chawan by Kyoto potter, Kimura Morinobu. The broad bowl fits well, cupped in the hands with a foot that compliments the curved form that culminates in the uneven and meandering lip. The tetsuyu is speckled with small iron crystals that are interrupted by the areas of thick, white to green ash that adds a rather pleasing mottled effect across the exterior and part of the interior creating a visual depth to chawan. Though I am slightly biased when it comes to Kimura Morinobu, I think it is safe to say that his simple and uncomplicated work blends parts of the Kyoto wabi-sabi aesthetic that goes back centuries along with the clean and unfettered lines and surfaces that are clearly the characteristics of modern pottery espoused in the 50s and 60s as well as across the various Scandanavian countries. Though this chawan is a bit more complicated than others, the bones of the pot remain true to his ideals of simplicity where this surface is right at home creating an overall sense of harmony which is quite typically seen in the works of Kimura Morinobu.