NO ORDER TOO SMALL

Illustrated is a commission, a single solitary covered serving bowl with lid and knob. That being said, I did make a second set as a spare I just didn't think two looked as solitary as the single piece and parts. Over the years I have made a lot of single pieces as orders or commisions and would like to think no order too small and this small version of a covered serving bowl is a good example though. Along with the csb I have been asked to make two matching, meoto style tea cups and generally speaking, I am very happy for the interest and excuse to throw. This covered jar will set up over night, get trimmed, have the knob attached to the lid and once dry, it will get decorated and later glazed and fired. The spare is to insure everything goes well along the process like not rushing things and blowing up pots in the bisque all the way to having pots overglazed and becoming one with the shelf. Even for such small orders while relying on potentially runny glazes, my motto remains the same; better safe than sorry.

REDUNDANT

I apologize if this seems a bit redundant as I have posted a detail picture and a Youtube video of this vase previously but this photo has been hanging out on the hard drive and I suspect there are details to be seen due to how this was photographed. This Shigaraki take-gata hanaire was made by Furutani Michio and is just a classic example of his firing and the manner in which he handled clay; considered, direct and simple. Aside from the running, cascading ash on the piece I am enamored with the way the area about the cut out has gracefully slumped a bit as it lacked the support it may have wished for during the firing. To my eye this adds to the casual appearance of the vessel, equipted for everyday use or in the tokonoma during chanoyu, it pocesses a nobility in its simplicity. It is easy to wax poetic in regards to the Iga and Shigaraki works of Furutani Michio as in fact many of his pots embody that sense of the lyrical fired deep into the bones of the clay.

SHOCHU-CHOKU

According to Wikipedia and other internet sources, the best way to describe Shochu is is that it has about 25% alcohol by volume and it is usually distilled from "rice, barley, seet potatoes, buckwheat or brown sugar" although there are exceptions to include other japanese indiginous vegetation. As with most drinks, Shochu can be served all by its lonesome or on the rocks, with water (hot and cold), mixed or with beer added as well. Though I have had shochu a couple of times in japan, this is the extent of my knowledge about this beverage and please pardon any faux pass in desribing this especially to those who are seasoned aficionados.  At any rate, the reason for this slight background is that I recently acquired my, well our very first Shochu-choku and from my perspective it was a very good starting point.      

Illustrated is a rather robust T'ang sancai style choku by Kato Kiyokazu who has dedication himself to working within this sancai and T'ang styles using elegant, streamlined forms and truly wonderful, luminous colors over a very, very pale clear glaze with a hint of yellow. His use of amber, purples,  blue and bright green breath life into his pots and create a rather visually stunning surface which is a bit further enhanced by your friend and mine, the Sun. One of the other features of note is the rather natural use of pigments where though they are obviously applied they present a more organic appearance, for me nothing ruins a sancai style pot faster than ill applied or ill conceived use of decoration/ pigments. The form of this cup is just ideal for the decoration and considering my interest in T'ang ceramics and sancai wares goes all the way back to the BMFA, the Met and CMA, ending up with a classic sancai choku by Kato Kiyokazu makes for a perfect little pot that I may just have to give a test run though likely not with shochu any time soon.

JUN THE GLAZE

Just so there is no confusion, this is about a glaze not a cat (Jun-Yao) though he was named after the glaze because of his wondrous eye color, so in a way it is also about a cat at least in my mind. That being said, way back to our early days of visiting the BMFA, CMA and the Met, one thing that never failed to get our attention was the various Chinese pots with Jun-yao surfaces, known as one of the five great kilns of the Song Dynasty. Considering the sheer rarity and expense of really good Jun ware we turned our attention to Japanese pottery made in the Chinese taste, also known as Kinyo and one potter who was of instant interest was Miyashita Zenju (1901-1968), father of Showa/ Heisei stand-out Miyashita Zenji.  Zenju had a varied if not somewhat short career spending  time in China and Korea perfecting his interest in varying archetypes and glaze surfaces, studied with Kawamura seizan and Kusube Yaichi along the way  before setting up his studio in Kyoto where he became a key figure in the pottery movement and aethetic circles of the day.     

Illustrated is a classic guinomi created in a hybrid of Chinese and Japanese taste with a surface that harkens back to the Song Dynasty where the rich, active and captivating surface texture could be as intoxicating as the intended beverage of which it would serve. The thin, lip is a wonderful contrast to the multi-colored glaze that is fluent in a number of hues that surround the interior pond of soft, robin egg's blue making for a perfect focal point. Neither too large nor too small, this Miyashita Zenju guinomi has a rather inviting form and bearing, is easy to pick up due to the slight indent just under the lip and is certainly effortless in its filling and use with an eye toward function and beauty, the potter has made all the right decisions.

BRIGHT GOLDEN AMBER

Way back when I started out doing slipware, my first glazes that I used were amber, copper and a steel blue over various slip work. As I began to focus more and more on black and white slips as the basis of the work I turned to using a clear glaze almost exclusively but from time to time I would still go back to the bright golden amber that I had developed (from an existing glaze) sometimes with copper or manganese purple accents. This bowl was a left over and is now in our kitchen from a group of dinner plates, low, wide soup bowls and "catch-all" bowls exactly like this one. The slip was applied and then dabbed over the surface to create this pattern which is also easy enough to replicate over the 18 pieces needed and the four pieces that are left over for our use. The glaze is rather durable for terra cotta and runs from this bright surface to a slightly duller amber depending on the light and looks good over various styles of slip decoration. Added to what is seen it can always benefit from a bit of copper or manganese to spice things up even more though, sometimes simple is just what is called for.

"Truth is ever to be found in simplicity, and not in the multiplicity and confusion of things."  Sir Isaac Newton 

CLEAR IMPRESSION

Illustrated is another classic Honiwa Rakunyu II Shigaraki chaire, this one being a presentation piece. Complete with two shifuku for differing tea outings or seasons, the box is made to fit the extra bag with chaire "dummy" inside as well as the actual chaire in its decorative bag. Like most of his chaire, this is finely, even exquisitely thrown, slightly thin out of a white stoneware which makes for the perfect canvas for the ash developement which is carefully painted by flame to show off ash build up on the shoulder and face, just the right amount, transitional borders of color wrapping around to the rear showing off some hi-iro. As I mentioned this chaire is rather characteristic of Honiwa as is the firing which is meant to strike a balance between subtlety and tradition, where the process is clearly written across the surface.    

I should mention that the photo of this chawan, box and two shifuku was taken by the owner and honestly I think it provides a rather clear impression of exactly what this set looks like in person so I decided to go with this rather than thinking I could improve upon it. You can see more of this Shigaraki chaire by following this link and going over to my trocadero marketplace;

https://www.trocadero.com/stores/albedo3studio/items/1494436/HONIWA-RAKUNYU-II-SHIGARAKI-PRESENTATION-CHAIRE-TWO-SHIFUKU

GROWING LIST

Though I have been a bit bogged down in throwing and decorating terra cotta I have been accumulating both stoneware and porcelain pieces thrown at the end of the day with no idea as to potential scheduling of completetion. Working and building up pots is a rather common thing here with pots sometimes hanging around for two months or so in the green stage as more occasional pieces are added to the growing list.Though at this moment I have no idea when I will get to the 40+ or so pieces, I took sometime this afternoon and decorated a few of them using black and white backgrounds and wax resist. At the moment the glazing thought process is to use the soda blue, amber and Oribe to highlight the surfaces and pieces but anything and everything is subject to change.     

The illustrated covered jar with small finial is thrown out of stoneware and is likely to be glazed in the soda blue. The form is rather simple, streamlined with a notched foot, applied knob and a decoration the compliments the pot and should be just the right amount of contrast to add movement once glaze fired. Of course working with a runny glaze on a straight-sided pot can certainly spice up the dynamic but I will wad the lid and fire it with the feet resting on small slivers of soft brick, what's the worst that can happen?

BLACK & BLUE

Illustrated is a Kuro-Bizen guinomi by Oiwa Tomoyuki who apprenticed under Kakurezaki Ryuichi and his influence is rather clear. This guinomi is of a generous size and the rather interesting and engaging form which has a rather evocative surface and despite its name, there is quite a bit of blue encasing this diminutive pot. Perhaps what attrects me the most to the piece is the hap-hazard and casual way it was thrown, moving clay, distorting the lip and waist in the process but  the foot is crisp and sharply cut, I like that contridiction. For being such a small piece, this Bizen guinomi is filled with little details and features that make a rather pleasing presentation and though it has not been used, it has a nice, warm tactile feel that works well in my hand and my wife's and she is considerably smaller than me. All in all a nice balanced package that shows equal part of Oiwa Tomoyuki, his master and centuries of tradition all wrapped up in 6 x 6.5 centimeters.

TANUKI DUO

Though this pair of Shigaraki tanuki kogo look in disarray, both are in perfect condition despite the fact that I have seen them "banging" around for some time now. After watching this tanuki duo for a while I finally decided to act and add these to the growing number of Furutani Michio tanuki that we have, five in total now. I know to some these may seem trivial and incidental but each one was hand molded, carved and detailed by one of the true masters of 20th Century Iga and Shigaraki and rather than see them end up damaged along the way I figured they would be at home with the others that we previously collected. In the case of these two, both are well modeled and well fired with a nice coat of ash and a wet surface around the pieces. Each is well seated with its base and has just the right amount of space for temporary storage of incense as its intended use though you could always use them to hide a chocolate truffle or two if you are so inclined.

HONEY

Recently I have been playing with an old amber glaze which I refered to as honey amber, it was over 50% Albany slip. Since there is no Albany slip I decided to make a new amber using materials I have in abundance and to be honest the results left the glaze just a bit flat, it was nice enough but I wanted more from the surface. As with most things I decided to give it the Oribe treatment and set about changing the percentages of materials in the formula as well as adding both a glaze and various oxide washes over the glazed surface.    

Illustrated is one of the first test cups photographed using two different light sources; tungsten bulb and your friend and mine, the Sun. Based on the old Albany formula which I believe came from Val Cushing, the new variant bares no actual similarity to the old recipe and I have been calling this surface, black honey amber. I have thrown a few teabowls to proof out the new surface and before the cyle is done will also likely throw a small covered jar as well. I know it seems like I take baby steps when it comes to upscaling tests but 1) always better safe than sorry and 2) making up 2000grams or more of a glaze that doesn't end up working gets old really, really fast.

SURVIVOR

There is something to be said about a pot that immediately speaks of the herculean battle waged with fire and ash and certainly among this group who glaze their pots, Tsukigata Nahiko and Kumano Kuroemon always stand out among the crowd. This Kuma-Shino mizusashi is a perfect example where though locked in a battle for survival and facing the distinct possiblity of melting and succumbing to the heat of the kiln, this pot is a survivor and lives to tell the tale. The thick Kuma-Shino surface coating in a thin coating of luscious green-blue ash is interupted by areas of intense and crusty ash painting a narrative that potter and collector alike can understand and appreciate for the complex and beautiful landscape now frozen into the surface.

This particular mizusashi was thrown as a bowl form and altered a bit prior to the firing and once it had come out of the kiln intact a simple cypress lid was carved and fitted to the pot completed with a thin wood strap acting as a handle. I love the contrast between the simplicity of the lid and complexity of the surface all the while being unified by a simple form that waits for the viewer to remove the lid to expose the wonderful Kumano treasure exposed within.

O-TSUBO

I am reasonably sure that many visitors to Shigaraki have seen this somewhat large (!) Ko-Shigaraki O-Tsubo on display at the small museum of mostly historic pottery located downtown (I am sorry the name escapes me at the moment). When people talk about large Japanese pots, this is always the piece that springs to my mind as I stand 6'2" and it was rather impressive and almost my size, in height, luckily not width or circumference. I realize this is not the best photo, it was originally a poorly lit picture with a negative now decades old but it still gives a sense of the scale and granduer of this large early tsubo. perhaps my favorite features of this behemoth are the indented furrows, three of them surrounding the based and the strong, defined mouth and lip with just enough movement and undulation to really call attention to its features. As I mentioned, to me this is a big pot and moving forward I guess in any description using the word or term large, there should likely be a number of caveats which include a link back to this pot for reference.

30 MINUTES OR LESS ÷ 2

Realizing that it is unlikely I will work tomorrow and I had a few minutes to play with, I decided to to make a teabowl from start to finish in 15 minutes or less. Starting with a little over 1.5lbs of clay, I threw a standard nondescript bowl and then decided how to procide. I will admit this was a bit of a cop-out as there is nothing that pushes any parameters at all in this hexagonal piece but it came to mind and I went with it. I dried the clay just a bit and proceeded to beat on it with my large wooden spoon until it had its overall shape and then defined the lines with a metal rib and a rasp. I then dried it a bit more and tooled the foot and finalized all the angles before covering it in thick white slip and worked it impasto style in opposing directions around the teabowl. So in just under 15 minutes, this is what I ended up with, a rather large bowl covered in thick, impasto slip on to its next stage, drying which I can assure you takes a wee bit longer than 15 minutes but the heavy lifting is now complete.   

Here is to hoping everyone has a wonderful (an safe) Fourth of July!

OBJECT IN B&W

I am sure to anyone following my blog, it is clear I am not a photographer with my premise now in the digital age being, take lots and lots of pictures and hopefully one or two may be worth something. For a number of my pictures it would seem to be a confluence of luck, placement, sun, shadow and timing all together to get a shot that is interesting. I think I got lucky with this shot where the pot, in this case a Shigaraki bird object by Kohyama Yasuhisawas in just the right place and seemingly at the right time for this old school black and white study of light and shadow.    

I must admit, the texture and incised decoration circling the object are heightened in the image and present a nice study of a tactile invitation where the mood highlights the provocative form. In truth, Kohyama has a definite mastery of creating forms that are part geometry, organic and animated whether they are small like this little bird object or the large, objects of movememnt and even flight in his Kaze, wind series. As for this throw back photo of an object in B&W, all I can do is hope it captures even a hint of the attributes that make Kohyama Yasuhisa's work so packed full of emotion and life. 

"Black and whte is abstract; color is not. Looking at a black and white photograpgh, you are already looking at a strange world." Joel Sternfeld