KINUTA

“The beauty of modern art and craft is based on simplicity, clarity and refinement. These are my guiding principles in my everyday creations. “ *

This quote is by Ando Moriyuki (b. 1944) a veteran of the Mino ceramic scene whose works tend to revolve around Oribe ash glazed kairagi (crawling) pottery. Though this is one of his specialties, he also is well versed in traditional Shino, Oribe, Ki-Seto and ash glazed wares. His forms are rather diverse, making everything from tea utensils to large bowl forms and is well know for his highest level faceted bowls and open tsubo which have been exhibited at several national craft exhibits.

Illustrated is a pot that adheres to Ando’s precepts in regards to making pottery. This vase is a simple and noble kinuta mallet form with Ando’s Oribe style haiyu-kairagi glaze which has been fired in a wood kiln. Despite the simplicity of form, the faceted planes together with the highly active surface make for a very complex vessel, one that gives the viewer a lot to take in and even more to think about. There certainly is a lot to be said for simplicity, clarity and refinement. (*Quoted from MINO; 30 Anniversary DMCAA)

THIS IS MY BUSY DAY

“Time cuts down all, both great and small.” (Anon.)

Today was one of those days, too many tasks and too little time. Making up several slips, trimming some teabowls, slipping those teabowls, throwing a group of Ming style bowls, a quick lunch with the wife, throwing several jars and lids, reading and sending emails, packing up two pots, taking pictures and the day is gone. For today, 36000 seconds ticked away as another work day comes to its end. There were things yet to do, two glazes to make up, several test glazes as well, they will just have to wait.

Today was my busy day. I have little doubt, tomorrow will be the same.

QUICK WATSON!

So every once and a while, the whole pottery thing just needs to throw out a curve ball, today was that day. Juggling chemistry, alchemy and the duties of Sherlock Holmes, coming up with glazes and even simple glazing has a way of going sideways. By looking at the illustration, you can see something is just not right and is certainly not going in the kiln.

So, here is what I know, the glaze in question is a test glaze, made up as a phase two test (1000 grams) about a month or so ago. I had already glazed 4 or 5 yunomi in this exact glaze and fired it in a low-fire, slip ware firing, again, about a month ago. Fast forward to this morning, I decided to glaze up the test yunomi I threw last week, using the same clay and slips I have been using for years. The test glaze in question, stored in an airtight container, is mixed up and I dip three yunomi in the glaze. Minutes later, the crackling appears on the glaze and some pieces of glaze even peel off. The last time I saw this happen was back at CSU when a student was mixing up small batches of test glazes and forgot the main ingredient.

As I mentioned, this glaze has already performed well in the last firing and there are absolutely no variables. So what gives? The formula is primarily three main ingredients; 3110 frit, kaolin and flint and I am somewhat stumped. I once had someone, I forget who, suggest this was a possible electrolytic reaction, but I dismissed this as my science background is somewhat murky and lacking. This formula is an original “book recipe” and now you can see why I tend to steer clear of those. It worked one minute and not one month later.

I would welcome any input or thoughts or similar situations and pending further “clues”, I am going to make up another 50 gram batch and test it in this firing and then will try to test it again in a month. Maybe it expired? I have seen recipes that say; “use as soon as you make it up”, but I have never had a glaze with an expiration date! In fact, I have reconstituted glazes that were dried out and rock hard for as long as 5 years and they worked perfectly fine.

All in all, just another typical pottery Monday.

ROLLING HILLS

When I first started seriously studying Japanese art, I was instantly taken by the presence and baring of the Raku wares of Hon’ami Koetsu (1558-1637) and Raku Chojiro (?-1592). Over time I made every attempt to see and study the mainline Raku pieces which included several trips to see Raku Kichizaemon XV and the Raku Museum. What really fascinated me about these early masterpieces was the posture of the bowls and the undulating termination of the lip. As a burgeoning potter, I made various attempts to create a roving lip, reminiscent of roving hills through various means of removing clay, or throwing an irregular lip. The sheer simplicity of appearance is easily shattered as you try this for yourself.

Several years later, I found the answer to my lip conundrum in the oddest of places, a print gallery. At a show of prints (circa 1994), I was captivated by the vibrant, lush green mezzotints of rolling hills and meadows by Honda Kazuhisa (b. 1948). The way in which he layered his rolling hills gave me the idea to alter the lips on my teabowls. It seemed an odd place to find an answer to a pottery question, but by studying a variety of his prints, I could see the soft rolling hills transplanted to the lip of my bowl.

In time, the bowl shape itself has evolved to a simple and broad form, resembling a brandy snifter, prior to altering it. The lip is cut and smoothed with the body of the bowl being pushed slightly oval to present a broader face to the user, creating a good surface to drink from. This allows the bowl to be used from the intended front or the back. In the end, the bowl reminds me of a freshly harvested melon, cut open and enjoyed in the field. The soft curves of the bowl are a visual mobius loop, bringing the viewer’s eye round the bowl until it plunges into the form.

The first illustrated teabowl came out of my 2/24/11 firing and is glazed in my temmoku and partridge feather glaze and was applied to match and accentuate the curves of the lip. The above teabowl was made sometime last fall and is glazed in my haiyu glaze over a kushime decoration.

UTILITY?

“In the old days people didn’t worry about how a pot looked,” said Sataro-san. “They didn’t worry about if it was black or brown, as long as you could use it. In the old days kuromon was made for you or me, for everyone! Now people (ie; potters) want to make fancy pots – modern pottery – I don’t understand it.”

I have thought about this comment from the Leila Philip book, THE ROAD THROUGH MIYAMA, for quite a while. Over time, I have come to understand that with the industrial revolution, the art of the hand made has changed to aesthetic consideration first, utility second. With the mechanized creation of pottery, many considerations that were a priori are now outdated, even anachronistic. The advent of the “art potter” has driven most potters to create work that defines them and calls out for individual attention and distinction. As the necessity of utility has been stripped away, a potter could stretch his wings and push the horizons of the possible. This may be both the positive and negative aspects of making pottery in the modern age.

“Art is the most intense mode of individualism that the world has known.”
Oscar Wilde

(Illustrated is a pierced Oribe influenced fruit bowl that I threw and glazed in my medieval green glaze.)

IT’S ALL IN THE ATTITUDE II

Illustrated is gestural medieval meets modern Shigaraki chawan by Oda Minoru. It contrasts greatly against the mizusashi by him (from another blog entry) that is primarily hi-iro coloring. This chawan has a wonderfully measured stance and attitude and is coated in ash on the face and back wall of the piece. The firing has darkened the pot to a rich chocolaty brown with a wet (uroi) sheen about the form.

It is the casual attitude of this pot that really interests me. It appears to have just happened and rests very loosely on the foot like a pedestal. The attitude of the chawan just begs to be handled without any ritual or formality, the sense of touch completing its purpose. Good Shigaraki and Iga wares just defy time and many seem that they could have been made centuries ago or speaking out at this present moment.

IPTV; THROWING A HIGH WALLED TEABOWL

Here is another quick video of me throwing a high walled, tsutsu-gata style teabowl off the hump, using less than 2 pounds;

NOT POTTERY RELATED HUMOR

Here is a little bit of humor for St. Patrick's Day. Not 100% appropriate, but I have always found it 100% funny;

A WEE BIT-O-GREEN

Having grown up in a town with three large industrial plants, a large air force base and a state university, Plattsburgh, NY was always a festive place on St. Patrick’s Day. In my youth, I imagined Plattsburgh on March 17th to be like a smaller version of Mardi gras and even Playboy magazine agreed, naming Plattsburgh as one of the places to be on that day of green beer and unbridled debauchery all in the name of an Irish saint. Though neither my wife nor I are Irish, we have taken the day to heart and now celebrate it in a somewhat sedate way with a few Irish beers and a retelling of that classic John Ford film, THE QUIET MAN (1952).

Illustrated to honor the traditional green of St. Patrick’s Day is an Oribe chawan by one of the best potters to embrace the Momoyama revival, Suzuki Goro. This large wonky chawan has broad areas of Oribe green glaze splashed over the surface and embodies the meeting of the old and the new. Suzuki Goro is a master of various styles of Oribe as well as Ki-Seto, Seto-Guro and Shino. His ability to present such a happenstance style chawan belies the great skill it takes to manipulate a piece in such a naturalistic manner. For pottery lovers, maybe it really is a “pot” (like this chawan) at the end of the rainbow………..

(A large number and variety of Suzuki Goro’s works can be seen on David Callens’ website;

http://www.trocadero.com/Dabido/catalog.html

Just type in “Suzuki Goro” for a search.)

A STARTING POINT

When I first started in ceramics back in the days of the alchemists, there was very little to go on if one was determined to make traditionally influenced Japanese style glazes. There were scattered articles and a few books (thank you Nigel Wood, Robert Tichane and Joseph Grebanier) but the place that really got me started was a Ceramics Monthly (2/1977) article entitled; JAPANESE ASH GLAZES by Sasaki Hiroshi. Early on, I used his formulas as the basis for my experiments and with testing, trial & error and altering the formulas; I was able to come up with a nice haiyu ash glaze, a great Oribe, a traditional Shino and a nice Ki-Seto as well.

Please bear in mind, from my perspective these formulas are starting points and after initial testing, you can make judgments as to how to proceed. I also tested most of these glazes between Cone 7 and Cone 10 and also fired them in both neutral and reduction atmosphere. Lastly, once you find a rice straw source to make your ash, it is possible to experiment and come up with a very serviceable nuka-yu glaze.

DOBAI-YU
Wood ash 30 to 50 parts
Feldspar 70 parts

AME-YU
Wood ash 60
Rice straw ash 10
Feldspar 30

BIDORO-YU
Wood ash 40
Feldspar 60
Zinc 5

ORIBE-YU
Wood ash 50
Feldspar 50
Copper ox. 4

KI-SETO-YU
Wood ash 50
Rice straw ash 10
Feldspar 40
Red Iron Ox. 1 to 2%

(a little pinch of CMC in all the glazes helps with adhesion and is recommended)

Illustrated is the interior of a teabowl with an altered bidoro-yu over a Shino glaze. This particular version always produces nice green glass pools on the interior and runny drips (tombo-me) on the exterior.