CRACKED

There is a quiet and grace to celadon which is not lost on potters who makes pieces that are best suited with seiji glazes; simple and streamlined forms with accents only where called for. Starting life as a thrown round bowl form and then ovaled, this seiji mizusashi has a beautiful, cracked, double refractive surface which clings to the thoughtfully thrown vessel where the slight undulations to the pot are accentuated by the surface. The mizusashi is then completed with a custom made black lacquer lid which compliments the form to the fullest creating an eye catching work that takes decades of experience to carry off.

This functional and simple tea piece was made by Kyoto native Kimura Nobuyuki (b.1965) who studied with his father, Kimura Morinobu one of the Kimura San- Mori; Kimura Morikazu, Moriyasu and Morinobu. Nobuyuki set up his own pottery studio/kiln in Shiga prefecture in 1992 and has had a rather busy career winning numerous awards with frequent exhibitions through out Japan. His work is predominantly seiji pottery with a variety of glazes that run from light elegant blues, rich greens, yellows and even pinkish lavender pieces all the while keeping in mind what forms are best for this deceptively simple glaze with a dash of complexity thrown in to keep the potter on their toes.

WAVELENGTH

I made this large or more correctly defined, long oval baker some time ago and recently came across the image. At the time that I made this I was doing some tape and newspaper resist to create designs and decoration and this particular pattern came to be called "wavelength". I am not sure where the name exactly came from but it does seem to suit the undulating design which I think works fairly well on this baker which was at least 20" long though I seem to remember longer. I made several of these at once, working in series using a variety of designs/decorations that would work well on the elongated forms and accentuate that length. I know it will sound odd but this original abstrakt background came from an old western in which a scene at dusk showed this wonderful muted Technicolor skyline, it may have been John Ford's; SHE WORE A YELLOW RIBBON. It never ceases to surprise me how thinks make there way into my clay from years of being saturated by television and movies, countless books read, museums visited, pots seen and handled and I would like to think that how I assemble all of these small building blocks, the work is distinctly my own.

A LITTLE SALT, A LOT OF WOOD

For those who have not fired a wood kiln, rest assured there is a lot of preparation, planning, work and wood involved in getting the job done. In the case of this chawan it is all about a little salt and a lot of wood to create this beautiful surface on a rather loose and casual chawan by Enyu specialist, Ajiki Hiro. Though he is well known for his rather patterned, faceted chawan with additions of rich blues, reds and gold accents to name a few, it is the loose style of chawan defined by its sense of rhythm that attracts me to this bowl. A rich, playful style can be seen in the posture and attitude of the pot which is then completed by firing it in his wood kiln to which he adds salt at high temperature to add to the already ash coated surface. Entitled "Autumn Wind", the powerful fall winds are painted on this chawan by the intense velocity of the flame in the kiln which creates a lasting canvas of dynamic movement echoing the sometimes ferocious inclinations of mother nature. I hope this slideshow video conveys the truest sense of this chawan as it was a pleasure to handle and photograph. Enjoy.

MAKING ARRANGEMENTS

I happened on this image and was struck by how such a simple and stark floral arrangement can add so much to a vase. The rich green of the pine needles serve as a vivid backdrop for the single white bloom all emerging from this large and powerful modern Iga vase by Kojima Kenji. The vase is its own landscape of rich fire color, melted running, wet green ash and a sweeping area of charcoal effects painting a backdrop to the arrangement which seems quite natural in the new surroundings. Kojima Kenji has made an in depth study in to the history and aesthetics of Ko-Iga and has combined that pursuit with that of studying flower arranging which only adds to complete his masterful vessels. I realize this was arranged specifically for this exhibition but I envy the owners who have this vase at their disposal to make such arrangements when ever the mood moves them.

SUMO-SIZE ME; THE VIDEO

I realize this sounds a bit corny but I just decided to embrace the "corn" and put together a short video slideshow of this recently fired teabowl. The bowl is quite large though ironically I have actually handled a chawan by Kumano Kuroemon that was a bit larger and since my thought is that despite the term teabowl, this pot can serve just about any use someone can think up. I have always been grounded in function but at a certain level I believe it is necessary for a user to grasp adaptibility and accommodate themselves to the use of a pot or any other hand crafted object, think about all the chairs you have seen in museums that scream just about anything but comfort! Have fun with the video.

"We must make the best of those ills that cannot be avoided."  Alexander Hamilton

PRESS MOLD

When I look at the press molded hachi plates designed and decorated by Hamada Shoji, I am always struck by the classic utility and economy of the forms. Designed for real use, a sense of beauty and the goal of making multiples, the forms are simple yet exceptionally functional for a wide array of chores, the least of which is to help define an environment. Each of these plates is carefully constructed, made almost as a canvas for the master; from rich and earthy glaze combinations, vivid swirled glaze pours or classic Hamada designs, each piece is both unique and linked to those that have come before and those that will be made after. There is a distinct lineage in much of Hamada's work and like the molded pieces of Kawai Kanjiro each piece starts as a similar and singular form but with the attention of Hamada each piece becomes an extension of his rich vocabulary that adds to the mingei tradition with which he navigates. Though as much art as they are craft, these pots are the epitome of what can be used and what can be appreciated.

DRIFTING IRON

Once again relying on an old tech stainless steel glaze atomizer, I have been running tests using my iron clay stoneware, stoneware slip, clear glaze and a good even coat of the sprayed oxide glaze. Though the iron/manganese/cobalt overglaze was sprayed on as a thin even coat, it seemed to run, drift and pool at various spots on the surface where gravity played as much a role in the final appearance as anything that I did. As you can see in the detail shot, the oxide rich glaze just seemed to drift down the natural channels created by the slip creating an interesting tiger stripe style pattern which of course echoes the contours of the surface. Overall the addition of the overglaze gives the piece a rather earthy, gritty appearance that accentuates the texture and form and plays well in a variety of light sources. Truth be told, the use of this technique is going to take some getting used to as there doesn't seem to be any way to control the surface or determine a predictable outcome and of the group fired where one piece had to much glaze sprayed over it came out very dark and quite honesty a bit dull. I have a few other oxide combinations that I have in mind and we will see what other surface are possible, I suspect that if you start adding up all of the possible combinations of two, three and four oxide/carbonate mixtures that I have a lot of work ahead of me. First step, I'll need to make a lot more test pods.

"If life were predictable it would cease to be life, and be without flavor." Eleanor Roosevelt

TO EACH THEIR OWN

"For me, creating is about cutting away the unnaturalness by engaging in the act of making." Kato Kiyoyuki

Though best known for his more sculptural ceramics, this Ki-Seto chawan was made by Seto ceramist, Kato Kiyoyuki and despite the vivid, abstract decoration, this is a wonderfully functional chawan. The slightly wet Ki-Seto glaze has created a rich, pebbly texture that is broken up by the incised decoration that was then accented with copper to add a certain zest to the bowl. The face of this chawan has become Kato's canvas of abstraction which allows the viewer to interpret the design according to each individuals set of unique experiences which makes this chawan unique to each and every person who encounters it. I am a huge fan of this type of decoration and chawan as the purposeful, abstracted ambiguity allows for a type of ceramic Rorschach in which it means different things to different people making for a far richer individual experience.

"Reality is only a Rorschach ink-blot, you know." Alan Watts

MYSTERY NOVEL

At first glance the illustration is a bit ambiguous and certainly out of context but as you look at the photo, you can catch bits and pieces that may point you in one direction or another. What you are looking at is the bottom interior of a mizusashi and when you remove the ceramic lid you are first struck with the iridescent sheen that covers a great deal of the bottom of the pot which was finished with a crisp swirl to activate the interior though for most of the pots life, the interior is likely to remain a mystery to the viewer. In certain respects, lidded pots are like a well written mystery novel that as you move along from chapter to chapter the story unfolds and as a reader you are clued in as to what exactly is going on if you pay close enough attention. I think good pots are just the same, the allure and attraction of the form, surface and volume of the piece pulls you in and then you lift the lid to see the mysterious contents of the form, in this case  a rich wood fired surface of natural ash coating a Shino glaze to add warmth, depth and a sense of nobility to the pot. For some who have followed along, the pot is a sturdy, powerful Oni-Shino mizusashi which resembles a pair of stacked stones with a roughly thrown ceramic lid with this illustrated detail hidden within. I know it is easy to get lost in the details and lose sight of the whole but for a number of the truly gifted potters, the great details construct the great pots and in my opinion, Tsukigata Nahiko had the ability to create details which few can forget even over a lifetime of looking.

SUMO-SIZE ME

On any given day of throwing I am prone to making my teabowls a bit on the large side. This way of working pre-dates my first experiences with the work of Kumano Kuroemon and was just a natural occurrence in making functional pots. My early thought process was simple, if you made a slightly larger teabowl they could still function for use in the tea ceremony but as a bowl form they had a greater range of uses being a bit larger from soups & salads to sides, chili, ice cream and almost anything you can imagine. On Monday as I was sitting at the wheel I had to throw a group of lids off the hump to go with a series of covered serving bowls and once the group was thrown I found myself with clay left over that I thought was about two pounds and proceeded to throw what ended up being a rather large teabowl form. Once thrown I weighed it out and realized it came in at 2.5lbs and as you can see, now tooled and a bit lighter it is a bit larger than my normally large teabowls. I decided to go with a thick combed porcelain slip for the surface and will likely glaze it in one of my Oribe formulas when the time comes. I am not sure what the prescribed function of this finished piece will be but it certainly has sumo-size me written all over it.