EASILY DISTRACTED

At the beginning of each new cycle, I have a hand written list of everything I need to do for the eventual firing ( a tip borrowed from the Iron Chef). It serves as a road map, though the exact pieces I throw vary depending on mood and ideas. What inevitably happens to each plan is that life gets in the way. At the end of this first week, in theory, I prefer to have 70% or more of the pots thrown and tooled. This week like every other has its distraction.

First I needed to pack/ship and order, than a routine trip to the eye doctor, several errands, some house stuff that needed doing and lots of emails to catch up with and hours are gone from the precious schedule. I made up my slips first thing as well as some haiyu glaze. I then managed to throw a group of 16” wall bowls, porcelain and stoneware teabowls, soup bowls and bottles as filler, as tests and stuff I like to throw. I also throw a group of porcelain bowls which I black slipped and carved. There is the real time killer, carving. I spent better part of a day carving the bowls.

As Calvin would say; “the days are just packed!”.

BIDORO 2

In my opinion there would seem to be very little not to like about wood fired pots. The beauty of bidoro and tombo (no) me in particular are for me, what anagama and noborigama firing is all about. Very few other types of pottery lock a moment in time like the frozen cascade of ash. Ware like Bizen, Shigaraki and Iga speak to me the best, when they are pulled out of the firing kiln (hikidashi) and suspend the action and intent of the potter, clay, glaze and fire.

This cylindrical vase illustrated is by Kojima Kenji and shows the violence and velocity of his Iga anagama. The pot clearly indicates how it was fired and how it was positioned in the kiln. The fluid motion of the molten glass shows off the process and signature style of the potter.

The second anonymous photo is an image a friend sent to me. It clearly shows the convergence of multiple flows of ash that culminate in a group of tombo (no) me hanging off the belly of the pot. If one “kiln tear” is great, what are a group? Unexpected and most welcome……………………..

A NEW CYCLE, A NEW MONTH

I am beginning a new cycle today and will be throwing a group of porcelain and stoneware pieces. The porcelain will mostly be to black slip and carve and the stoneware for a variety of techniques. I carefully plan out what to throw in advance to maximize use of the kiln space. This group will be composed of carved bowls, shallow wall bowls, covered jars and a few teabowls and using bowls.

A new cycle also means needing to make up white and black slips and several glazes. All part and parcel of making pots. I normally clean my wheel and throw the porcelain first and then move on to stoneware to avoid contaminating the porcelain as best I can in a studio that uses porcelain, stoneware and terra cotta. I usually throw the covered pieces last. Not sure why, just out of habit.

This kiln load is all spec work, in other words, no orders for this firing. This gives me a certain flexibility with how I decorate, though I tend to have a set group of styles and unless some new test glaze becomes a game changer, I stick to what I know and like. I am also going to use my old amber glaze (Funky Amber) again for the first time in a while. Following the lead of calcining some of the material in my other glazes, I reworked the FA amber glaze recipe to include calcining and added a pinch more frit and it would seem 99% of the crawling has been eliminated. We will see how it responds in an actual firing on something more than a test cup. I always keep my fingers crossed when it comes to glazing, but first I need to throw, trim and bisque before I can get there.

ANOTHER KILN FIRED

I glazed up and fired off a group of pots last week. The bulk of the kiln was utilitarian plates, serving bowls and the like. However with each group of pots for the kiln, I like to put several tests and new ideas or oddball techniques I have been working on, into the kiln. This usually means smaller pieces, small bottles, vases or teabowls.

I have always loved the works of the abstract expressionists and the spontaneous ink of the Zen calligraphers . Their use of space and line is so perfect, honest and appropriate. So every once and a while, I make some pots that borrow from these idioms. I try to work fast, spontaneously while being conscious of the form. Obviously, some work, some don’t, but the real enjoyment is at the moment you put pigment to pot.

A long while ago, I saw a demo for using a crinkly spring used to “facet” with. After seeing the demo, I took an old cheese cutter and converted it to accept the crinkly spring as its new wire. I have played with the wonderful textures possible from this technique on and off for a good long while. I recently threw a few large teabowls and had at them with the magic cheese cutter. I glazed them up in temmoku and haiyu and ended up with some nice surfaces. It is always nice to pull some oddballs out of the kiln!

WATER BLUE

I have been fascinated by Persian blue glazed pots for a long while. In the Boston MFA, there are a number of great Islamic pots, including some Raqqa wares. The subtly luminescent quality of the glaze is just wonderful and shows off the underglaze work to its best possibility.

I believe I got my first water blue glaze formula from Kirk Mangus or Linda Arbuckle in 1993 and I started working with the glazes and had a show of the first successful works in 1994. I used a fritted egg shell white and a rich red earthenware as my clay bodies. I made larger water jugs, pitchers, serving bowls, teabowls and teapots. I found the glaze just irresistible. Over the years I have continued to play with several “water blue” glazes and have tended to work with small intimate pots.

As a collector, modern pottery in Persian blue glazes are among my favorite. I particularly likes the works of Kato Kenji, Kato Takuo and Matsumoto Saichi. All three work in a style reminiscent of older Islamic pottery with a slightly modern twist. Good modern Persian influenced work is not seen to often, but when you see it you recognize it immediately.

(Large Persian influenced double gourd vase with underglaze black and gold leaf decoration by Matsumoto Saichi. From a private collection.)

GLAZING

So, I had to glaze pots last week, which admittedly is not my favorite thing to do. In preparation to glaze, I also realized I had to make up two of my glazes. It is at times like these that I am glad I have a pottery assistant.

I put in the call and much to my chagrin, I got no response. I called several additional times and finally gave up and decided to make the glazes myself. Hours later I finally found out where my pottery assistant had been for all this time………………………………..














Jun, the Wunder-Kat
(Sorry, it is Monday after all!)

INK CIRCLE

This bold and enigmatic Zen style enso is by the “Bear of Echizen”, Kumano Kuroemon. A potter of tremendous bravado and consummate skill with fire, his equally bold and spontaneous calligraphy is just pure excitement and it adorns most of his boxes for his pottery.

I would like to think his enso is a universe enso and represents all of the cosmos. Like the famous line from William Blake’s AUGERIES OF INNOCENCE, can’t you just imagine all of the universe in a single cup? Especially a cup the size Kumano makes them!

A GOOD BASE

I was recently asked if I had any durable, functional glazes that were good on stoneware at cone 9/10 with the thought of using washes and/or glazes over them. What I came up with is two glazes I have used quite a bit over time and both have proved to be very easy to use and look good with decoration over them.

The first glaze is rather famous and was acquired from Warren MacKenzie when I worked with him back in 1992. It is his famous Oatmeal glaze;

WM OATMEAL Cone 9/10
Talc 7.5
Custer Spar 50
Cal. Ball Clay 21
Kaolin 6
Whiting 7.5
Gerstley Borate 9

First off, I know it does not come up to 100%, just live with it, it works and is a very nice matt glaze that is very forgiving. It looks great with red iron, cobalt and black iron washes over it as well as in conjunction with other glazes.

The second glaze is Sandy’s Gold. I must confess, I don’t know who Sandy is (or was), but the glaze is a smooth buttery glaze that really looks great with washes over or under it. Thank you Sandy.............

SANDY’S GOLD Cone 9/10
Custer Spar 41.8
Whiting 17.5
Kaolin 13
Flint 27
Rutile 4
Red Iron Oxide 4

The pot illustrated is a covered serving bowl with Sandy’s Gold and a thinned cobalt wash over the glaze. The glaze breaks nicely over high points and sharp lines and feels great to the touch.

Though there is a myriad of glazes out there, I choose these two because of their ease of use, adaptability, easy to obtain materials and economy or the materials as well. Overall, two very usable glazes that won’t let a potter down.

DS@CSU

When my wife’s company decided to move her (us) to Cleveland, I had been making pots for over a year and was committed to continuing. Given a tip I called the professor at CSU, Dick Schneider about coming and looking at the facility. He invited me down and the first thing I noticed was the sprawling empire that was the pottery department.

CSU was over 20,000 sq.ft. of space, 3 large Alpine gas kilns, numerous electric kilns, test kilns, wheels everywhere, jolly/jigger equipment, mold making area, slip casting equipment and space for beginning and advanced students. It was a pottery mecca.

Dick was an exceptionally experienced and knowledgable guy. If you could ask it, he could answer it. He had made thrown ware, sculpture, molded ware, gas fired, salt fired, electric fired, this would be a great place to continue learning. I signed up immediately through the continuing education department. His wit and work were engaging and I went from student, to assistant to friend.

If all the world is a stage, CSU certainly personifies that. Besides the normal array of students, there are the advanced students, a rogues gallery. Added to this list is the Continuing Eduction students representing potters looking for a place to work, myself included, to individuals wanting to experience pottery first hand together with the senior citizen brigade who filled out the group. Add to this some real characters like Mike G., Gayle R., John A. and many others and the place was a buzz with every direction and thought process possible. Occasionally John Paolo would come by to do work on the electric kilns. Together Dick and John had more stories than Aesop. It was a great place where the mood was jovial and competitive.

Dick had a corner nook carved out for his private work area in which his wife made pottery as well. Patty made a wide array of highly collected airbrushed thrown and molded ware fired at cone 6 oxidation. In a way, Patty was like a second teacher at CSU as she had started out in stoneware and porcelain and had a vast amount of clay experience. Together, Dick and Patty pushed me away from teabowls and showed me how to make plates & lidded pieces. I was encouraged to try new things, clays, glazes, techniques, ideas, and Dick held my hand through my first attempt at mold making.


Within 6 months at CSU I had become the tech, responsible for firing the kilns, making clay and glazes and generally helping out. Most of the students liked me and I helped a number of them when Dick was gone or too busy. I had a great corner spot to work and access to all the kilns and the variety of temperature ranges the varying students wished to fire too. It was a fertile environment and I learned to use any clay, any glaze and any temperature to make some kind of pottery from Egyptian paste to cone 10 porcelain.

Did I mention one of the perks of CSU? They held sales twice a year that were out of this world. If priced within reason, you could sell everything you could make in a six month period. It was a crazy scene. The doors would open and people would swarm in and collect up large groups of the good, the bad and the ugly. For me, I was able to make back my clay/chemical costs and sell off ideas and directions that I was working toward. It was, simply put, a wonderful time.

Eventually, I knew it was time to move on. I spent about 4 years there and felt it time to set up my own studio with a partner I met at CSU (another long tale that was more than a bit rocky).

To this day, what I still remember fondly about CSU was Dick and his coffee cup that were seldom separated, he was always quick with a story or to tell a joke, but when it came to ceramics, he never steered me wrong.

(Illustrated is a salt fired and fumed large teabowl with amber glaze liner by Dick Schneider from the late 70’s. This is one of my favorite pieces.)

QUARTER HOUR

Every once in a while, I will take a 15 minute block of time to make something I have been thinking about or doodling. The 15 minutes includes; wedging, throwing, addressing, slipping, tooling, the whole shabang from start to finish. The objective is that it doesn’t give me any time to over think or over fuss with the pot.

The pot I just finished is based on a Karatsu vase that I have long admired. It was thrown in 3 lbs. of clay and was then hit with the heat gun, the foot rolled, the pot slipped and combed and then small lugs put on. Certainly not a masterpiece, but it addresses the swiftness that I would like the pot to espouse. I guess after I work on the idea for a while and make a bunch, I can get it to where I want it to go. The reality is that now that I have a stepping stone to work with. I have already started to modify the original design and have “transmogrified” the original idea into a more exaggerated covered form.

Once it gets biqued, I will glaze it in my temmoku and haiyu glazes and if it comes out, will post it up at a later date. Don’t hold your breath……………




(For those not experienced using a heat gun to dry a pot, practice is necessary to get it just right. The use of a heat gun can lead to warping and cracking, so remember, I warned you! Please use you heat gun responsibly and don’t operate heavy machinery or drive while using your heat gun.)