A LONG TIME COMING

A normal cycle for making pottery, a bisque and a glaze fire usually runs about 3 weeks or so. When I started the current cycle, I thought I would make a few handbuilt pieces, throws some jars, vases, bowls and teabowls and that would make for a quick turn around. As you know, the “best-laid plans” often times don’t work out the way you expected. From the beginning the constant rain, humidity and heat made the drying very slow, so it gave me more time to throw just another pot or two for a small order here and there all prolonging the drying that much more.

I finally drew a line in the sand and decided I had to stop throwing yet more pots. I set about making up small batches of 4 different glazes to top off my glaze buckets. Then a small order had to be packed up, and another and a third and forth and lastly a bigger order as well as a package to a friend and some moments spared to write a bit here and there as well. Now more time has gotten away from me, time really does fly. Add to the misc. stuff around the studio and home, a routine dental appointment, several days down for July 4th and then several days in line waiting for the new Harry Potter movie, oh wait, that wasn’t me, I had better things to do, and another week is gone by. I finally got back to the pots and sanded and prepped them for the bisque which will probably be off by the time this is posted. Tuesday and Wedsday will be those days I truly love, glazing. Unloading the bisque, cleaning, prepping, waxing, dipping, dunking, drying, cleaning and load the glaze kiln, two more days added to the total. Hopefully, baring any additional interruptions or unforeseen occurrences and I will fire the glaze kiln on Thursday bringing to a close one of the longest cycles in recent memory. I am not sure if it is just a summer pace or life corrupting plans made prior, but either way, I will be very happy to complete this firing and move on to another cycle which, no doubt, will probably take just as long……………….

“Time is the wisest of all counselors.” Plutarch

ALL THAT GLITTERS

Despite the fact that my tastes tend toward the wood fired classics and classical stoneware tea wares of Japan, there is room for iro-e, seiji, seihakuji, kutani, kinrande and many other styles. Among these other styles that we love, is the kinsai (underglaze gold) technique re-pioneered by Ningen Kokuho, Kato Hajime. His use of this technique was wonderful and lyrical in its presentation and it is that sense that he handed off to one of his students, Ono Hakuko (1915-1996). All that glitters is not gold, but in this case, it actually is, pure gold under the glaze.

Ono Hakuko not only learned the technique from her mentor, but decidedly made it her own in how she made use of it in bold geometric patterns as well as delicate foliage and naturalistic patterning. Well known for her large circular pattern as well as birds and triangular designs, Ono made excellent use of not on the technique but its integration with the porcelain clay body and use of Persian blue, green and golden yellow glazes. She was rewarded for her exceptional body of work and addition to the style with the prestigious Japan Ceramics Society Prize in 1980. In turn, Ono Hakuko passed this demanding technique on to her son, Ono Jiro, who has not only mastered the kinrande process, but he has also added to the possibilities.

Illustrated is a wan-gata style chawan by Ono Hakuko. This jiki, porcelain chawan has a Persian blue style glaze over the underglaze gold which is composed of large bold geometric areas with fine lines separating the monolithic shapes. To see her work in person is of course the best way to enjoy them. The underglaze gold creates a luminance that shines from within the glaze and makes the spirit of the bowl come alive. In this achievement, Ono Hakuko is unrivaled.

MOSTLY BLACK & WHITE

Having worked with a number of potters and at different locations has a large number of advantages. In essence, you learn all along the way and pick up neat tricks and glazes as you go. What you do with these new techniques and surfaces is up to you. Over time, you can process this input by putting it into a blender and out comes something different than it was when you first picked it up.


Illustrated is a large, about 24” platter made of stoneware that combines a number of influences. The crackle slip comes from Randy Johnston, via Warren MacKenzie, the ash glaze over the slip is from Kirk Mangus and the vivid black overglaze cames from Warren as well. The decoration comes from years of studying and absorbing Zen ink paintings, especially from Nakahara Nantembo (1839-1925). Though I relied on a variety of sources, the platter comes together as something that I have to say. Using what has come before to create something original is the best that I can ask for.

IPTV; SHORT BUT SWEET

When I think about the giants of Japanese pottery of the 20th century, there are a number of potters who spring to mind, however the ones who always top my list are Shoji Hamada, Kawai Kanjiro, Okabe Mineo, Kato Tokuro and certainly not the least of which is Arakawa Toyozo. I was lucky enough to see my first Arakawa chawan back in 1982 and over the years have seen and handled a number of his works. Despite the seeming simplicity of his pottery, there is a combination of timelessness, elegance, brilliance and power all infused into his works. His mastery of Seto-Guro, Shino and Ki-Seto is made all the more remarkable as he pioneered the clay, glazes and firings that had almost entirely disappeared from Japan. It is thorough his remarkable artistic and creative genius that these arts have made such a dramatic comeback.

For my 200th post, I am putting up a very short but sweet video exerpt from an older National Geographic special that I first saw on PBS Television, it was entitled; LIVING TREASURES OF JAPAN. At the time I saw it, I had recently met with Ningen Kokuho swordsmith, Gassan Sadaichi (Sadakazu) so the segments on him and Arakawa Toyozo were of extreme interest. As I mentioned, this is short, but I hope it is as fascinating to you as it has been to me for all these years.

BOOK LEARNING

“ ‘I want to learn about pottery. What book should I read?’ I am sometimes asked. ‘I want to see a pretty girl, what book should I read?’ That’s what the Zen monk Sengai (1750-1837) would retort if he were alive.” Kitaoji Rosanjin (1883-1959)

I have often found this quote by Rosanjin particularly interesting. In over two decades of making pots, I have been asked that question more times than I care to recount, but the irony is that was the very same question I asked many years back. While engaged in writing an article on modern Japanese pottery, I met with Bill Klock and one of the first questions I asked was; “what book should I read to learn how pottery is made?”. Though Bill is not Rosanjin, he simply smiled and replied; “all of them”. With a grin still on his face, he suggested I come down and get my bearings by watching people make pots and trying it out myself. I am still not sure if going to the pottery studio for that first time was a good idea or not. The verdict is still not in.

ONKO-CHISHIN

“In a modern world, I am seeking for a work which creates tranquility and can suggest Wabi and Sabi. Mino has the wonderful Shino tradition handed down by our ancestors, I would like to continue progressing in daily life with the ceedo; ‘Look at the old to learn the new’. “ Yamada Seiji

Illustrated is a classic Momoyama influenced Shino chawan by Mino veteran potter; Yamada Seiji (b.1932). The form, glaze quality, sparse and fluid decoration and wonderful kodai make for a splendid statement about modern Shino which takes its cues from the Momoyama archetype.

More pictures of this chawan can be seen here;
http://www.trocadero.com/albedo3studio/items/1087584/item1087584store.html#item

A short video of this chawan can be seen here;

LIBERTY

“What light is to the eyes- what air is to the lungs- what love is to the heart, liberty is to the soul of man.”     Robert Green Ingersoll (1833-1899)

THE FIRST

I recently encountered a teabowl that took me way back to the very beginning of our chawan history, as they say; you never forget your first. Back in the early 1980’s my wife’s work kept her going back and forth from upstate New York to Cleveland and on many of the trips, I would accompany her. We were fortunate to meet Mitzie Verne (grandmother of actor James Franco!) on one of our trips and while my wife worked, I was invited over to the Mitzie Verne Collection of Cleveland at the time still located at her home. Her house was a treasure trove of object from her numerous travels as well as Japanese prints, paintings and pottery for sale. Despite the sensory overload, the best part of the visits was always Mitzie’s charm and infectious sense of humor. One this one fatefull visit, Mitzie showed me a wonderful large boxed kakejiku scroll and a great chawan. Despite the fact that we could barely keep our heads above water as it was, we bought both. The scroll was by Tessai, a famous painter with unimpeachable provenance and the chawan was by Takahashi Wasaburo. What I had succeeded in doing was to buy our very first, honest to goodness Japanese chawan. It may seem like no big deal now, but back then, there was no internet and no easy access to modern Japanese ceramics, short of treks to NY City or Japan. The hunt was always filled with phone descriptions and even poorer Polaroids!

Illustrated is the very first chawan we ever collected and we actually still own it. It never ceases to engage me and the dialogue a bit more mature than when I first obtained it. The chawan is by Takahashi Wasaburo (b. 1948) who studied with Ueda Naokata IV and Ningen Kokuho, Shimizu Uichi. This chawan was wood fired and is a really deep and intense seiji glaze with splashes of rich iron splashed around the surface. This chawan shows the influence of Shimizu and the shape feels wonderful in the hand and my eye always sees something new even after 25+ years. I am glad it has decided to stick around.

LEAVING WELL ENOUGH ALONE

When I start using a new glaze, I am constantly trying to figure out its limits and limitations. By pushing the glaze I can get differing surfaces, running qualities and sometimes a glaze that bares no resemblance to the original. Maybe it is the wannabe alchemist in me that makes testing, retesting and altering what already works an enjoyable part of making pots.

Taking a minor cue from Tsukigata Nahiko, I have been playing with the iron content and thickness in the glaze that started out as my “new” partridge feather glaze. As I have nudged it a bit, here and there, I have been seeing a new glaze quality periodically that resembles some modern Tamba pottery. In my most recent firing, I glazed a severely paddled teabowl in my temmoku and tetsu-yu glazes and the illustrated bowl is the result. It is a really nice mixture of runny ash and iron intermingled in the one glaze. I wonder why I just can’t leave well enough alone, but the real question is why would I want to, it is just not in my nature.

“There is only one thing stronger than all the armies in the world, and that is an idea whose time has come.” Victor Hugo

AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT

I am constantly sketching out ideas and filling folders with ideas for pots, surfaces and decoration. Over the time period of making pots, I am afraid I am probably responsible for the single handed eradication of a tree with all the “scrap” paper I have used for these sketches. Despite the fact that I will not live long enough to persue all of these ideas, or even want to, periodically I flip open a folder and decide to make something that is out of the norm and not as comfortable as just throwing a pot.

This weekend, flipping open the folder, it opened up to a series of sketches of slab built bottle forms. So without thinking it through, I went down Sunday afternoon and rolled out slabs for a Monday build-a-thon. I set about cutting slabs to a form I had sketched out and set about building several bottles. I should interject here that I am not a great hand-builder by any means and the process is slow, tiring and wrought with problems along the way. After a full day of working and trying to set the lines of the piece to something akin to straight and even, I end up with two bottles with thrown necks. The larger bottle, illustrated, is about 18” tall and what I didn’t take into consideration was how to glaze them. The bottles ended up much wider than my current glaze buckets. Should have stopped, smelled the coffee and thought this one through to its conclusion.

In the time I built these, I could have easily thrown a dozen pots or more. Now remind me please, what was my motivation?