THIS OR THAT?

I think when discussing a specific work by a potter it is easy to say that he isn't known for this or that instead of saying that his is best known for whatever they are known for. I think I made this simple mistake a week or so back when I was writing about this very cool mizusashi made by veteran ceramic artist, Morino Taimei. While it is safe to say that Morino is best known for his predominantly blue based or iron red based vessels, he is in fact known to have made a number of chawan and mizusashi over the years. In this case using several glazes and wax resist, Morino has made a typical smaller form with a classic design using overglaze enamel and luster to create a decoration he is well known for. The surface is a well articulated balance of the pebbly black and grey green with the resisted area up on the shoulder nicely defining the face of the pot and adding a nice sense of irregularity to the form. Though this Morino mizusashi has already moved on to a new home it was a pleasure to handle, study and photograph and the visit will linger despite its three dimensional absence.

RECTO/VERSO

Illustrated is a well fired and somewhat formal Shigaraki hanaire by Honiwa Rakunyu II. Excelling at making traditional chadogu, Honiwa's work is immediately identifiable  and processes a disciplined dedication to the craft of tea ware and many of his pots have attested boxes by both Buddhist priests and chajin alike. This vase created for the tokonoma displays an extreme between front and back with the face coated in a rich charcoal surface with melted green ash above the shoulders and the rear a combination of warm flashed area at the center with ash in various hues about the sides, base, neck and attached lugs; the pot has been painted by the fire with a wide array of brushes making for a surface that has a rich story to tell about its adventure. I was fortunate to have met Honiwa Rakunyu on several occasions and see a large number of his chadogu many fresh out of the kiln, his formal sense created objects for tea that most any chajin would be pleased to use. There is little more that a potter can ask to leave behind as a testament to his vision and dedication to a tradition at odds with and also perfectly in step with a new century.

You can see more of this vase over at my Trocadero marketplace;

http://www.trocadero.com/albedo3studio/items/1315930/item1315930store.html

古伊賀

Looking a bit like an old Korean rice bowl in form, this robust Ko-Iga style chawan was made by veteran, renaissance potter, Kishimoto Kennin. Thoroughly entrenched in the mountainous heart of Mino potter where Shino and Oribe are king, Kishimoto has pioneered a rediscovery of Ko-Iga creating a wide array of pottery including chadogu but not limited to those pieces alone. Besides the traditional Iga pottery, he is also known for Iga-Oribe as well though it is his Iga pots like this chawan that create a thread from past to present and stand out among others working in the same tradition. The casual bowl shape of this chawan and spontaneously cut kodai are a perfect canvas for woodfiring and the natural ash that has settled and overtaken this pot are truly the marriage of potter, clay and fire, of which there can be no doubts, Kishimoto Kennin is a master.

For a Wednesday, sometimes one thing has little or nothing to do with the other; an acoustic cover of Coldplay's CLOCKS by Jeff Gunn;