THAT IS A BOWL

Large, bold Aka-Shino chawan by Yamada Kazu and for full disclosure the photo is just a bit over-exposed and I do not have access to it to rephotograph the piece but despite that fact it is still quite easy to say, now that is a bowl. I think what is immediately apparent is the fiery appeal of the chawan with a wonderful multi-toned surface, nice texture, great form and lip and the seductive taper from the base to the lip. As if these attributes weren't enough the dramatic punctuations from the fingermarks created while dipping the bowl in glaze also act as the starting point for the glaze runs, contrary to gravity up the chawan while the bowl was pulled from the bucket upside down. The wonderful surface creates a practiced landscape that like a good painting tells the story of at least part of the creation of this chawan while leaving the remainder up to the viewers fertile imagination. Despite the character and characteristics of the bowl, at its core this is a simple chawan that was constructed of complex details that are a very clear indication that the potter who made this bowl has made many more of this form and style. For Yamada to arrive at this point his experience like some organic clock works from piece to piece and firing to firing creating a long and sometimes winding pathway of pots along the way.

TURNAROUND

I am not exactly sure where I first saw this type of closed pedestal dish form though I do know it was some Italian majolica and possibly at the Gardiner Museum (in Toronto) though I am not sure. After seeing this piece in the early 1990s I started making these forms in majolica and also in stoneware using temmoku and tessha glazes and in porcelain using a Choy and a Kawai celadon and though not the epitome of storage practicality, they are fun to make and to use.  

The piece illustrated is a prototype for a customer who wants eight of these forms for a dinner party in which they will serve either tempura, shrimp cocktails or sushi as the menu is not set in stone quite yet. The piece was thrown yesterday and tooled and assembled this morning as the initial prototype being about 8" x 4" at the moment, the top of the form is heavily paddled for a nice texture and the sides are impressed with series of four small squares around the piece and in keeping with the overall idea the piece is finished in a pedestal style foot with a single pierced hole to allow air to escape during the bisque and glaze firing.   

The current thought is that these pieces will be glazed in Oribe with the top having a good coating of iron sprayed over to create a mostly black surface but allowing the texture to still be quite visible. I used the lemons to quickly illustrate the size and scale of the piece which can be tweaked to meet the needs of the customer as well as to give a clearer idea of how much this space can hold. All in all this was a rather quick turnaround for a prototype and hopefully if all goes well I can get the platform pieces made, assembled, dried, bisque and glazed in time for their inaugural use.

 

SMALL BEGINNINGS

I am acutely aware of the saying uttered in LAWRENCE OF ARABIA and by the 'artificial person" David in PROMETHEUS, "Big things have small beginnings" and for me it was a seed planted during a conversation with Warren MacKenzie many years ago. During some free time, I decided to approach Warren and was asking him about some specific historical Japanese pots and one in particular was a faceted, small Oribe koro which he was acquainted with from the book, SHINO AND ORIBE CERAMICS. The conversation turned to his thoughts and opinion of this green glaze in some relation to his use of the green he was using at the time that was fired in the cooler parts of the kiln. We discussed its use a bit and he thought that it was best used on faceted surfaces to bring out the most of both clay and glaze. I was very pleased at the time to be able to discuss both Oribe and Shino glazes because both have fascinated me my entire adult life. What I did not really know at the time that with Warren's input, my love of Japanese pottery and a springboard green glaze what profound impact  this would have over the years, as I said, a seed was certainly planted. 

I began working with Warren's green glaze first at Cleveland State and through the years I have constantly dabbled with various incarnations moving further from the original glaze and away from the constant need to find more lepidolite. Over the last few years much of my work not related to gallery orders and terra cotta pottery seems to always circle back to Oribe style glazes where I have done hundreds of tests and have so many variations that I sometimes lose track of what I have tried and what has and has not worked, thank goodness for  glaze notebooks. My current testing seems to revolve around what I am calling Kuro-Oribe and it has added a different dimension to what I have actually made before, the big question is why did it take so long?     

Illustrated is a picture of a picture from the book  SHINO AND ORIBE CERAMICS that I mentioned previously. As you can see and as the description relates, this pot was quickly thrown on a wheel and then rather spontaneously faceted to give a rather casual impression while creating some visual drama and more than enough tension. The pot was then dipped partially into the Oribe glaze and fired where the glaze ran and created a beautiful demarcation point between the glazed and unglazed surface showing off the clay and crispness of the facets along with some wonderful deep, dark green drips frozen in movement around the sides as well as hanging of the lip, suspended just before falling in to the abyss of the unglazed interior.  This simple, subtle pot has a certain depth, a mysterious (yugen) quality to it that I suspect appeals to most people that see it; a simple pot, a simple conversation and a long road to travel.

ROOTED IN THE PAST

My first real exposure to the works of Shigaraki potter Kengo Saeki was through an add in a Japanese magazine and then later at a gallery that had three of his recently fired pieces all created to resemble Edo period locks used on doors and tansu. I found the design and execution of these pieces to be quite wonderful and when you added in the exceptional firing these pots are just modern Shigaraki magic. Since that time I have come in contact with a number of his more traditional and classic thrown pottery ranging from very usable guinomi and tokkuri to vases and an array of chadogu for tea ceremony.   

Illustrated is a much more traditional Shigaraki pot by Kengo Saeki, a rather nice mizusashi that borrows from the old to add a bit to the present. The form, lid and knob of this pot are rather simple and it is perhaps because of that simplicity that there is an inviting and calming atmosphere to the pot that is incised around the shoulder with the quintessential Shigaraki fence design used for centuries.    

Though rooted in the past this mizusashi has been fired in a way that embracing more modern firing techniques and goals from the botamochi style resist areas to the build up of layered ash that creates a near rainbow of coloration from hi-iro flashes to greys, greens, lavenders, light blues to even light pinks as well as bands of scorched deep browns to help paint this canvas in a semi-abstract landscape. I think it is safe to say that under the tutelage of his master, Sawa Kiyotsugu that Kengo Saeki has been well founded in the traditions of Shigaraki pottery making and firing along with the vision to see beyond the old and create pottery that speaks of all the modern influences available and I suspect that is exactly what a living tradition is all about.

APPLY WHEN WET

I threw three vases like the one in the picture this morning along with some other pieces and then waited a bit and attached lug handles while the pot was still way soft. I like to attach the handles like this while the clay is soft as it leaves a slight impression in the body of the vase where the lugs were applied. I think working this way softens the transitions sometimes and works on some pots with some surfaces but not all in my opinion. Once a bit drier I will work on the lugs to add marks from top to bottom and then tool the foot somewhat to better define the form. Currently the pot is a bit over 13" or so but will shrink to a reasonable size and since I threw three, I will have three attempts at glazing them though one will be slip decorated under Oribe as an order and the other two will likely be temmoku and ash for one and either Kuro-Oribe or saffron for the other. By attaching the lugs at this point when I do go to trim them I can go from one to another rather quickly and get all of the trimming down before lunch so that I can get to other projects in the afternoon.

MIMITSUKI

It is always a welcome opportunity to have a pot by Furutani Michio show up here and that is exactly what happened on Friday. The Iga vase illustrated here was bought by a friend and he has decided to focus his collecting which doesn't include "traditional" pieces. As you can clearly see in the photo this hanaire is very much a traditional piece, modeled on medieval archetypes as well as being a classic piece by the potter from form, pottery marks and surface. Created in a mimitsuki style, this Iga vase is formed by two distinct tiers and well articulated by well practiced marks incised in to the clay while it was still wet and completed with the attachment of the lugs that help define and articulate the piece in a somewhat noble manner. The subsequent wood firing has added movement and variation to the vase with deep green glass building up around the lip, shoulder and on the lugs helping flush out the narrative of modern Iga pottery. All in all this is a classic Furutani Michio pot and carries with it many of the trademark attributes he is best known for as well as being a strictly functional vessel with all the right aesthetics whether it is being used or not.  

You can see more of this Iga vase over on my Trocadero marketplace here;

https://www.trocadero.com/stores/albedo3studio/items/1461904/IGA-MIMITSUKI-HANAIRE-BY-FURUTANI-MICHIO

HAIYU KAMON

Illustrated is a rather subtle but powerful haiyu jomon mizusashi by the godai (5th generation) Kato Sakusuke, Kato Shinya. This low, wide basin form looks like stone with incised decoration at first glance but it is a stone like texture with inlaid white decoration entirely around the exterior and interior of the pot covered over in a thin layer of ash glaze and finished off with a wide, custom made lacquer lid. There is almost a trompe l'oiel  feeling to this pot, like a carved out stone basin with incised decoration filled with some pigment or another sitting in on the ritual of tea and reflecting the moon. The form and aesthetic is rather appealing and speaks of a much older time free of ego and any superfluous detail yet relying on tradition and certain guidelines of purpose and function.  Kato Shinya is a rather diverse Seto potter schooled in tradition by not only his father  Kato Sakusuke IV and family but also by Ningen Kokuho Fujimoto Yoshimichi and Tamura Koichi, producing  Ki-seto and Oribe works as a staple of production at his kiln. 

There are quite a few examples of this haiyu kamon work that has been exhibited around Japan and won awards and in 2004 he was made Aichi Prefecture Intangible Cultural Property for his Oribe and Ki-Seto works though in my opinion his haiyu kamon is perhaps his most innovative and modern work that is likely to best be remembered in decades to come.  On a side note, the picture at the top right corner is from an exhibition catalogue showing this mizusashi. I am always surprised to encounter an illustrated piece given the sheer number of pots made across all of Japan and by an individual potter together with the few catalogues I have in relation to all those pots. I would think the odds are strongly against being published but given the nature of this particular pot it doesn't surprise me at all since it is easily exhibition quality and at the very top end of Kato Shinya's work.  

"A stone basin,  

Filled to the brim,  

The full moon embraced." 

 

AS OLD AS THEY COME

Illustrated is one of those medieval looking pots, looking as old as they come relative to the actual archetypes of the Momoyama and early Edo era that is. I enjoy pieces like this that exude a sense of antiquity and having been witness to history along the way even though they are more or less modern. I say more or less modern because this is an early pot by Iga potter Kojima Kenji, likely made in the 1980s and as such modern is somewhat relative. As soon as you see this rugged hanaire it is easy to see how sturdy and practical the form and weight are, trust me, put a branch in this piece and the vase isn't going to tip over on you, weight was a secondary concern to functions and the aesthetics of the piece. As may or not be evident, during the firing an angular bed of charcoal built up around the base contributing to the surface of the vase which shows some very nice ash build up around the shoulder, lugs, neck and mouth with highlights of glassy green here and there as the heat of the firing worked its magic on the contents of the kiln. The general attitude of the vase coupled with the anthropomorphic attributes of the lugs give the pot a wonderfully animated posture and a good amount of character as well. As I said, I like pots that conjure up thoughts of antiquity which always brings me back to the expression, "everything old is new again" and that is at the very heart of this Iga vase.

TESTING TRIALS AND TRIBULATIONS

Last Monday I decided to go ahead and throw all the pots I needed for two commissions, a 6 piece jar set (canisters) and four large plates meant to be hung on the wall. The throwing went smoothly but not so much in regards to the tooling. We lost power here in central New York State from Tuesday to Thursday which meant covering things up really well and turning my attention to some tasks that didn't need any electricity, namely making up some slips, one glaze and a group of tests including a slip test to try to correct some recent problems with the slip staying on the various clay bodies that I use.    

Most likely my testing trials and tribulations don't add up to much in the cosmic scheme of things but even so, I would like to get things worked out and with no power, this was the perfect time. At issue is an older crackle slip formula that I used for quite some time and it was fool-proof, that is until now. In the past year of so the slip comes off the pot in the bisque or in the glaze firing which is even worse. I will mention for the record, the materials used have not changed at all nor has the clay, it has literally just stopped working. What you see here is my latest test of the formula which has had the calcined material increased a bit more and I will test the slip on wet clay, dry clay and bisque clay pods to get some results, the cracking occurs during the drying, bisque and firing processes.   

The pods are marked appropriately and one pod from each group will be fired ultimately without any glaze to see what happens to the slip and whether or not it comes off or is easy to pry off sans glaze. Along with the unglazed pods to be tested will be a pod from each category that will have a transparent glaze, either clear or Oribe to gauge how they react and whether or not the slip stays on the pods (or pots down the road). I know this doesn't really amount to a hill of beans but it is just one of my current conundrums and I would like to be able to strike a line through at least this to do item as soon as is possible. The testing continues and this was a good use of down time even if there were few other choices to keep busy in the studio.

 

CHAIRE TWO-VUE

When I look at a Hagi glaze like that illustrated here part of me is reminded of an isolated snowfall or cherry petals set adrift in a stiff breeze but from time to time the inner sci-fi part of me sees illuminated neutrinos dancing about in some distant celestial event. However you wish to see or internalize this perfectly blushed surface punctuated by the purity of titanium crystals the effect is quite powerful and shows a mastery of clay, form, fire and chemistry which Kanta Masanao is well known for. Made using the kurinuki technique of turning blocks of clay into object, this chaire takes on a unique form that is well suited for both process and surface making for a rather organic and even sensual presentation and posture. As you can see in this two-vue photo, on the left the form is completed with a lid that compliments the form and is practical to use. On the right Kanta has provided a sculpted ivory lid the finish off the chaire in a traditional manner yet still playing on the organic ideal of the piece in general. I think as you look at this chaire in general that it represents a new face of Hagi and the possibilities for the tradition moving into the 21st century but as I study the piece all I can imagine is a space where this chaire and a chawan and mizusashi all of like mind and character are displayed, what a scene that would make.