NI-GETSU

There are a variety of reasons why people like Shigaraki wood fired pottery. In my mind, a unique beauty of Shigaraki pottery is the interaction between the tsuchi-aji (clay flavor) and the hi-iro fire coloring. The tsuchi-aji stands as a testament to where a pot was made and in most cases how it was fired.

The illustrated piece is a Shigaraki chawan by veteran potter Kon Chiharu of Niigata. Kon studied with one of the preeminent Shigaraki style potters of the 20th century; Tsuji Seimei and despite his location, his anagama fired works are Shigaraki through and through.

This chawan has wonderful hi-iro fire color encapsulating the two “moons” (Ni-Getsu) where wads separated pots from one another. The potter's throwing rhythm entice the eye to the seductive lip peppered in ash, and then into the bowl’s wet (uroi) interior. Overall, this chawan is the personification of tsuchi-aji.

More information and pictures of this chawan can be seen on my other website;

http://www.trocadero.com/albedo3studio/items/998387/item998387store.html#item

RIPPLES

I spent the better part of today, and several days last week, working on various glaze tests. I have been trying to get a specific surface for some time and in the testing phase, I can get it to work on pods, rings and small test cups. As soon as I graduate to teabowls or bigger, everything just goes south. From this testing I have managed to develop a very nice matt glaze, as well as a very nice water blue Persian at high temp. Not sure what I will do with them yet, but the testing continues. I am also working with a very refractory red iron glaze and I am using it on a variety of base glazes to see what results may come. I should have studied chemistry instead of history/art history.

All this testing reminds me of one of my favorite bowls. It is a “simple” lobed teabowl with a Seto ash style glaze over stoneware by Bill Klock. Most likely this glaze originated at the Leach pottery, but the simple nature of the bowl in terms of throwing, form and glaze has always resonated with me. As a modern potter, I am constantly looking for surfaces that “speak” while remaining mostly quiet and true to the form. This great Klock chawan does that and is a constant reminder of what I am looking for as potter and collector alike as its ripples influence my work and our environment every day.

USAGI-ZU SUITEKI

One last rabbit themed post to usher in the first full week of the year of the rabbit. This great little suiteki (water dropper) was acquired at the famous To-ji flea market in Kyoto. This suiteki has a thin white slip over the stoneware clay with an underglaze blue decorated rabbit under a clear glaze most likely made from ash. The piece is definitely 20th century and appears to be made in Kyushu, either Karatsu or Hagi, though there always is the Asahi (Matsubayashi Hosai) school right near Kyoto! Where ever it hails from, you have to appreciate the direct and fleet style of decoration on an everyday utilitarian pot.

USAGI-ZU

Does anyone remember the cinematic masterpiece; NIGHT OF THE LEPUS, an invasion of giant rabbits? Really how terrifying are rabbits and what’s next, giant ants? Segway to the year of the rabbit, 2011, early on while studying art history and world ceramics, I realized how pervasive they were as design elements in art and ceramics specifically. From east to west, from Mimbres and Delftware to Arita and Kakeimon, the rabbit has found his place in the pottery world.

When I started making pots, I had been studying art history for well over a decade and infuse the mythical lunar hare together with the central character of Usagi Yojimbo and it was only natural for me to use the rabbit as a decorative element. My use of the rabbit first found its way onto my early slipware and majolica, followed by brushed Karatsu influenced designs and finally carved into slip. The rabbit form is easily adaptable to a myriad of forms articulated as lean and long or full and rounded. Currently I make a variety of carved terra cotta pieces with various rabbit forms to decorate my work from plate and bowl to covered jars and teapots.

Illustrated is a 14” terra cotta bowl where I carved through a black slip to expose the rich red clay. Inspired by the three musketeers the roam our property and very craftily elude the nesting redtail hawks and fox that constantly prowl from the tree line. The year of the rabbit (2011), may just be a good year to make more rabbit decorated pots……………….

A GIANT HAS PASSED

A giant in the pottery field has left us; Paul Soldner, age 89, died yesterday, 1/3/2011.

May he find piece with all those potters who have already left us................

LUCKY WABBIT

What could possibly be more fitting than this rabbit & friend plate for the New Year, the year of the rabbit? This red earthenware plate is by one of the great graphic artists of the American pottery scene, Ron Meyers. I have posted previously about Meyers pottery techniques, but let it suffice to say, based on the rabbit’s expression, he is one lucky wabbit……………….

(Used with kind permission of the owner)

HAPPY NEW YEAR

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL!

From Craig, Mindy and Jun

WAITING ON THE PERFECT

As a collector and a student of pottery, in the broadest sense, I am constantly looking for the perfect piece. Though I know each individual measures the perfect object differently, we all do have those measures both consciously and sub-consciously at work each time we view an object. Another necessary factor at play, while pursuing the perfect, is the budget. Trying to acquire those pots that meet a certain standard, have a meaningful dialogue and fitting a budget are all parts of the puzzle.

My wife and I collect as a democracy and both approach the decision making from almost opposite ends, but there is one thing that we both agree on. It is far better to collect a great piece by a good potter than a good piece by a great potter. One exceeds his daily talents and the other falls short of his potential. In living with objects, we are constantly searching for pieces that complement our environment and are not necessarily redundant of what we already live with. This makes for a constant vetting process and we are constantly switching out the pieces on display, acquiring new pieces and letting other pots go on to new homes.

Quite recently, we encountered a chawan; high up on our, well mostly my, hit list. We have a mental list of a few pots we are on the lookout for and this piece seemed to fit the bill. At first glance there is that initial excitement, then the mental triggers kick in and the critical decision making comes in to play. The form was okay but not great, the lip and mikomi were not as well addressed as we would have liked, the surface seemed fussed with, the foot was just a bit atypical and the interior was soiled from some use. I know you are thinking, how could this chawan have even been on the radar? The faults I mention are not really that obvious, unless you take the bowl to task against other examples by the potter. In the end, it was obviously just not the right pot. Our long wait would just have to get longer.

Acquiring objects to enrich ones lives and environment is an ancient pass time going back to the time of the ancient Greeks and Egyptians. It would seem to be part of many psyches and in fact, may date back to prehistoric man. Surrounding ourselves with objects of spirit and comfort just seems natural. I am sure there is some deep seeded psychological reason why [we] collect, but as long as I remember that I collect to live with the object(s) and not for them, I think all will be fine.

NEW FORM FOR A NEW YEAR

A while back I was asked to make a mizusashi for a New Year’s Tea Ceremony. The tea practitioner that was commissioning the piece had several very specific parameters that I had to work within. Size, form, glazes were the strictest requirements, together with the fact that the piece was to have a formal attitude and needed to “go with” the rest of his tea pieces (chadogu).

I made a number of sketches of things I thought would work within his requirements, some based on older designs, some that were evolving newer ideas and some I had never worked with before. He chose a form based on works I am currently working with and with some modifications, he approved the idea. I moved on to the prototype next, seen in the photos. It is loosely based on my interpretation of a Kawai Kanjiro façade to one of his henko forms. The glazing on the prototype was to be simple to show the form off to its best. The gallery was glazed as the mizusashi was to have a ceramic lid and a lacquer lid. I made this prototype with two different ceramic lids.

After the piece was fired, I showed it to the collector and he really liked the piece. I threw another, it was later glazed as he requested and fired in my last glaze fire. It came out exactly as he wanted and we narrowly got a lacquer lid back from Japan in time. It will be used for his first tea ceremony of 2011 and I was very happy to assist in the project and look forward to some pictures.

Illustrated is the prototype mizusashi with recessed lid and glazed in my medieval green and temmoku glazes. The chawan is a severely paddled haiyu glazed piece similar to the one he will be using. The second picture shows how recessed the lid is.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS

Happy Holidays and Season's Greetings to all!