AN OBSERVATION

"Observe things as they are and don't pay attention to other people." Huang Po (?- 849)

JUST A FORMALITY

A while back, I was approached to make a tea set for an individual that practices tea ceremony. The guidelines were simple; porcelain, a specific surface and the orientation was to be "formal" in style. In my mind, formal would mean for something to be within the parameters of conventional requirements. Well, honestly, that threw me, so more emails and pictures were exchanged as well as a lot of internet and book searches to establish what that actually meant. After the initial research period, I set on forms based on a historical Kyo-yaki set from the early 18th century. The forms are very formal, almost ridged, yet in hand, they work rather well and have a comforting, approachable feel. I showed the client the greenware prototypes to see if that was what they had in mind. Once approved, decorated, bisque and glazed, now the question was, how would they look after they were fired. The firing went off without a hitch and the set (and ghost set) came out rather well. The customer was happy and that is the bottom line.

Having thrown this set, I have now added these more "formal" forms to my vocabulary. Though they appear to be "no fuss, no muss" forms, getting them just right is a bit more time consuming than normal. Illustrated is a pair of more formal style teabowls. Each porcelain bowl are the high walled style, with lips that flair out just a tiny amount and have a notch cut in the foot to create some movement within the foot ring. Though these were not thrown as a pair, I decided to decorate both using the same pattern, one etched and the other with slip, both glazed in my iron yellow glaze. I am always amazed at how the same design in varying surface treatments can change the temperment and appearance of a pot.

A GOOD START TO THE WEEK

As a young kid growing up in the Sixties, my mother's pride in her Sicilian heritage was ever on display as the phonogragh was always playing Louis Prima. For those of you who are unaquainted with Louis Prima, together with his wife Keely Smith and Sam Butera & The Witnesses, he was the foundation of the "swing era" and Prima dubbed, the King of Swing.

This is a perfect song and vintage video for a Monday and hope it gets everyone into the swing of things!

LOUIS PRIMA; JUST A GIGOLO & I AIN'T GOT NOBODY

WAS IST KUHL?

Now I realize in a previous post, I have covered the potential pitfalls of discussing an object as cool. Does the discussion itself, negate the cool factor or do some things just transcend any taint from the intellectual excercise, to just be cool. Tooling around the web, including the omnipresent Wikipedia, cool has a wide variety of meanings, mostly subjective, but the general concensus is that it is a description of a visual, attitude or style that is held by many as an appreciated attribute and in many instances a sign or creation of a moment in time. From my perspective cool is about the presented attitude and posture, in this instance, a pot pocesses and conveys to a viewer. I am not talking about gimics, but an honesty and character that has something more than its initial visual impact to say to us. There are a number of such pots that spring to mind from ancient times to very contemporary pots, but few speak that language as well or as fluently as the works of Colin Pearson (1923-2007).

Illustrated is the epitome of cool, from my perspective, a teapot by Colin Pearson from the early 90's. Despite its somewhat unconventional form, it is a fully functional teapot, one set of wings act as a handle while the other acts as a spout. Interestingly enough, this teapot is illustrated in the book; THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF POTTERY TECHNIQUES by Peter Cosentino in which it is an example of sculptural and abstract form with this commentary; "the surface treatment demonstrates the clay's texture, its malleable qualities and the immediacy of throwing as a means of both production and shaping". Granted, it is a pot you must accommodate yourself to, but it will function or can just sit idly by while you appreciate it and drink it its attitude. In a way, that sounds just like Jack Nicholson!

"Cool is a knowledge, a way of life."  Lewis MacAdams (b. 1944)

(Illustration used with the kind permission of a collector)

THE CHOICE IS YOURS

When I think about teapots, I think of all of the engineering and construction issues and opportunities. Even a simple thrown round teapot, poses issues of spout and handle placement, making sure the lid stays on when pouring, making sure the liquid doesn't pour out the lid as well as the spout, well you get the idea, there is quite a few things to think about. From my perspective, there is a fairly steep learning curve regarding teapots and even with the best of teachers and examples, some teapots are just not going to make the cut.

In making teapots, there are two distinct approaches that spring to mind, the first is the finessed form. Jeff Oestriech's thrown and constructed teapots (from the 1990's) are a very good example of this where the shapes and lines created, almost as pure geometry, are finessed to create simple and elegant form, as if the pot is in distinct motion. The second approach is the engineered form of which Bruce Cochrane is an excellent example. Many of his teapots from the 90's were made of thrown cylinders, extensively fluted with a base added and a top made by using the body as a temporary hump mold. Everything revolves around the fluted body, engineered to accentuate and mimic the various elements of the pot, right down to the handle.

Illustrated is a fluted form teapot by Canadian potter, Bruce Cochrane. The pot is a wonderfully engineered piece with a simple yellowish ash glaze over porcelain, with slight wood fired effects. At a certain level, this pot may seem baroque in inspiration, but as you study the pieces and the whole, there is nothing out of place or superfluous, it is simply narrating its story through line and curve to best fulfill its function while tempting the eye for another cup of tea.

http://www.brucecochrane.ca/about-the-artist/

LOGARITHMIC SPIRAL

There is a wide variety of styles and possible inspirations when thinking about teapots, from historical to the whimsical. Alice In Wonderland and the numerous interpretations of the story come to mind with the fantastical tea party held by the Mad Hatter. In making teapots for quite a long while, there are those pots that stem from such inspiration and become a mainstay in the vocabulary of forms that I use. The "cottage" teapot that I make is just such a piece. The style of this pot evolved from fantasy to function with an emphasis on keeping some fun visual appeal. The illustrated cottage teapot has a broad, stable foot and a handle and spout that serve to help animate the rotund form. The pot is glazed in a rich iron glaze with an oilspot style spiral decoration that reminds me of the opening credits to Irwin Allen's TV series; The Time Tunnel. It would seem, everything comes back to those years glued in front of the TV set!

FIOLE de L'EAU

Beyond being one of the 20th centuries greatest potters, Michael Cardew (1901-1983) was known as a great teacher and this can be seen in his work he did setting up potteries in Nigeria.  Working for the Nigerian Government as the Pottery Officer in the Dept. of Commerce and Industry from 1951 to 1965, Cardew set up a pottery in Abuja and  taught pottery to  the regional Hausa and Gwari. The intent was to establish self-sufficent potteries using local clays and materials and in essence, produce various pottery cottage industry by which local potters could make and sell pottery as an occupation. This  illustrated large water jar with indiginous style decoration is made of stoneware and glazed overall in a temmoku iron glaze. This pot was made by Lami Toto (who came to work at Abuja in 1963 as one of four women potters) and was most likely made just prior to cardew leaving Nigeria. At first glance this pot closely resembles the work of Lady Kwali, but in fact, the water jar shape and design are typical of those produced in the Gwari region of Nigeria.

WHAT'S MY LINE

Illustrated is a vase by Ogawa Yukihiko. Showing an obvious Tokoname influence, Ogawa was actually taught by Kyoto renaissance potter and salt fire pioneer, Iwabuchi Shigeya (1925-1993) before he went on to study the pots of Mashiko and Tokoname. Many of his pots are medieval interpretations of Tokoname pottery and a large tsubo can be seen in the Madame Kikuchi Collection. This formal style vase was wood fired and the ash on the face of the pot is a combination of applied and natural accumulation from the firing. The sparse use of incised lines around the neck and body create a nice visual unity to this classical pot.

IY-SAF45a NERIAGE

I decided to extend my neriage work into the stoneware, so a while back, I made up a batch of  colored stoneware and then set about throwing a few teabowls. I glazed these teabowls up in my saffron glaze (using yellow iron oxide) and they got fired along with a group of pots a week or so ago. Illustrated is one of the teabowls, front and back. The actual colored clay has come out a neat brown/black color with fine whitish speaks, from the fire clay I would imagine. The actual glaze which is normally an opaque glaze, has run to a translucent, rich amber with areas of purple-brown where the colored clay has bled and run down the surface of the pot. There are areas of mossy like running effects around the exterior and the interior is covered in an opaque iron yellow.

The neriage style I am using is more about bold patterning which I liken to suminagashi. I am not interested in lots of layers in the clay and am much more happy with two to five layers running throughout which also means I need to be careful in the wedging and the intial pull-up when I start to throw the clay. Though it was not my intention, it somehow reminds me of the works of the Kawai Kanjiro student, Ueda Tsuneji (1914-1988) and of some of the Fujina lead glazes. In the back of my mind, I just keep hearing, "what else can you do with this style?".

"The best way to keep good acts in memory is to refresh them with new."  Cato the Younger (Marcus Porcius Cato; 95 BC - 46 BC)

A CLASSIC

Illustrated is a simple classical form with a wonderfully rich Shigaraki surface with numerous white ishihaze specks showing through the cascading ash on the front of the pot. This large tsubo was made by internationally recognized Shigaraki potter, Otani Shiro (b. 1936). His work is well known in the West, partially through his friendship with Rob Barnard, wood fire potter and writer. A nice article by Barnard, on Otani Shiro can be seen here;

http://www.artistpotters.com/artist_potters/otani/articles/so_article.html