WIND & RAIN

It has been a rainy and overcast week here which started on Monday with me firing a large group of bisque. With all this wind and rain it has been hard keeping motivated to start the glazing process though the temperatures are a bit cooler making it easier to work. I started out by making up several glazes to top off my buckets and set about prep glazing and waxing off feet, jar mouths and misc., by Thursday, I had everything glazed up and ready to load in the kiln. Loading ended up being a bear as it was an exceptionally tight fit in the bisque and now glazed, just as tight. I had taken a photo of the bisque kiln prior to unloading and that helped piece the puzzle back together and get everything that came out, back in again. Now that all that is out of the way, of course the weather changes with beautiful blue skies and a cool breeze moving in as I am firing the kiln. The firing should be done by this early evening and hopefully by Saturday late afternoon, after waiting somewhat patiently, I should know how things went. I simply have no patience for patience.

In the meantime, here is some WIND & RAIN from one of my favorite Shakespeare film adaptations, TWELFTH NIGHT;

BIZEN BUNRIN

Illustrated is a classical and quintessential Bizen bunrin style chaire by Ningen Kokuho; Yamamoto Toshu (1906-1994). This rounded, small apple form chaire is a wonderful example of what Yamamoto is so well known for and highly regarded. This chaire is typical of his work, with vivid flowing tamadare ash running down the face of the piece. In fact, many of Yamamoto's pots are immediately recognizable because of his particular and unique style of firing as well as his use of simple, honest forms of which this noble bunrin chaire is a great example. Yamamoto decided to apprentice under Kusube Yaichi later in life which may explain his attention to detail in form and line which was first rewarded with Prefectural Intangible Property in 1954 and then with Juyo Mukei Bunkazai in 1987. Yamamoto Toshu like a small handful of other potters, was able to carve out a niche within the Bizen pottery and add an eloquent and thoughtful voice to a tradition that has a long and varied history.

"Eloquence is logic on fire." Lyman Beecher (1775-1863)

BBC INTERLUDE

Interlude; An intervening episode, feature or period of time.

I am curious, when was the last time you turned on the TV and there was an interlude between shows showing someone throwing pottery and the movie GHOST doesn't count? It would seem, at least when this film was produced and aired, pottery was a valued, respected and interesting craft that was thought to appeal to a wide audience beyond just pottery collectors. I really admire that and think that there should be more such films and videos shared on TV as well as the internet. Documenting and sharing any and all craft is of vital importance to interest the young, stimulate emerging crafts people and to help awaken the general population to the beauty and purposeful utility of pottery and any number of other crafts. Thanks to the BBC and Youtube, enjoy this video.

"Nothing can have value without being an object of utility." Karl Marx (1818-1883)

 

FEUDAL VASE

Created using the coil and throw method, this prototypical  Shigaraki kinuta mallet vase was made by the legendary potter, Furutani Michio. There is something so elementally medieval about many of his pots and the well proportioned form speaks of a time and place outside of this instant. Blending exceptional clay and woods for his firings, Furutani Michio created works well beyond technique that speak to the viewer on a wide array of levels and connect us to the pot, the potter, a tradition and a way of making and living with pots, then and now. It may just be this intense connectivity that attracts me so strongly with his work along with the unending dialogue the pot maintains and the dedication and spirit of a feudal tradition that define his pottery both Shigaraki and Iga.

"If one really wishes to be a master of an art, technical knowledge is not enough. One has to transcend technique so that the art becomes an 'artless art' growing out of the Unconscious." D.T. Suzuki (1870-1966)

INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO...

As a kid, I was always excited to get Cracker Jacks or some cereal with a surprise in it. It took all my self-control to keep from just dumping out the contents to get to that surprise, I always thought I liked surprises. Segue to making clay and lots of it at both Plattsburgh State and Cleveland State, tons and tons of it and over the years, in its making and using, it yielded a wide bounty of surprises as well. The surprises found in the slaked and pugged clay included, but was not limited to; glasses, sunglasses, pens, pencils, watches, jewelry of all sorts including silver and gold, 2 engagement rings, a full 1 ct diamond on a gold chain, numerous gold and silver chains, earrings of every shape and size, including also diamonds, broken bisque, rulers, all kinds of pottery tools, a pair of pliers, several smaller screwdrivers, sponges galore, coins, paper money, a pack of cigarettes, a birth certificate (!) and a number of other surprises. By far, the most surprising was when I wedged an xacto blade into my palm which had to be removed with pliers, required antibiotics and a time out from throwing.

That particular incident taught me a rather valuable lesson and though I use commercially prepared clay today, I set about slicing the block into 1/4" slabs prior to wedging it up, hoping to intercept anything that may be in the clay. Up until last week, the only things I had found were the occasional cigarette butt, small, very small stones and the odd piece of shale now and again; that was up until last week. Last week, while slicing up clay, I came across the unidentified object in the photo. Given its size and the fact that it is some form of twisted, stiff metal, I am sure it would have caused quite the injury had I wedged it into my hand. Though it has been a number of years since finding anything quite like this in my clay, I am certainly glad I am a creature of habit and learned an unwavering lesson from all those years ago from a simple xacto blade and the myriad of other clay surprises.

ME, MYSELF AND I

I recently completed, packed and shipped out an order for a set of pots that arrived the other day to the client. I received an odd email upon receipt; nothing about condition, how it was received but rather, they were curious how many people I had working for me. At issue, the source of confusion, which is all my fault is the presence of two distinct marks, the small eclipsed moon for Albedo Studio and the CB I use to identify me as the maker. I assured them that other than Jun the ever helpful studio assistant cat, I had only three people working for me; me, myself and I. I further explained that I use both stamps without any real rhyme or reason, but tend to use the moon mark on smaller pots or pieces that I only want a small interruption in the surface which included the thrown style slab plates. The order consisted of 4 smaller thrown slab plates (11" x 5"), 4 larger ones (15" x 7"), 4 sauce bowls, four soup bowls, 8 guinomi and 4 tokkuri all glazed in the Oribe and intended as a sushi/ sashimi set. Once the issue of employment was all cleared up, the new owners related they were very pleased with the set and it was to be used that evening. I am glad I didn't tell them, I use two other stamps occasionally on the terra cotta pieces or they may have thought I had even more people working in my small studio, it might get a bit crowded as at times there is barely enough room for kilns, wheel, shelves and tables, let alone wet and drying pots or more people.

EARLY ON

At first glance, I wasn't sure what this chawan was; I thought I was looking at one of those early Showa period pieces that was made in imitation of the late Edo and Meiji period Oribe chawan. It had that crackaleur style whitish opaque glaze and shiny rich green. To my surprise, it turned out to be a chawan, a very early chawan by Suzuki Goro. Made in the early 1970s, this piece shows the free and loose style of throwing he is so well known for together with spontaneous brushwork and casual glazing. The foot, though just a bit stiff, has the glint of things to come in terms of Suzuki's handling of kodai today and all in all, it is a solid pot, early on in the career of one of the most popular potters in Japan today. I can only imagine it would feel great in the hand or look fine just hanging out.

AT THE DOOR

As I have mentioned before, I rarely know what will be coming my way with any advanced notice. Someone will call and say, do you think you could try to move this or that for me or sometimes, a package just arrives at the door. That was the case on Friday, while working in the studio, the UPS pulls up into the drive and the next thing you know, I am looking at a large box. I look to see who it is from and carry it upstairs to open it, though not before a quick phone call to the sender. That out of the way, I open the package to a neat Tani Seiemon Shigaraki cylinder vase and an Oribe bamboo form vase by Sato Kazuji. On Saturday I photographed the pieces and put them up on my Trocadero marketplace along with a mizusashi by Karatsu master potter, Tanaka Sajiro which arrived earlier in the week. It is rare to know what will be coming in, but usually, I know that something is on its way.

Illustrated is the E-Garatsu mizusashi by Tanaka Sajiro and it and the other pieces can be seen by going to my Trocadero website;

http://www.trocadero.com/stores/albedo3studio/catalog/query.php

SHINO TSUBO

Illustrated is a rich black ink calligraphy for the kanji, TSUBO by Ningen Kokuho for Shino pottery; Suzuki Osamu (b. 1934). Unlike those of Kato Tokuro, this tsubo is brushed in a more direct and literal manner in which the character is easily read and closer to the ideal than some I have seen. Though easily read, it is animated and expressive and glimpses the nature of the tsubo in a classical and purposeful manner. Over the years I have seen a thousand or more calligraphies by potters for the kanji, tsubo and it has become very clear that you can usually see a direct correlation between the potters ink and his clay, this shikishi is no exception.

ITS IS WEDNESDAY, AFTER ALL

This particular cycle is going rather slowly between getting some packages packed up and trying to plan out a full kiln load of orders and pieces that I have just decided to make to explore an idea. One piece of advice I was given many years ago is that to be productive, it helps to have a plan when you sit at the wheel. Without a plan, the wheel spins, the clay goes from lump to cylinder and then what; that seems to be the order of the day and it is Wednesday, after all. It is not that I could just make stuff that I have a muscle memory for, it is simply that I am working on ideas that need a certain amount of flexibility and looseness to them, tools I am not in the best possession of. I would rather take a little extra time and get things worked out within my general diabolical plan as in the end, I think I will be all the happier for it.

While struggling with the clay this week, there are a number of things that spring to mind like a mobius loop; from pots, music, books, TV and movies. This short routine by Abbott & Costello is one of them and relates to the average potter, probably more than anyone can know. Enjoy.