A SIMPLE LINE

I have always been amazed how a simple line, mark, cut or throwing gesture can alter the entire perspective of a pot. With or without these additions, a pot can either sink or swim and in some cases, it is the casualness of a line that elevates a pot to greatness. The issue with any of these additions to a pot is that they need to be natural and not fussed over and certainly not seemed contrived or superfluous. I can think of a great many potters who have proven track records for their additions to a pot, but potters like Hamada Shoji and Kawai Kanjiro are certainly at the top of the list.

Sometimes it is not the addition of a mark or a line that articulates a pot, sometimes it is what is removed. Illustrated is a close up of a take-zu, bamboo form hanaire by Shigaraki & Iga master, Furutani Michio. Working with a conventional archetype, Furutani ever so casually and skillfully removed a "window" from the form. The cuts are fast and casual, the opening neither precise nor sloppy. With four delft strokes, he altered the pot and created a negative space that allows shadow and depth to provoke the eye to seeing into the soul of the pot. In the firing, the pot sags just a bit where there is no area to support the lip and collar above, further accentuating the gesture of the space and pot. The frozen drops of bidoro off the top cut, just adds to the drama and tension created by the form and firing. It is simply amazing, that so little can end up saying so much.

"The whole is simpler than the sum of the parts."    Willard Gibbs (1839-1903)

(Used with the kind permission of a collector)

SPOTTED

I have seen more than my fair share of fantasy and medieval genre movies over the years and one aspect I am constantly well aware of is the pottery used in these films. It is easy to take enjoyment from the wide variety of pots on screen, including some that actually have had labels on the bottom of them which the "continuity" directors, obviously missed. Essential to all these movies is the array of jugs and pitchers used in the obligitory tavern scenes, some are actually quite adept at capturing the feel of the medieval jug or pitcher while others, not so much. One type of jug that pops up in most of these films is the spoutless type that has a big round belly and a round pulled handle. I find a rustic satisfaction in this type of jug and have made them on and off for nearly my entire time making pots. There is something very timeless about these pots and extremely functional as well.

Illustrated is a medium sized spoutless jug form with a thick, round pulled handle. It is glazed in a temmoku glaze and the neck and extremes of the belly on either side, are accented with my medieval green. One of the things I really enjoy about this form is that it usually works from 6" to 16" as long as you keep the proportions the same. Though intended as a jug, it also has the luxury of acting as a vase or for utensil storage without the worries of damaging the spout. Just another form that is rather good at multi-tasking.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

I just wanted to take a moment and wish everyone, in each and every time zone, a very Happy New Year.

Illustrated is the aftermath of some spirited pottery debauchery in which the Hagi chawan by Miwa Kyuwa XI was neither stained nor damaged. This photo was staged by a trained professional and I do not recommend you try this at home.

(Photo courtesy of a deranged and somewhat eccentric, private collector.)

SETTLED IN

Illustrated is a  Bizen mizusashi by veteran Bizen potter, Masamune Satoru (d. 2006). The surface is a diaphanous blend of hi-iro and flashed ash deposited on the pot with areas of shadowed resist creating halo like effects. This is another one of those pots who's charm derives from the posture and baring of the piece, it gives one the sense that it is all settled in and just ready to be used. Though high fired, this mizusashi gives the impression that it has a softness to the piece, a product of the rolling curves created when the pot was first thrown and then subjected to the  scrutiny of  the fire.

LAST KILN FOR 2011

I fired off what will most likely be the last firing of 2011, last week. I can't really complain about the results, 99% of the pots came out meeting my expectations or better. The few last minute orders were packed and shipped out, with most arriving in time for the holidays. The kiln had a wide variety of pieces from serving bowls and plates, covered jars, vases and the ever present teabowls and yunomi. 

Illustrated is a  teabowl that has been hanging around for several months. It has white slip with vertical bands of grey and black slip over and I finally decided to glaze it up in the my clear and saffron glazes. I was pleasantly surprised with the results as the glazes created areas of grey-green and blue-black under the saffron surface. The second illustration is of a partridge feather and saffron glazed yunomi with a rather runny surface and the two varying glazes contrast well together. Neither of these where planned out, both just sort of happened as I was rushing to get pots glazed. Sometimes it is the "no-thought" approach that yeilds something new and worth

pursuing.

"The truth of a thing is the feel of it, not the think of it." Stanley Kubrick (1928-1999)

SEASONS GREETINGS

كل عام وأنتم بخير
祝圣诞节快乐
Glædelig Jul og Godt Nytår
Prettige feestdagen
Bula Vinaka
Hyvää Joulua ja Onnellista Uutta Vuotta
Joyeuses fêtes
Frohe Feiertage!
uoo”kZ dh ‘kqÒdkeuk;sa 
Gleðilega hátíð 
Buone Feste
メリー クリスマス
즐거운 연휴 되시길 바랍니다 
 Linksmų švenčių!
God Jul og Godt Nytt År
تبریکات فصلی
 Boas Festas
Crăciun fericit 
Felices fiestas 
Tilokotfo taKhisimisi
God Jul och Gott Nytt År 
I apologize for the myriad of languages I have missed, but the sentiment stands, where ever you are reading this from.

For those so inclined, here is the best rendition of T'WAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS as read by Basil Rathbone (1942), it is worth a listen. Don't bother watching the video, just listen to the reading. It is by far my favorite version of this Christmas classic and I have been listening to it for decades.

HIKIDASHI

Up today is another excrutiatingly short video of the hikidashi (pulled out) technique at the Shigaraki anagama of Sawa Kiyotsugu and Sawa Katsunori (seen in the video). Hikidashi is used in Shigaraki to freeze the bidoro glass over the surface of the pot. This is accomplished by the quick cooling once the pot is snatched out of the kiln creating the rich glassy surfaces. Hikidashi is a technique most commonly used in Raku-yaki, Seto-Guro (Hikidashi-Guro) and Shigaraki, though its use is ever expanding to other styles and traditions. Currently there are a number of potters also using the hikidashi technique for Shino; Kumano Kuroemon is at the forefront of that movement which accounts for the wonderful pale jade-green ash surfaces on some of his pots. When all is said and done, there is nothing more exhillerating than pulling a 2300 degree pot out of a fiery kiln to get the heart pumping. It is unlike any other experience in making ceramics.

A CAUTIONARY TALE

It all started with the click of a button, or should I say, it didn't start. At issue is my ongoing battle with technology, which many or us, myself included, have become dependant on. As I set about to start my computer (PC) last week, I pushed the button and nothing happened. Like a bad starter, the computer was simply not going to co-operate. After a series of phone calls, the culprit was diagnosed, the mother board fried and the power supply had simply given up on our aged computer. The "experts" concluded that the repair would far exceed the value of the old PC and buying a new one would simply be smarter and more economical.

At this point, I wasn't too worried, though a bit anxious as I had just last week, backed up my important data to my external hard drive. We went out and bought a new PC tower and set about getting it up and running, when the gliches began to appear. The new PC runs on Windows 7, all our old stone age software is just obsolete, so off to buy new software. At this point, I am still more annoyed than worried. We now set about installing all the necessary software and low and behold, all would seem to be fine. My primary concern at this point is to move all my documents, data and misc. picture files to the new computer, I attach the external hard drive to the new PC and "what to my wondering eyes should appear", well actually, nothing! Since the external HD was a different operating system, there was nothing there, or rather the new refused to acknowledge the old (ain't that the way!). Now I am worried. I have a wide array of articles,hundreds of pages of notes about pottery and paintigs, my blog notes and posts, all of my Trocadero descriptions and pictures and a variety of other data that is irreplacable.

I scramble and make some more phone calls, more like desperate pleas and am told, for a tidy price (per hour) all of my HD data can be retrieved, but it is a techy and tricky process. In the midst of this debacle, we find our way to S-Mart (Shop smart, shop S-Mart) and out of the set-in desperation I feel, I decide to query the electronics guy about my situation. Turns out, he is rather computer literate and tells me, the fix is simple, go to a particular big electronics store and buy a hard drive docking station and provided the HD is fine, you can retrieve all of the data. Off to the electronics store to buy the last eSATA+ USB 2.0 docking station. It is a simple device, with even simpler set-up and as soon as I push the button, the HD whirls and whines to life and our new PC reads it as an external HD. Several hours later, all of my data is retrieved, with a new back up on the original external HD.

I realize for most people, this computer stuff is rudimentary and even rather simple, but for a guy who spends his days working with clay and experimenting with glaze alchemy, this was somewhat daunting to say the least. I wrote this to act as a cautionary tale, when even backing things up routinely isn't always enough. My new back-up regiment will also include burning important documents and files to data dvds once a week as well. I guess at the end of the day, alls well that ends well.

"It is a good thing to learn caution from the misfortune of others." Publilius Syrus (Lived during the First century B.C.)

INTERSECTIONS

"Any intellectually conceived object is always in the past and therefore unreal. Reality is always the moment of vision before the intellectualization takes place. There is no other reality."  Robert Pirsig (b.1928)

Illustrated is a porcelain teabowl with an etched design under my haiyu glaze. The design, though similiar to the "landscapeman" design is in fact based on a drawing on a chalkboard in a scientists office from a 1950's science-fiction movie. The design always reminded me of two solar systems or universe intersecting and the resulting shockwave that occurs when this would happen. It would seem to be a good fit under the flowing and iridescent effects of the haiyu glaze.

SENTINEL

Illustrated is a very large and bold Iga vase by one of my favorite contemporary Iga potters, Kojima Kenji.  Standing sentinel, this is a very gestural piece, though it has a monumental presence and the interaction between clay and fire has created a very evocative surface. Between the rich fire red hi-iro and areas of ash and bidoro, the pot is swept in a variety of changing tones and effects.  Though very decidedly Iga, or possibly Ko-Iga, this vase shows the influences of Bizen pottery, which is where Kojima served his early pottery apprenticeship. I see this in a lot of his earlier works and occassionally, even now, some elements of Bizen-yaki creeps into his pottery. I think at the end of the day, when you are dedicated to producing medieval style works, there will always be some general overlap between many of the ancient Roku-koyo and I think this pot admirably displays the cross currents of the older, medieval wood fired traditions.

"We perceive and are affected by changes too subtle to be described." Henry David Thoreau