YURI-HAKKIN-SAI

Illustrated is a rather large bowl I was able to study a while back by Kyoto potter Furukawa Toshio (1949-2005) with the aid and assistance of my potter and I guess photography assistant, Khan. I was forced to take several shots of this large bowl on the floor as it is just about 20" in diameter and doesn't fit where I normally photograph and that is when curiousity got the better of the cat. Furukawa Toshio specialized in a number of glazes of which celadons proliferate including multi-colored celadons that create shaded seiji surfaces as well as rich, deep copper reds. This particular piece is created by putting cut and sgrafitto platinum foil under a very deep Persian blue style glaze a technique (yuri-hakkin-sai) that his son Takuro (b.1979) continues today. There are several pieces with this exact style of surface exhibited in the EXHIBITION OF TRADITIONAL JAPANESE ART CRAFTS and it would not surprise me if this piece was exhibited there as well though that will remain to be seen. There is a lot I could say about this piece but perhaps the most striking feature is how luminescent the surface is, catching and refracting (reflecting) light from every angle and any light source and as you can see, even Khan is drawn to this pot.

ANOTHER SIDE

Illustrated is a detail shot of a stoneware glazed hachi with overglaze painting in red and green enamels. This tray form showcases another side of Kato Kenji who was best known for his Persian blue pottery and as this piece shows he was quite adept at making stoneware pottery and wonderful enamel painting. In fact, Kato Kenji was so well known for these enamel painted hachi that Arakawa Toyozo mentions them in; THE TRADITION AND TECHNIQUE OF MINO POTTERY and one was choosen as part of a traveling exhibition of modern Japanese pottery that toured the United States a number of years ago which included the likes of Arakawa, Tomimoto, Rosanjin, Kawai and Hamada. Though much of his overglaze enamel work is also influenced by the pottery of ancient Persia and the Middle-East, this decoration is purely Japanese in inspiration and execution and I can not help but be impressed by the wispy and quick pace that the design vokes. It is important to see the varying styles of a potter and this hachi shows just one facet in the arsenal of Kato Kenji's pottery from traditional Mino-yaki, Temmoku and Persian influenced pottery and a few surprises in between.

STACKED

I was in the studio the other day and happened to look over at a shelf that is way up near the ceiling and mostly obscured by a heating duct and saw these groups of various mugs all stacked up in groups of two and threes. I am not sure why, but it just struck me that this is how pots are used and stored, certainly our cupboards are filled with bowls, cups, mugs and dished all stacked up according to size and those used most frequently toward the front. It just seemed natural to photograph this pair of Persian blue and underglaze slip mugs just as they were stored, intended as a pair and nestled in to each other waiting to get used and stacked just as pots have been for thousands of years.

And for a little something that has absolutely nothing to do with pottery, have a chuckle with Abbott & Costello and Jonah and the Whale

TORUKO-AO HACHI

Illustrated is a wonderful Persian blue shallow bowl (Toruko-ao hachi) on a pedestal foot by Ningen Kokuho; Kato Takuo. The rim is decorated with flowers and birds while the center depicts a noble Persian prince astride an Arabian stallion, the black underglaze has a slight blue hue to it as it peers through the rich glaze. I have seen a large number of Kato Takuo's toruko-ao pots and each one has a sense of ageless nobility to them and though heavily decorated, each one has an appropriateness showing no signs of an heavy handiness. Kato new exactly how much design/decoration a pot could handle and what was needed to depict his intent and never wasted a single brush stroke. For Kato Takuo, like so many other potters, big things are still made up of all the minute details.

SLOW BLUE MONDAY

Like a number of locations today, it is a dreary, overcast, snowy, rainy day here in the central Mohawk Valley with temperatures hovering just above freezing. Add to the bleak weather the fact that a package was absolutely, positively supposed to arrive today but did not make its destination and you have some of the components for another slow blue Monday. Despite various tasks at hand and some well chosen music, today has somewhat mimicked the weather making for a slow Monday. To brighten the mood a bit, illustrated is a vibrant, bright blue Persian influenced tile by Ningen Kokuho, Kato Takuo. Framed and matted by pale blue-grey fabric, the painting can transport the viewer to another time and place with ease and this is just one of the gifts of this master of Toruko-ao style work. I am always amazed at how quickly a good pot can clear the mind and change a mood.

A novel twist on NEW ODRER's BLUE MONDAY;

BLUE MONDAY XVIII

I know it must seem that I seem to gravitate to the same potters over and over again. Truth is, I have really broad, eccentric and diverse tastes when it comes to pots (music and movies as well) though less so when it comes to food! In terms of pottery with blue glazes, there are actually not that many that I really enjoy beyond the Kawai school gosu, Kato Takuo and Kobei VII, Kato Kenji and a handful of others. It is most likely for this reason that I tend to focus on a select group for these "Blue Monday" posts and this one will be no exception.

Illustrated is a large Raqqa (toruko-ao) influenced blue vase by Kato Kenji. Thrown round and then the mouth formed in to an hexagon, the pot was decorated with his trademark black decoration which has run a bit blue at the lip. The wonderful flared mouth is complimented by small pierced lugs on either side of the vase that along with the geometric patterning help define the form and its graceful stance to near perfection. I am drawn to the skillful throwing, simple lines, well executed decoration and honesty of the pots of Kato Kenji which snake along some imaginary timeline of the Silk Road that has found its way to Japan and become just as much Japanese as Persian in the hands of this thoughtful and enthusiastic practitioner.

I suspect this vase was made in the early 1980's and I thought this tune somewhat appropriate, the1983 classic Blue Monday by New Order.

BLUE MONDAY XIV

I would think that this vase is probably not something one sees every day. A bit formal and precise in the throwing, this double walled and reticulated vessel is a nice early work by the late Kato Takuo. Resembling a medieval tiled wall, this Persian glazed vase was hand engraved and pierced to create a statement about the possibilities and influences of such pottery. The addition of gold leaf applied under the glaze speaks to an earlier age of opulence from which the archetypes of this pot spring from. Though an earlier work by Kato, the pot certainly shows the exceptional control and manipulation of clay, glaze and firing that he is well known. In this piece, one can clearly see the promise of more to come together with a more relaxed and spirited aesthetic that he was working toward, day after day and year after year.

MONDAY BLUES IX

There is little I can say about this magnificent Persian influenced vase; from my perspective it is simply a masterwork by the late Ningen Kokuho, Kato Takuo. First thrown in a white clay and  painstakingly altered into a rectangular form, he accentuated areas around the piece with tool and spatula marks to further animate the pot. The upper tier has a number of hand modeled rams heads in various poses with accents of gold over the truly this inspired Toruko-ao glaze. The pot conveys an essential timelessness as if it had been made in 13th century Persia and survived intact to this very day. The white crackle "frosting" across the surface adds a sense of dynamic tension that creates a wondrous sense of the exotic and mysterious to yet another piece that is thoroughly out of place and out of time.

INCOMING & OUTGOING

I have put up a group of pots on my Trocadero marketplace that have just come in on Friday via UPS along with a few pots that have been around waiting to get posted. It is a rather eclectic group of pots ranging from a very nice Oribe chawan by Matsuzaki Ken, a pair of vases by Kohyama Yasuhisa to a nice Persian chawan and a few other pieces. The great advantage of having pots coming and going is that it allows me the opportunity to study them while they are here. I have long since realized that you can't own everything, after all, where would you put it? Certainly space and economics can get in the way of world domination through collecting, but like gravity, it is a just a reality that we have to live with.

Illustrated is a hakeme slipped Oribe chawan by Matsuzaki Ken. Though his style is seemingly far afield from his master, Shimaoka Tatsuzo and his master's master, Hamada Shoji, there is a common thread that comes out of Matsuzaki's pottery and this chawan is no exception.

http://www.trocadero.com/stores/albedo3studio/catalog/query.php? 

 

BLUE MONDAY VII

Today was another one of those Mondays, it started out very dreary and overcast  and has become a rather pleasant, if cool day in the Mohawk Valley. I spent the day firing off a glaze kiln and throwing plates and separating out finished work to see what needs to be done. The throwing got me thinking about one of the curious side effects of starting this blog; the number of people who I have been able to reconnect with, because they stumbled, or possibly went looking, for me on the web. I have reconnected with family, friends, old clientele and collectors and I have the blog and the internet to thank for that.

I also was able to reconnect with a potter, who I knew in passing from Cleveland. At one point in her travels, said potter had the opportunity to meet with my favorite Persian influenced potter, Kato Kenji and she was able to get one of his formula for his unique blue glazes, which she has very kindly passed on to me (Thanks, Jo!).  After I finish my terra cotta run, I'll order some Cone 2 cones and will try my hand at this recipe. I have made up 10 pounds of clay that I used a long time back in Cleveland for a project at about cone 2 and hope to get this tested sometime after Nov. Like everything else, one step at a time and all in good time.

Illustrated is a Persian influenced vase by Kato Kenji (1933-2008). The vase was thrown round and then gently paddled square in form, the foot is carefully carved out to compliment the form. Under the crisp electric blue glaze is a fluid decoration in dark black pigment which takes on a decidedly blue tint as it peaks through to the surface. This particular design is seen on a number of Kato Kenji's works as it was easily adapted to a wide array of forms and works well to animate the surfaces of any given pot.

MONDAY BLUES V

It is very cold here, minus 11 degrees f. when I got up, overcast and generally not the best Monday to start a week. Pots usually help and act as a natural mood elevator, so what could be better than Persian blue. Illustrated is a finely thrown Turoku-ao guinomi by Kato Kato. The decoration shows tones of blue from the cobalt used to make the black underglaze under the rich alkaline based Persian blue glaze. Kato Kenji was a master at Turoku-ao and his fluid and spontaneous brushwork is just wonderfully expressive and matches and articulates the form like few others. 

MONDAY BLUES IV

For a long time I have been interested in making pots that are just on the verge of instability. Through trial and error, I realized that there is a fine line with these leaning pots and if they are ultimately to be functional, there is only so far askew that they can go. In the end, I figured if it works for a famous leaning tower in Italy, it can work in pottery. The two illustrated mugs were thrown round, cut, darted and end up with a distinct lean. The pair is terra cotta with slips and a Persian glaze over. Though neither leans that much, the really interesting part of these is that when filled with liquid, the liquid is level to the surface they stand on and the lips curve down to the contents. It presents a rather fun dimension to the mug and sometimes gives you the feeling the cup is moving. Probably the perfect cup for a different perspective, to start another week.

“I, not events, have the power to make me happy or unhappy today. I can choose which it shall be. Yesterday is dead, tomorrow hasn’t arrived yet. I have just one day, today, and I am going to be happy in it.” A Quote from the Zen master of innuendo, wit and sarcasm, Groucho Marx (1890-1977)

TORUKO-AO GUINOMI

Illustrated is a sweet Turoku-ao, Persian style guinomi by Kato Kenji (1933-2008). The soft curving bowl shape rests on a perfect pedestal style foot and is decorated with casual and fluid underglaze black decoration under a soda blue glaze. Kato Kenji was a veteran Mino potter who made works in a wide variety of traditional styles, but in my mind, he was a Persian specialist. His Persian styles consisted of this wet, transparent glaze, a thicker, more opague blue glaze and his overglaze enamel decoration in Persian, almost Scythian motifs. Though greatly influenced by various archetypes, Kato Kenji’s pots are readily identifiable as his work. Though modern (20^th century) in exectution, the one thing that Kato captured above all others, is a sense of timelessness. When encountered, there is that lingering question, are these new or are they old?

KEEPING ONES DISTANCE

“Do not make a new form and design from an old pattern, I was always told. Turquoise is one of the oldest colors used in ceramics. It was produced by applying hashokuzai to copper, and copper oxide can still be seen in this type of pottery in the ME (Middle Eastern) countries. We marvel at the new molding and design techniques we have created in the modern age, but often it turns out that similar techniques already existed in the past. Truly original creation is so hard in this age, which is dominated by imitation. This thought is uppermost in my mind as I try to create.”

The above quote is by Mino potter, Kato Kenji (1933-2008) who while working in the tradition of TORUKO-AO (Turkish Blue) clearly understood the necessity to find his own voice and vocabulary in an idiom that would be easy to imitate what had come before. Kato was well trained during his apprenticeship with two Ningen Kokuho; Tomimoto Kenkichi and Kondo Yuzo; his broad abilities are a reflection of both of his masters. Kato worked within the traditional Mino field producing wonderful Shino wares as well as iron rich glazes, iro-e overglaze enameled works and both transparent and opaque Persian blue glazes. By looking at his body of Toroku-ao work, you can see that he kept his distance from simply copying what had gone before. He constantly strove to add something to an age old tradition, making this work his own.

This paddled henko-tsubo is very typical of Kato Kenji’s opaque Toruko-ao works. It stands about 10” tall and has wonderful brushed decoration under his lush and vellum textured glaze. Despite having the appearance of a traditional raqqa style pot, the form and decoration speak of a pot born out of a foreign ideal but distinctly Japanese in execution. Together with Ningen Kokuho, Kato Takuo, Kato Kenji helped extend the Silk Road all the way to the doorstep of Gifu Prefecture out of the past and into the present day.

MONDAY BLUES II

Having had a number of years to develop different styles and glazes for a variety of temperature ranges has distinct advantages. Though I generally throw, decorate and glaze to specific commissions, orders or requests, there are always small nooks and crannies of the kiln to be filled with smaller pots. This allows me to throw teabowls, utility bowls, tokkuri, yunomi or other small pieces as fillers and then decorate and glaze them in a variety of styles. It helps make for a kiln packed with variety and sometimes intense color as well.



Periodically I find the need to throw some fritted whiteware teabowls and decorate them up with modern style black designs that works well under the Persian blue glaze that I use. The clay body is an old trial and error formula I came up with back at CSU. I make it up into a liquid, like a slip and pour it out on plaster to dry. When ready, I peel it off the plaster and wedge it up and use it. Though these pieces are not intended for heavy, everyday use as the clay body is not really thoroughly vitrified, the end product justifies the process. The vivid soda blue glaze works well with the quick design and makes for a bridge between the old raqqa wares and modern pottery. Coming out of the kiln, that bright and fun blue is just a great way to jump start and Monday.

MONDAY BLUES

Recently I have been playing with the combination of my version of a toruko-ao glaze over my neriage. At first, there were a few stumbling blocks but those seem to have been solved. This glaze has taken a complete metamorphosis since I originally got the recipe from Colin Pearson back in the mid-90s. I embarked on the task of morphing the glaze into a vellum style Persian blue glaze (toruko-ao) that was very influenced by the work of Kato Kenji

This glaze started out as a semi-opaque copper blue glaze which ran like the dickens and was splotchy and uneven despite a careful application. Over the years it has been altered so much, that the current recipe does not even resemble the original in content or percentages. The current version, TA-Variation-56s, can be used thin or thick without running and now works well over various underglaze slips as well as the cobalt rich black neriage porcelain I use.

Aside from the luminous quality of the glaze, the richness of the blue has a timeless and ancient quality to it. It seemed only fitting that I used it over the black & white neriage pots I have been making which are influenced by suminagashi style paper marbling. The real appeal of these pots though, is the cool and inviting softness of the vellum glaze texture. It has a feel unlike any other glaze texture I know and is truly enjoyable in the hand. It would seem to be the perfect Monday blues……………

(Illustrated are four teabowls and a close-up of a bowl, unloaded from a kiln this morning)

VELLUM NERIAGE

I have been experimenting with colored glazes over neriage for a while. I have used clear, amber, medieval green, Oribe and my Ao glaze to date.

Recently I decided to use my Persian vellum glaze over the neriage. The first tests were a bit disappointing as the black porcelain in the neriage actually “burnt” the soft vellum blue glaze. The results looked excessively dry and pebbly where the black pattern was. With a few adjustments, I was able to get the vellum blue glaze to work quite well over the neriage clay.

This yunomi was in the first batch of tests and the glaze responded well to the clay and vice versa. I really like trying new stuff from existing clays and glazes. It is very much like trying to squeeze just a few more drops out of an orange!

(VISUAL) OPPORTUNITIES

Because I fire at several different temperature ranges, Cones 04, 03, 01, 4 and 6, and have tested within these ranges, I am able to constantly add new glazes to my palette. This of course goes hand in hand with a potter’s alchemy and constant testing.

I am particularly fond of various Persian raqqa style glazes, water blues, and variations of these glazes. I have been able to make transparent water blue glazes based on an alkaline base as well as opaque, vellum style glazes based on lithium base. These glazes are great over slip and underglazes and a variety of effects can be developed with some modifications and testing.



I am also able to play around with variations of neriage under a rich alkaline clear glaze or under my Ao glaze. I have simplified the surfaces and the neriage is now reminiscent of suminagashi ink traces.

Playing with the neriage, Persian blues, bronze glazes, ash glazes, etc. opens up a variety of surfaces for a multiplicity of forms. It is the constant playing with glazes and surfaces that keep making pots interesting and enjoyable. It allows me to go to bed thinking about pots and getting up the next day, ready to try something else.