PLUMBING THE DEPTHS

As time passes, I realize more and more just what a product of classic horror and science fiction I really am, whether from film, pulps, comics or books. The other day a rather remarkable ceramic object arrived here and having spent a good amount of time studying it, surveying the form, surface and nuances I placed it up on a shelf to "rest" until the next day. Later that evening though I was on the computer and turned to look at the piece and I realized that the light and shadow created a fantastical, even alien instrument or prop. Highlighted like some early frame from a  Fritz Lang film or the shadowing that brought the eerie qualities of FRANKENSTEIN (1931) to life, the atmosphere and presence was just captivating. The object in question is a Bizen sculpture by Kaneshige Kosuke known as "floating or portrait" and as you can see in the photo, rendered in black & white it appears to be something out of a 50s sci-fi movie, possibly something organic or even an alien globe of sorts. I have always loved these forms, possibly for all of the associated memories that it renders or perhaps it is something much deeper, plumbing those deep recesses of the mind where ritual, ceremony and unbridled imagination reside. In the end, I would like to think that the true appeal of this object is that it has found a way to touch what is simple, honest and oddly enough familiar and Wittgenstein said it best; "The aspects of things most important for us are hidden because of their simplicity and familiarity."

ORIGINS STORY

Anyone who is a comic book fan and by extension has interest in the film adaptations of comics knows the importance of the origins story; it sets the stage, the mood of the narrative and is the basis for the character development. To that end, I thought I would relate just how I met Kohyama Yasuhisa and was fortunate enough to go and study at his studio. Back in 1992 I had luckily struck up a relationship with Michael Cunningham the curator of Japanese Department at the Cleveland Museum of Art and at one point he showed me a gift he had recently received by a potter in Japan. The pot in question was a kamo-tokkuri with a soft green surface and pebbled texture with incised line decoration around the piece by Shigaraki potter Kohyama Yasuhisa and at that moment I was just hooked. A few months later my wife and I were invited to a small dinner party at Michael's home and when we got there we met a local Cleveland ikebana expert and Kohyama Yasuhisa and his assistant, Nakamoto Wakae. We talked about the museum, Japanese arts and of course pottery, we seemed to hit it off and later that week, Kohyama-san came to our home and looked over our small collection of pottery as well as my work. Two months later I received several letters from Japan saying that I could come and study with him for several months, a cycle of making, drying, firing and unloading. Needless to say, this whole process and relationship started with a rather brilliant but humble tokkuri.

Illustrated is a classic tokkuri and pair of guinomi by Kohyama Yasuhisa. Though unadorned with incised decoration, the soft green surface and the resisted areas tie this set together and could be recognized as Kohyama's work from well across the room, they have a soft, inviting quality that calls out to be enjoyed and perhaps fondled just a bit in their use. Taking his cues from Edo period kamo-tokkuri (duck bottles), Kohyama has added wonderful element to this unique form which is much more ancient in presentation like the Sueki wares which he admires but is grounded in sense of modernism that pervaded Japan as the foundations for his form and designs were being formulated. However one arrives at this point, there is no denying that just seeing this form makes one smile just a bit both inside and out.

RUSHED

Last fall while I was in the middle of getting pots made for galleries and holiday sales I ended up making, decorating, firing and packing so quickly that I didn't take many if any photos of stuff going out the door. In response to one gallery owner's request that I possibly send them some "new designs" I had made an extra group of about 20 or so terra cotta bowls destined for either tebori carved slip, black and white slip trailed or the combination of both and over coffee the morning of trimming and decorating sketched out several design ideas. Once the pots were trimmed and black slipped the first bowl I decorated was with a carved repeat design with white slip trailed dot accents and the snowberry design was born. It is a rather simple design and the technique to get there is also simple enough but the flow of the decoration works rather well on a round bowl or plate surface. In all, I probably only made two dozen of these pieces but in my rush to make them, I only ended up with a single photo of a greenware piece, none in their finished state. Not sure what else to say other than they all sold and the illustrated pieces come from a recently completed Spring order so I'll keep on making them. I'll end by saying that I wish every design I came up with was popular but I can certainly think or quite a few that never took off, most notably the twister-ware design of 1999!

KINYO-GUINOMI

Though one has come to expect the brilliant saidei works of the late Miyashita Zenji, in his youth he followed in his father's footstep creating a wide array of pottery in various styles and glazes. Among one notable style that Miyashita mastered was this Kinyo style which makes for a rather pretty and useful guinomi which has a great, compact form, exceptional lip highlighted by a dark rim and an overall luminous textured punctuated by a deep crimson spot signifying the front of the pot. I have tried to highlight the various qualities of this guinomi in a short video slideshow and hope that this shows off a lesser known style of Miyashita Zenji, one of the surface geniuses of the 20th century.

SHORTCUT

I was working on cleaning up some images of the Kato Tsuneyoshi Mino-Iga mizusashi that I had taken on the path to building a slideshow video of the piece and came across this image. Though this pot has a great deal of rich green ash areas it is on the lid where it really shines; deep, emerald green pools that look like a mineral cluster or outcroppings any adventurer would be thrilled to stumble upon. I have to admit, I am more than smitten with this effect both shizen, all natural in its occurrence as well as through some artifice of technology though it is all the more impressive when it happens through the intensity of the firing and astute choice of varying woods. In either method it still appears as if some guiding provenance has touched the pot and created a surface that one can get lost in and spend any amount of time in some degree of contemplation. There it is, a wonderful shortcut, just a simple arrangement of a handful of certain chemicals, elements collected to create an effect as close to perfect as my eye can see and unlike actual emeralds you can forego the extreme temperatures, dynamic pressure and the millions of years in the making.

TA&H

I made a few bowl the other day, they were thrown a bit thick, altered to a more or less square form and then hacked at a bit with my home made fluting tool. What I ended up with was a squared bowl with intentionally irregular, diagonal flutes for a rustic look, then the bowl was dipped in white slip and then brushed to even out the surface. Once dry I am intending on glazing it in Oribe and then giving it a light using of my black glaze for a surface I am referring to as Kuro-Oribe even though it is not so in the truest sense of the term. I think it should end up with a neat surface and I am hoping to encourage some of the droozy effects moving down the diagonal channels. One step at a time, first it needs to make it through the bisque firing.

COINCIDENCE, I DON"T THINK SO

It is funny how things go, the flow of coincidence (?), pots coming in waves or seeing a group of pots by a potter you have never seen before. Recently I handled a group of pots by Tokoname potter, Kato Yoshiaki (b.1934) who I was acquainted with through illustrations like the one of this wildly glazed Shino mizusashi from a book that I have. In the group was two very nice chawan, one in an older style surface looking like some early Edo tea piece and the other much closer to the pictured mizusashi though not quite as active a surface perched on a high foot with great lift. I was immediately infatuated with his work once I was able to study the pieces, from several different collection in which despite being modern and unique works, the pots all have a very old sensibility to them, that timeless quality that I like with gritty, honest surfaces.  This mizusashi has that quality as well, 1990 or 1890, either is possible though the boldness and posture of form and controlled chaos of the surface put it firmly in the modern camp one can't help but think that it was made during the hectic and creative days of the Meiji era or possibly earlier. It is wonderful to handle a group of pots by a "new" potter and this experience has left me a fan of Kato Yoshiaki's impressive sharkskin style Shino among other surfaces.  

I plan on making a slideshow video of each of the Kato Yoshiaki chawan in the future and will put them up on Youtube and my blog when they are finished.

MORE THAN POUR

I can think of very few potters that are able to create a simple, functional vessel, in this case a tokkuri and make it such a pleasure to use as does Kakurezaki Ryuichi. Visually engaging, this Bizen tokkuri checks off the list of all the bells in whistles from wonderful form, great surface, exceptional texture, masterfully functional and just a real treat to put through its paces though it can do so much more than pour. Created by throwing a basic form, the pot is brought to life by paddling, pushing, cutting and even cajoling the clay to do the bidding that the manipulator wishes, what appears is a tokkuri distinct, idiosyncratic to this potter, unlike no other and set apart even from its relations. Kakurezaki is of course a master at moving clay, creating and fine tuning evocative form and choosing both great clay and wood for his firings; this piece has benefited from all of his skills from imagination to firing and though a simple tokkuri, it is evidently so much more.

You can see more of this little gem over on my Trocadero marketplace; https://www.trocadero.com/stores/albedo3studio/catalog/

MORE FACETS

I decided to try my hand at making a few faceted & banded tokkuri and this is what I came up with. It is only about seven inches or so tall and should make a proper size by the time it is finished fired and my thought process is through some degree of measured persistence I may get a better feel for this process at any scale or form. I am most likely to glaze this in Oribe to allow all the lines and sharp angles show through the surface and collect on whatever points it can. I made the central ring of the bottle a bit depressed to aid in the handling and use of the vessel and it will remain to see how that decision pans out. I think all the lines and angles should like quite nice under the Oribe and will try to remember to post a finished photo when the pot is finished.

"No rock so hard but that a little wave may beat admission in a thousand years." Alfred, Lord Tennyson

THE CLASSICS

In studying the classics, in this case Ki-Seto, one of the essential 20th century potters of that idiom that needs to be singled out is of course Kagami Shukai (1941-2009) whose pots were deeply rooted in the styles archetypes with a sense of his modern touch. The illustrated Ki-Seto mizusashi has that classic sensibility appearing like a molded pot of the Edo period yet was thrown and altered to this unique shape. The lozenge form of this pot goes back to various traditions and styles of the Edo period which ties this piece firmly between antiquity and modern times cloaked in Kagami's well known Ki-Seto glaze with detailed areas highlighted where marks were made in the soft clay. The whole package is made complete with a wonderful cryptomeria cypress lid with attached wood handle, the overall feel with this lid roots it even more firmly in days gone by. I think it is impossible to think about modern Ki-Seto without bringing Kagami Shukai in to the conversation where he is associated with the likes of Arakawa Toyozo, Kato Kozo, Hori Ichiro, Hara Kenji and Hayashi Kyosuke, there may be others to add to this list but there is no denying this is certainly good company to keep.