I DON'T EVEN LIKE FISH

I don't think I have mentioned this before nor do I doubt anyone cares, but I don't really like fish. Cooked fish that is, I have never responded well to fish all the way back to school and fish-stick Fridays, there is something about the smell and texture that I just am not a huge fan of though I do happen to like sashimi and sushi. That being said, I find it odd that from day one, it seemed quite natural to paint, carve and slip-trail fish on bowl, plates, platters and trays as part of what I suppose is a tradition going back many centuries especially among slip-trail potters. Though I work with several fish designs, they come out rather differently using different technique such as slip-trailing, carving, stenciled and painted making for rather diverse imagery from terra cotta to porcelain, slipware to underglaze cobalt decoration and everything in between. The illustrated fish bowl was decorated rather quickly with a basic preconceived design and then various devices like the spirals are added to help fill the space and further articulate the design. As I said, I don't even really like fish but somehow they continue to find their way on to my plate no matter what I do.

THROWN GREEN

Illustrated is a close up of a pair of long Oribe plates. I really like the effect where the glaze has run and pooled into the grooved recesses of the pieces. I have recently, well the past six months or so, been making these pseudo-sushi sets of plates with guinomi and tokkuri and this is the latest set measuring in at about 12" long and about 5" wide. Like previous slab plates, these were first thrown and after firming up a while, they were cut into sections and laid out to form slightly curved plates. The ends and sides are higher than the center making for a plate that holds both food and whatever sauce one may decide to use as a garnish. The Oribe glaze used on these pieces is one of my latest ones, sans lepidolite but using copper, iron and a touch of washed wood ash. These plates are glazed over their entirety and fired on wads which are later ground of leaving what I find to be, interesting and tell-tale signs as to how they were fired. I guess this is my attempt to make the bottoms as interesting as the top and at the very least, it adds both to the eye and the hand in the handling.

ITOMAKI HACHI

Illustrated is a group of three Shino hachi decorated with underglaze iron and vivid over glaze enamels imitating itomaki, thread spools. These classic plates were made and designed by the 20th century master, Kitaoji Rosanjin. The simple construction and form of the hachi is well articulated with the under and over glaze techniques and as always, Rosanjin had the pieces in use in mind, prior to making them. For Rosanjin, the raison d'etre for pottery was their performance and use for food, flower arrangement, etc. and these plates are no different. I have seen these plates in use for crispy tempura, vivid crimson maguro sashimi and various sushi over the years. They are as delightful in use as they are in the "waiting" state. Each plate is finished with a vivid red enamel "RO" square on the bottoms.

"The finest food is light and plain in flavor, just as the finest antiques are those of simple lines." Kitaoji Rosanjin (1883-1959)

(Photo used with the kind permission of a private collector and exceptional chef.)

MAGURO (!)

I am a huge admirer of design from the 1950’s and its spill over in the 1960s. The pottery world was just moving at a million miles an hour during those decades and many great designer and potter made not only a name for themselves, but also left a lasting impact on the field. When I think across the myriad of designer/potters of the period, I constantly go to Kyoto native potter, Shinkai Kanzan. For me, his work is all about movement and fun and you can not help but have some of the positive buzz of his works rub off on you.

Shinkai, born in 1912, made use of a wide array of materials, glazes and decoration, but one style that stands out is his “sprigged” on design work which I associate from the 1950s to 1980s. Throwing stoneware as the basis for his pots, he would then sprig on porcelain decoration encompassing a wide variety of decoration, though birds and fish appear quite often. Using a number of carved stamps, Shinkai would cut out the basic porcelain shape for his design(s) and then impress a wide array of texture to help animate the design prior to sprigging it onto the stoneware surface. He had a profound knowledge of technology and technique and was adept at marrying the two materials together and then glazing them over in a number of different glazes, many being alkaline based glazes.

Illustrated is a close up of a bowl with a sprigged on porcelain fish design with a number of textural stamps being used to bring the piece to life. Though its start was born in the 1950s, this work has a playful and timeless quality that most likely, will stand the test of time.