THE DARK SIDE

I put together this video slideshow of a Hagi chawan that came my way a long while back by Koto Kenshin. I really liked the posture of the piece, it has a calming and peaceful nobility to the form and the color variations trapped within the glaze surface draw the viewer into the pot to admire the traditional Hagi sensibility right down to the dark side that paints the face from lip to foot. The maker of this chawan is a traditional Hagi potter, born in 1947, Koto Kenshin established his own studio and kiln in 1970, the KoHagi-gama where his son, Koto Komei works today. When you look at all of the potters working in various traditions it is sometimes easy to get lost in a sense of sameness but with the right attention and vision, character makes pots stand out from the crowd and this chawan has character to spare.

LAYERED SLIP

I have been playing a bit applying two coats of slip, one white and one black at the same time using two brushes at the same time, a technique I first saw in Japan in the early 90's. Back at CSU I set about replicating the layered slip look and despite not having done this in a long while it seems to have worked out okay right out of the gate. The saffron glazed bowl had the exterior slip applied while holding two brushes in one hand resulting in this swirled look where the black goes on first and the white just over it. It is a rather simple idea leading to simple results but on this rather formal bowl form and with the design carved through to the clay it all fits neatly together and the pronounced black lip sets off the pot rather well. The rich clay body is the clay that I have been making up in small batches and it has just enough iron in it to show through the thin slip on the interior and mesh well with the saffron glaze. I would like to think the bowl has an overall folky look to it with a bit of inspiration from old English and  modern Fujina style slipware pottery.

"Inspiration arrives as a packet of material to be delivered." John Updike

SIMPLE BLEND

Illustrated is a rather playful yet bold Oribe platter with a pronounced array of texture and glaze variations. The vivid green Oribe is characterized by having bright accents where there are high points and a dense pool in the center of the piece with rich blue-green tones floating on the surface where the saturation of copper has become the greatest. Made by Yamaguchi Yoshinari, he was born in  Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture and after attending Kanazawa Seiryo University established his own studio and anagama in 1999. Immersing himself in the creation of chadogu, tea ware, Yamaguchi has won a number of awards for his dedicated pursuit and he divides time between making Oribe and Shigaraki pottery. Though a great deal of his output is based on traditional forms and archetypes for tea ceremony, this Oribe swirl platter has a practiced blend of whimsy and modernism that much of even the historical Oribe pottery is admired for. I am constantly amazed that green (Oribe) has such a wide array of uses and rarely disappointed when it is handled with purpose.

You can see more photos of this pot over at my Trocadero marketplace if you are inclined; http://www.trocadero.com/stores/albedo3studio/items/1324098/item1324098store.html

LATITUDE

If I were to characterize my feelings regarding the work and philosophy of Kawai Kanjiro, I think it could be summed up in one word; reverence. Though I am not 100% sure why, his pottery and way of working as well as his philosophy just resonate with me. Along with a few other modern potters, there is little more influential in regards to my work as a potter. As I strive to create my own work using what has come before as more a guideline than a blueprint, I think at its core pottery making is about expressing the connection my pots have to other pots and allowing them a good dose of personal latitude, making them my pots. The illustrated teabowl is a good example, it bears little resemblance to my influences but the genesis can be seen in the work of Kawai as well as a few others, including  numerous anonymous 16th and 17th Japanese potters. The form is based on an old kutsu-gata chawan while the thick slip surface goes back to old Korean hakeme all finished off with a gosu inspired Ao+ glaze that I have been working on for quite some time. It is easy for me to see where the influences come from but when mashed up and assembled in my own unique way, the bowl becomes my own for better or worse.

I made a quick video of the Ao+ slipped teabowl which hopefully will give a sense of the volume and movement of the form and the complexity of the surface right down to the steel blues, blue-greys, gosu and flashes of purple that are locked in the glaze.

SNOW WHITE

Illustrated is solitary Shino vase by Higashida Shigemasa punctuated in use with a floral arrangement. It is simple in form but the piece has a wide array of features that are compelling enough; from rich textural surface, direct spatula marks on opposing sides and the soft, velvety texture with a satin appearance to the glaze. Higashida calls this unique glaze, Hakusetsu, white snow and it surely paints a picture of purity, of softly drifting snow engulfing the form. For nearly two decades the potter has been working on perfecting this glaze and its use finding both traditional and modern forms that compliment each other. I have had the opportunity to see and handle a wide number of different Shino works and I can say that this glaze is among the most idiosyncratic and personal surfaces I have encountered. I can't speak to whether Higashida has perfected this glaze yet to his taste but in hand and also in use, it seems about as perfect as it can get.

If you would like to see more photos of this vase, please feel free to click on the link which will bring you to my Trocadero marketplace;

http://www.trocadero.com/stores/albedo3studio/items/1323812/item1323812store.html

SPECIALIST

Specialist (noun); a person who devotes him or her self to one subject or to one particular branch of study of a subject or pursuit.

Illustrated is an early yuteki-temmoku style vase by "oilspot" specialist, Kamoda Koji (b.1948). Classic in appearance and certainly heavily influenced by the Chinese archetypes, this vase shows a vivid partridge feather style glaze composed of a rich, dark temmoku with rusty feathers appearing through the surface. Kamoda was originally a product of Kyoto having first studied with Shimizu Tadashi (Gojozaka) in the late 60's before going on to apprentice with Ningen Kokuho, Shimizu Uichi in 1988. This particular vase was probably made during or after his study with Shimizu Uichi and clearly shows his budding command of the tricky glaze and firing wrought with failures and a low rate of success. Obviously, Kamoda persevered and is one of the pillars of the yuteki-temmoku tradition which flourishes in Japan today. Though an early piece by Kamoda, this vase stands out as a successful foundation of a body of work that has perfected and added to the tradition of temmoku wares through single minded discipline and dedication to a specialized art.

FLOWER BLOCKS II

Illustrated is one of the two thrown and altered flower blocks that I made a while back in a sort of beat the clock moment. This vase was thickly slipped and combed and then glazed in my Oribe while the other piece was finished in the Ao+, both were both were slipped and glazed to accentuate the squared form by combing at an angle toward the line of the corners and to avoid them sticking to the kiln shelves they were fired on wads. The texture works well for these transparent and flowing glazes with the highpoints having a brightness to them and the lower areas creating various tones of color and deep rich pools of green. The forms, decoration and glazing were all pretty simple but the pieces have a certain degree of complexity to them and I am sure they look eminently more interesting with a nice floral arrangement in them.

"Like as waves make toward the pebbled shore, so do our minutes hasten to their end." Wm. Shakespeare

HAIYU-ONIHADA

Illustrated is a rather straight forward molded henko with a highly active crackle slip under ash and Oribe style glazes. Made by Mino veteran potter, Ando Moriyuki, this pot showcases the characteristics of a style for which the potter is well known. Ando classifies these styles of work as either haiyu-kairagi or haiyu-onihada depending on the activity and boldness of the texture and this particular henko is best described as ash glazed, devil-skin and it is easy to tell why. Creating vessels of simple forms and lines has been the mantra of Ando which can be clearly seen in this vase form along with the bulk of his body of work. The truth is with only a few glazes, slip and forms, a myriad of possibilities arise making the pursuit of "simplicity, clarity and refinement" easily last a lifetime.

CONTINUITY

A while back I posted a picture of a sunbeam lit chaire by Furutani Michio and finally got around to finishing the video slideshow and here it is. Though this chaire dates rather early in Furutani's career, you can see a continuity of form and firing from this piece to his last works; as his work progressed, his pots became more and more a blend of tradition and the individual. This particular pot has a very medieval feel to it but if you study the form and the surface it is a classic piece by one of the pioneering giants of wood firing in traditions of Iga and Shigaraki. Enjoy the video slideshow.

"Recollections is the only paradise from which we can not be turned out." Jean Paul Richter

DATABASE

As a potter, I am constantly reminded that ceramic history in the US is rather short compared to a country like Greece, the Mid-East, China or Japan. Though I have not had to go it alone in my studies, I am the first and most likely last of my family to make pots so much of what I have learned and experienced will end with me except what I share along the way. In Japan, things are much different having multiple generations to rely on, a vast tradition and pool of knowledge, a pottery database and experience to draw from, such was the case for the late Kato Yasukage XIV. As a potter, Yasukage was able to draw on a knowledge base that dates back to 1596 which certainly helps with the pitfalls of a steep learning curve where some but certainly not all the possible mistakes can be avoided. As I look at this rich Aka-Shino chawan by Kato Yasukage I can see the subtle influences of Kato Kageaki and Kagekiyo from his family lineage along with other Momoyama and modern attributes with possibly just a slight hint of Kitaoji Rosanjin thrown in for good measure. The rich red surface is decorated with a medieval fence design that stand out as bold white animating the piece and making a bold statement infusing the old with the new, a family tradition with the individuality of a modern potter. I cannot help but be impressed by a pot the straddles the past and present as skillfully as this classically conceived chawan without being entirely dependent on that tradition.

"Tradition is a guide and not a jailer." W. Somerset Maugham