VOICE & VISION

Inviting, satisfying, rich, warm; these are just a few words that spring to mind as I am looking at this Shino chawan by Tamaoki Yasuo. Real or imagined, I have a strong connection to the potter and his work from various trips to Japan where he was on the list of potters to visit on our very first trip to Japan in 1990. This Aka-Shino chawan is early work by Tamaoki though it clearly has a place of distinction among his many decades of dedication to a tradition where ideals and archetypes give way to voice and vision forging a pathway to one's own style while adding to centuries of what has come before. The simple, curving  form terminates at a well conceived kodai and an undulating lip that bookends the surface composed of a rich iron slip influencing the glaze, creating a mottled rich, iron red and areas of thicker white accents all boundaried by the myriad of crawling pathways giving way to the wet, iron below. It is quite easy for me to articulate my interest in the works of Tamaoki Yasuo, he has a lifetime perfecting an alliance between clay, form, surface and fire, creating works that are never easy to overlook and rarely fail to live an impression.

Invitation (by Shel Silverstein)

If you are a dreamer, come in

If you are a dreamer, a wisher, a liar,

A hope-er, a pray-er, a magic bean buyer...

If you're a pretender, come sit by the fire

For we have some flax-golden tales to spin.

Come in!
Come in!

MOVEMENT IN BLUE

This teabowl seems to be all about movememnt in blue. Thrown out of stoneware, I combed the slip, kushime style and then glazed it in the soda blue I have resurrected recently. Where the combing went to the clay body it adds an additional layer of color and movement to the piece and honestly perks up the piece just a bit. Nothing very complicated to see here but everything did seem to go together properly and on some days, that is absolutely the best I can ask or hope for.

DELIBERATE

When I first saw this thrown and altered vase form, all I could think was what an excellent use of iron, iron in the temmoku base glaze and also in the rusty overglaze application causing the runny, partridge style effects. Originally round and now octagonal, Kobayashi Kazumasa has defined, deliniated the eight planes by adding protruding borders at the intersection of each panel adding a bit of drama to the form. The planes, lip and angled foot of this vase form create a rather stoic, geometric form that has elements of movement just backing the piece away from the precipice of appearing  to be of industrial origins.        

Kobayashi Kazumasa worked in Kyoto and studied under Kawai Einosuke who was well know for his knowledge and use of glazes. Though I am not well acquainted with Kobayashi's work, it does appear like he made use of a lot of iron glazes including on a number of tokkuri, guinomi and yunomi that are out circling in the ether of the internet. At any rate, this vase shows a reliance on a Kyoto aesthetic blended with Chinese pottery archtypes, blended and used in a rather skilled and deliberate manner which makes me curious about what will be the next pot by this Kobayashi Kazumasa that I encounter?

DEVIL-MAY-CARE

Looking a bit like it is taking a mid-afternoon nap, this Shigaraki kakeire is about as wonky as they come. Almost folded at the neck and shoulder the form was manipulated to produce a bunch of character and even a bit of a caricature of the form itself. Though I am not hugely drawn to hanging vases, the fact that it is a rather well fired Shigaraki uzukumaru based form and it is by Suzuki Shigeji adds a few ticks in the plus column. As you can see this little vase has a wonderful golden brown crust of ash with areas of attached charcoal and terminates in a wondrous sharp, craggy lip that truly helps define the feeling of the piece. Despite being traditional in nature and having been subjected to the extremes of process and temperature, this small kakeire has an almost playful and devil-may-care attitude and posture which in my book is just what I want out of a simple, useful pot.

THE SECOND

Today was another one of those busy days, besides firing a glaze kiln there was making a few pots, glazing up a group of pieces for another firing and putting together several tests. We had to wait on a delivery truck, the kind that can come anytime between 10am and 2pm. Since the day really got away from me, I decided to post the second katakuchi and matching cup as a quick post. This is obviously not a large piece, thrown out of stoneware and covered in black and white decoration, I went with the soda blue glaze on this set which worked well with the simple decoration and forms. There is one last katakuchi, actually the first one of the series, it is currently in the glaze fire and is glazed in Oribe with thick hakeme panels on either side but it does not have a matching cup. If it comes out half-way decent I will likely make a couple of cups to go with it as it is generous enough to be used by two. Back to the studio to keep my eye on the kiln.

CONSCIOUSLY THROWN

There is a rather undeniable ferocity to the surface of this Shigaraki mizusashi by Niigata resident, Kon Chiharu. There is the ferocity of the pot itself standing up to the intense heat and velocity of flame and then there is the unmistakable ferocity contained within the kiln and process of the wood fired experience. The surface narrates a story of movement, determination, endurance and durability where ash adorns the pot and shows how it was fired and how potter choose clay and an ideal form to best appreciate the nature of its making. There is a simplicity to this hyotan inspired form, a form born of evolution has been co-opted in clay for its effective volume and scale. Due to all of its curves and sloping plains consciously thrown make for a wonderful canvas for the rich ash to paint its masterwork across the surface. The seemingly gravity defying ash adds drama, movement and certainly a rich landscape to a pot integral to a ritual ceremony that in many respects mirrors a similar ritual carried out between clay, potter and fire, one that is thousands of years old.

NOT ENTIRELY FORGOTTEN

So I don't think I have posted this before, feel free to correct me if I have. This pot passed through here quite a long time ago but as with most pots, it may be gone but not entirely forgotten. This Shigaraki mizusashi was made by Furutani Churoku IV (Hiromu) back in the 1980s if memory serves me based on the accompanying enclosed bio. Classic in form, style and surface, I think this clearly falls under the catagory of utsushimono, copy or replicate made to emulate what archtypes have come before as well as to bolster a tradition and pass on ideals that have some proven merit through time and use.    

This particular example is pretty streamlined, stripped of superfluous details with simple base, neck, mouth and lid and an almost obligatory addition of lugs but allows the firing to narrate the nuances and honesty of the pot. I like how the mood and tone of the pot changes from dark to lighter as you visual ascend the mizusashi making for a distinctive, banded surface created as the firing pot sat in charcoal adding the slightly brooding emotion to the base. Classic and honest, I think I'll stick with that description, it  works just fine for this aged pot by Furutani Churoku

NEW COAT

In an effort to see what I can do with existing ideas, designs and decorations in an even slightly different manner, I have been bringing techniques that I use in terra cotta to stoneware and white stoneware for a fresh look. Using the honey amber, soda blue and my Oribe glaze has worked well in varying carved slip, the all black carved tebori and some wax resist decoration and I am pleased with how moving from a clear glaze or temperature range has added a new look to tried and true decoration and designs.        

Illustrated is a classic pasta, bisque or salad bowl, an omni-bowl if you will where using black and white slip simply carved with the "grasses" pattern it has a distinct and contrasting appearance to what has normally just been a clear glaze surface. There is a richness to the surface with the slightest hint of running, droozy iron making its way from lip to center of the bowl without being to obvious or overwelming. Being that this was the first bowl of this style and surface, done as a way to proof the idea it has not made it very far, now replacing a similar shaped bowl that ended up chipped in a somewhat recent catastrophic(!) event.  Though as soon as I can get past this terra cotta cycle, several orders and a handful of pieces needed for a show, it will be full stream ahead making what I have made all along with a new look and a shiny new coat.

PAST TO PRESENT

Quite a long while ago a friend sent me an email saying he would be sending me a chawan that I may be interested in or at least looking at. Several days later this chawan arrived well packed in an unmarked wood box but the work itself is unmistakably by Kawai Kanjiro. Rifling through several catalogues and The MINGEI magazine (#556, Ex. No8) I found several nearly identical chawan to this one with this decoration though I suspect there are far more as this form and design work so well together as do most of Kawai's work. The rich iron tessha surface is so reflective and metalic making for the ideal canvas for some rozome decoration and a few experienced strokes of red and blue to complete the bowl. As for the form, perched atop a tall pedestal foot the bowl in this case has a classic wan-gata style that most likely found it origins back in the Edo period lacquer ware of the time borrowed and modernized for a new purpose. All in all this is a rather classic chawan by Kawai Kanjiro with a nod to the aesthetics  of Kyoto which helped nourish his creativity and was his home throughout his entire lifetime where his art connected past to present.    

"Anyone can make beautiful things," says Kawai-san. "The capacity for expression and creation is in everyone, but not all of us realize this. We work and produce in spite of ourselves. The unknown self drives us on always." (* Quote from WE DO NOT WALK ALONE by Kawai Kanjiro that I take to heart and always hope that he is right!)  

(I apologize for the single, poor quality picture it is all I have from this encounter that happened at least three cameras and a long time ago.)

ENCOUNTERS

Over the past couple of years I have had a number encounters with chawan by Koinuma Michio who to be honest, is not really well known for his chawan. The styles have been all over the map from the golden glazed chawan I posted over a year ago to a variety of glazed bowls but recently a salt fired chawan popped up. A bit compact in size, the form is somewhat sculpted creating various planes for the potter to decorate which in this case is a very graphically oriented circle, square and triangle design represent the Zen cosmos. The lip echoes the carefully faceted body with sweeping angles and the base slopes softly toward the well cut broad foot. The foot is surrounded by three areas of what can only be called "calcium blooms" from the clam shells acting as props during the firing vaporizing and further enhancing the verigated surface. What constantly intrigues me about Koinuma work is the way in which a more sculpturally oriented potter approaches a vessel of ritual and function with centuries of precedant.  In spite of those lofty and imposing  guidelines and restrictions, Koinuma Michio is able to create chawan based on his experienced approach to form and surface that clearly is tied to a larger body of work which clearly transcends the expected utility.

GET THINGS MOVING

It has been a minute or two since I last made a katakuchi style pouring vessel so after a recent phone conversation I decided to finish and afternoon's throwing by making three, small and simple pieces. The first piece was glazed up in my Kuro-Oribe style surface and ran so far that I thought it was in a Flock of Seagulls video. This set of cup and pourer was glazed in simple oribe over black and poured white slip and I think it works well with the form and purpose of the piece. This is not a particularly large piece but honestly just right for the task at hand depending on your mood and choice of spirits or tea and as my wife point's out just because it fits snuggly in my hand does not mean it is a perfect fit, one size fits all but by grasping the back curve adjacent to the spout, it is pretty easy and ready to perform.       

As you can see the first photo shows the katakuchi and accompanying cup photographed using a tungsten light source and the second pictures is the piece revelling in the last sunlight that pours in the window. The all black interior replete with crinkled cat hair shows off the real surprise from this pot and the firing, Almost one have of the katakuchi is covered with this soft, ethereal slate blue-grey tendrils filling the spout and running down the side and pooling for a rich pond of swirling texture. Though I intentional put on an additional glaze to get things moving as it were, this surface and the way it worked reminded me that serendipity still plays a role when you use up to five surface on a pot, at the end, things sometimes take an unanticipated turn and I have no problem with that. Now I am wishing the third piece was decorated the same way!

 

ZIP, ZERO, NADA, NOTHING

Illustrated is a classical koro by Kyoto potter Nishikawa Minoru. The form is simple and very functional perched on three feet while the surface is covered in a serene texture and an area of purple splashed across the face and repeated as a ring around the mouth as well. The well fit lid is carved of wood, fits rather snug and is pierced with a number of ginko leaf devices across the surface. Relying a bit on some Chinese ideal from times long past, Nishikawa created a number of works based on Jun-yao style and other Sung traditions but as you can see there is a distinctly Japanese flair crafted under the tutelage of Kusube Yaichi and Kano Mitsuo, that distinguishes this koro from works 4000km to the West.       

Like many pots coming from Japan, this one has its own unique story and one to my mind that clearly defies the odds and gave in completely to fate and the whims of the travel gods. When the package arrived, the top was compressed, looking a bit like an accordian and I could clearly hear the koro moving about freely within the box. Once opened what meet my gaze surprised if not amazed me, the koro was on its side with a piece of paper wedging the wood lid onto the pot without the benefit of any packing materials; zip, zero, nada, nothing. I removed the pot and carefully inspected it including under a 10X magnifier but the rugged, sturdy koro arrived completely intact despite a journey of over 10,000km. I have had poorly packed and even fragile pots arrive unscathed but not since the early days of eBay have I had a piece arrive sans any protection what-so-ever. To whomever packed it, didn't their parents tell them, always use protection?

A GOOD HANDFUL

I suspect at first glance this E-Shino style chawan could be taken for a number of mino traditional potters but the truth is this particular potter is known for anything but conventional works based on centuries of archetypes. This chawan was made by Tsukigata Nahiko and contrary to its style, it is not exactly what I would call early work being made in the late 1980s, though I would call it a good handful of clay. As you can see the area above the foot swells out giving the form more volume before tapering back in a bit making it a easy to use, functional chawan where the thick glaze enhances its fullness and adds a layer of depth and texture. The sparse use of spontaneous iron decoration breaks up the surface and creates a Momoyama ink painting style landscape bringing  the bowl to life in one's hands. 

One other feature is that this chawan was thrown out of a coarser Shino/ mogusa clay than normally seen though I have seen this clay on other pots I have encountered. The clay is a bit looser and softer in appearance and has a decidedly different texture overall compared to the clay that one thinks of coming from the studio of Tsukigata Nahiko.  My conclusions after handling this chawan are simple;  this is likely the most traditional Shino chawan by the potter that you will encounter but despite that fact it is so clearly by Tsukigata that among other simple (?) Shino chawan, this bowl stands out, distinct among the crowd.