HOPELESSLY INFLUENCED

Ever so often I think back to all those years in front of the TV looking for forms to “recreate”. One of the shows that was a constant influence was the genie’s bottle from I DREAM OF JEANNIE (1965-1970). It has a definte graceful form and scale and the fact that Barbara Eden lived inside, didn’t hurt my recollection of the bottle either. Since I began making pottery, the genie bottle has worked its way into my vocabulary of forms, from the near identical copy to bottles loosely based on the idea.

Illustrated is a recent genie’s bottle form, about 13” tall with a series of rings around the form and decorated in my temmoku and medieval green glazes. Where the sharp angles are created, the glaze pools around the mouth and body forming think green glass, very much like bidoro. As far as my pottery goes, quite a bit of my work is hopelessly influenced by television and movies with a keen interest in turning the 2-dimensional images into 3-D reality.

ROZOME

It has been a while since I have worked in the style I refer to as rozome. I tend to go off with something new and many times, forget the established style until an order, inquiry or commission comes my way. Now for those wondering why I use the term rozome, mostly associated with wax resisted fabrics that was actually where the idea came from many years back while strolling the streets of Kyoto. We saw an exhibit and demonstration of rozome and I was immediately drawn to the directness and immediacy of the process. The actual term for wax resist on ceramics is ronuki, of which Kawai Kanjiro was the undisputed master of the 20th century. The other reason I have stuck with the term rozome is that once the wax is applied, the “background” color is then applied, much the way in which I work; this is applied to the raw clay with slips and wax allowing the heat of the bique kiln to remove the wax. I know the same can be said for ronuki as well. In the end, toe-may-toes, toe-mah-toes.

Illustrated is a stoneware rozome influenced jar and shallow wall bowl both with spirali e tagli designs under my medieval green glaze.

THE ROCK ON IPTV

For those that have not seen the documentary, THE ROCK OF ST IVES, here it is, in three parts posted up on Youtube. Though certainly not in HD, the grainy video, often with poor sound is still an outstanding testament to Bernard Leach and the movement around him including footage of Hamada Shoji, Michael Cardew and David Leach. Well worth a watch and a great insight into a potter and pottery of the period.

THAT INCURABLE SPARK

“Book collecting is an obsession, a disease, an addiction, a fascination, an absurdity, a fate. It is not a hobby. Those that do it, must do it.” Jeanette Winterson (b. 1959)

I have been fascinated with this quote by acclaimed British writer, Jeanette Winterson. It is an insightful and very accurate perspective of the psyche of a collector, not necessarily a book collector, but any collector who has that spark, a passion for what objects they surround their lives with to nourish the mind and spirit. For me, this quote could have started out by saying; “Pottery collecting”. Over time, making pottery and living with pots has become an obsession and this obsession does not necessarily bow to reason or logic, it is an incurable spark. The owning of pots is not for me the end all of the obsession, rather it is wanting those specific pots around to study, to learn from, to converse with and maintain a meaningful dialogue with. Living with pots is the important part, the ownership is secondary as no one can really own anything, at some point, it gets passed along. It is the time you spend with these objects and what they do to help you maintain a truer path in life that is important and each and every successive owner will learn their own lessons from each object they enter into the dialogue with.

Illustrated is a large, O-Tsubo by Karatsu veteran potter, Nakatsuka Takaya. Tell me, what is not to be obsessed with?

BACKFIELD IN MOTION

I like Bizen pottery, probably as much as the next guy, but the one thing about it is at a certain level, much of the pottery looks about the same. Much of Bizen appears to be the same forms, same surfaces with very little to distinguish it from other potters and kilns. Enter a select group of Bizen potters who never fail to disappoint or impress with their exceptional knowledge of firing, wonderful forms and great and varied surfaces. One potter who fit into this group was Ningen Kokuho Fujiwara Yu (1932-2001). Though a lot of his work is on the very pragmatic end of Bizen-yaki, Fujiwara Yu is best known for his well fired tsubo and hanaire, some of which have withstood the extreme crucible of wood firing.

Illustrated is a truly exceptional hanaire by Fujiwara Yu. The surface is alive baring witness to the extremities of the firing; the ash is suspended in motion as if someone just hit the pause function on the remote. Obviously fired on its belly, the botamochi areas are surrounded by liquid tamadare runs, some ending in monumental drips of vitrous brown glass. All in all, a rather totemic form with a surface any collector or potter would be more than happy with.

HAPPY THANKS GIVING

I just wanted to say Happy Thanksgiving to everyone out there. I know we (my wife and I) have much to be thankful for, thankful for work, family, friends, pottery and so much more. Also, thank you for visiting my blog. Any thoughts or input is always appreciated.


If you are taking a break from stuffing yourself to the limit, the following “editorial” is worth a read. It comes from potter, Michael Kline’s blog and is a look into a simpatico viewpoint about the “state of simplicity” (copyright!) by veteran potter, Don Pilcher;

http://michaelklinepottery.blogspot.com/2011/10/put-in-my-place.html



Illustrated is asteroid YU55 which recently passed between the Earth and the Moon. In celestial terms, this 1300 ft chunk narrowly missed the Earth through no lack of trying on the part of Klendathu. Despite assurances of astronomers, scientists and news casters (yes, you Brian Williams), I am exceedingly thankful that it missed our little planet.

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.

TIME OF YEAR

I just finished packing a commissioned personalized “utensil jar” with the name of the soon to be owner on it. Personalizing, is one of the advantages of the carved slip or black & white slip trailed work. Once this piece is mailed out tomorrow, I am completely caught up with commissions and orders for the holiday season. Last Friday was the trek to CT to deliver work out to Wesleyan Potters (and to Nick’s a cheeseburger/onion rings) and last Saturday to Syracuse to drop off work at Eureka Crafts and to pick up some clay supplies at Clayscapes. Over the past several weeks, with trips to the post office and UPS, I have either hand delivered or shipped out quite a bit of work for holiday shows, gallery orders or individual orders and commissions. There may still be some odds and ends to finish, but from past experience, mostly smaller pieces (in terra cotta) to contend with, though I do remember a year where on Nov. 21st, I received an order for dinnerware, place settings for eight. Dinner plates, luncheon plates, soup bowls and handled mugs, all in painted terra cotta and needed to arrive before Christmas, that was fun.

Though it feels rather good to be all caught up, this is the period that happens every year in Dec. and Jan., the down time. This is not to say I am not making pots, though the first week usually revolves around cleaning the studio and doing a comprehensive inventory of materials and other supplies. As winter closes in on central NY state (we received about 6” of snow today!), it is important to get any materials I may need that can freeze and freezing temperatures are just around the corner hear. The studio management can only last so long and then back to working on tests and throwing, starting slow with teabowls and moving on to covered jars, teapots and plates. I may be finished with my orders and commissions, but based on the volume of sketches and notes, I am hardly done with what I want to make. Maybe in a lifetime of two, I can finish of what I have yet to do. Iguess the down time doesn’t have much “down” in it, after all.

On a side note, now through Dec. 25 I am offering a 20% discount on any pots made by me (mostly in the #4000 series) on my Trocadero marketplace. Please come by and take a look;

http://www.trocadero.com/albedo3studio/catalog.html

Illustrated is a carved black slip porcelain bowl with a modified bloesem design.

“I feel the greatest reward for doing is the opportunity to do more.” Jonas Salk (1914-1995)

PERFECTION

It is amazing to me that the concept of perfection could be such a broad and nefarious concept that for modern pottery, it could encompass the beautiful porcelain works of a Brother Thomas and the intentionally distorted and even misshapen works of Arakawa Toyozo. How is this possible? Over time, I have come to terms with finding perfection in objects that seem diametrically opposed, but at a conceptual sub-atomic level, in fact have much more in common that it would seem. Both ends of this perfection have spent their lives pursuing the pinnacle of their vision, the one making objects based on recognized archetypes of the classical realm, the other to create objects of organic, contemplative beauty born of the Momoyama era. One may find perfection in the intellect, while the other defines its perfection through emotion. Has either of these failed to reach the lofty perfection of their craft (art)? At either end, it is the refinement of the spirit of these pots that ultimately defines their perfection.


“If a man should happen to reach perfection in this world, he would have to die immediately to enjoy himself.” Josh Billings (Henry Wheeler Shaw 1818-1885)

IPOMOEA NIL

Illustrated is a very Rimpa influenced scroll painting and a pottery platter (hachi) by noted potter Wakao Toshisada (b.1933). Born and working in Tajimi, Gifu Prefecture, Toshisada is one of the truly gifted Mino tradition potters and is exceptionally well known for his Rimpa inspired Shino pottery, a style that goes back to the days of Honami Ko’etsu (1558-1637, Tawaraya Sotatsu (d. 1643?), Ogata Kenzan (1163-1743) and his brother Korin (1658-1716). The water color scroll of a Japanese morning glory (ipomoea nil) is reminiscent of paintings by Sakai Hoitsu (1761-1828) and his student Suzuki Kiitsu (1766-1858) who is particularly well known for his rendition of morning glories. Though it evokes comparisons to older paintings, anyone familiar with his work can see his hand in the portrayal and in the way the image fills the frame of the scroll as if he was thinking of it as a tray or platter.

This illustration of a ceramic hachi by Wakao shows how closely his paintings and pottery go hand in hand. This vivid Rimpa tray is glazed primarily in Nezumi-Shino with areas of iron slip showing through the glaze and painted gold accents to bring the design to life. It is truly wonderful to be able to see the scroll and pot side by side and get a glimpse into a potter’s creative process. Toshisada’s works are an exceptional addition to the Mino tradition and help usher the Rimpa pottery tradition well into the 21st century.