BREIVITY

Illustrated is the 15 minute start to finish mallet vase I made a while back as an exercise, now fired. Thrown out of a sandy stoneware and assembled the base was quickly faceted and now is glaze in a saffron or iron yellow glaze over a Hagi style white which shows off the sand inclusions and pronounced lines quite well. The iron yellow glaze ended up a bit thinner than normal and I have some effects on the surface that I haven't seen before that I would like to repeat including the brooding areas of dark, reddish-ochre patches that run down the surface in several areas. The iron yellow glaze was poured over the surface as opposed to my usual dipping method and you can see where the built in boundary around the base ended up keeping some of the glaze from running off the pot and sticking to the shelves. I think this form came out quite well considering the brevity of its creation and maybe next time the next one will come out a bit better yet reminding me of a maxim to live by; "anything worth doing is worth doing fast".

INPIRED JOURNEY

This Raku chawan is a bowl that I had here quite some time back and despite the prolific nature of the potter, this chawan is memorable for its alluring landscape and sensuous form that just belongs in the hands. As is probably apparent this bowl is an utsushi-mono of the Kuro-Raku "KAMIYA" chawan made by Sasaki Shoraku III and made in the style of Honami Koetsu. As I mentioned there are a lot of varying copies of the chawan of Honami Koetsu and Raku Chojiro and their descendants but this bowl had that something that gave it a bit more than being a mere copy. Perhaps it is the subtle display of exuberance that this bowl is imbued with that sets it apart coupled with a rich and lustrous surface that if you can imagine alludes to some long forgotten landscape scroll about an inspired journey filled with discovery along the way. Well at least that is how I see it, what do you see?

BOOK COVER

I have this ongoing conversation with several collectors that I correspond with and one issue that comes up is if there was a book written about your collection, however grandiose or humble, what would be the picture on the book cover? Over the years I have seen a surprising array of pieces put forth for such a distinguished spot but admittedly for most collectors of modest means, though it may be the best pot, most significant piece or the most important to the owner but it's more a mental exercise than a reality. I should mention that over the years I have had a number of pots shown to me or handled, some even photographed that could easily be the book cover shot and of these a number have even been included in museum shows but at the end of the day, despite how good a pot is, what number would actually qualify for that sacred piece that makes the cut.   

That being said, recently this large and bold Hori Ichiro Shino tsubo passed my way, a pot as much ethereal painting as it is clay object. At first glance, it is the impressive scale that you focus in on which gives way to the strength of form which is articulated with long, sweeping vertical facets. It is the movement with the pot and the carefully crafted surface that brings the medieval Rimpa style imagery to life, you can sense, almost hear the wind rustling through the grasses conjuring up memories of THE TALE OF GENJI or any number of Kurosawa or Inagaki film. The brilliant use of form, decoration, glaze and firing give way to a work that is the total, complete package and easily worthy of being on the book cover, now all you need to do is find another 50 or 60 pieces that aren't intimidated by the first photo that catches your eye on the book shelf to finish off the book.

ADAPTIVE

It is pretty clear as you look at this glaze surface that the inspiration comes from the original and unique Oni-Iga surfaces first pioneered by Tsukigata Nahiko back in the late 1970s and early 1980's. What is also clear are all of the differences from Tsukigata himself, the form is not quite as rugged or immediately persuasive, the surface is perhaps not quite as rich and some of the other details from how the lip and kodai are finished are unique to this potter and this chawan. Catering to her own vision of this style, Ayukai Kogestsu made this Oni-Iga chawan in a slightly less masculine style though it does have an earthy expression and an eminently usable appearance. 

I think as I study (well studied) this chawan there is a softer countenance to the bowl, it is less masculine and less aggressive and has a smoother atmosphere which easily settles down in the hands for a rather comforting experience. Like her master, the use of this glaze style has produced a wide array of variations about the surface from rich iron blooms to the plains of dark area being broken up by running ash to tendrils of white feldspar breaking through the surface making for a visual menagerie of all the possibilities of Oni-Iga. Though very much in the style of Tsukigata Nahiko, Ayukai Kogetsu has adapted this surface and techniques to her way of working in clay and as such she has bent the idiom to her vision and sense of a rich and apparently adaptive style.

IN THE GROOVE

I ended up making a few of these taller citadel covered jars for a couple of different galleries a while back and have now realized I don't have any photographs of the finished piece though part of me considered this small group one-offs. Though this is just classic forgetfulness in point of fact, only a small percentage of things I make do get photographed to act as future reference or to be able to show customers and galleries. These raised foot covered jar were made of terra cotta and decorated with carved XOXO pattern, tebori style before being finished with a thin clear glaze. Not that it was essential to have finished photos of these pieces but in retrospect it would have been a bit useful more so that telling someone, please imagine this photo with a shiny surface of transparent glaze. I am sure a lot of potters (crafts people) can understand as you get going and getting in the groove, especially making 'stock" pieces, the biggest thought is getting the work made, decorated, bisque, glazed, packed and delivered. This mindset makes it easy to forget even some new ideas and forms, like this covered jar but at the end of the day there are usually quick sketches or pictures like this one taken on my phone that outline the details well enough to make another if the need should arise.

TEMPORARY TRANSPORT

Illustrated is a simple yet easy to identify Shigaraki tebachi by Kohyama Yasuhisa made in Showa 48 (1973) acting as a temporary transport for a lacquered Daruma set which is in a fact a sake drinking game. As for the tebachi, this piece is very simple in execution being made out of a coarse, sandy and rocky clay which has a dry ash deposited over the surface with areas of very nice hi-iro and lots of tsuchi-aji flavor about the piece. One rather eye appealing feature is the botamochi style resisted circle on the flat of the interior that shows off the rich clay surrounded by fly ash that coupled with the classic Kohyama interrupted facets around the form help define this humble piece. I guess I also forgot to mention that the reason I am sure of the date is that this Shigaraki tebachi is well illustrated in an early exhibition catalogue from that year and though the Daruma may not exactly seem like willing participants in this photo shoot, I can tell you it was my pleasure to have this piece around for a short while.

TWO AUSPICIOUS BIRDS

Though a bit outdated and classically 1970s, this double framed ceramic tile was made by legendary Kyoto potter Shinkai Kanzan. I was immediately fascinated by this tile despite being a product of its time for a variety of reasons, from the exceptional use of texture, dimension, scale, subject matter and surface, all the details come together to present the whimsical portrayal of a mated pair of birds in a style only Shinkai could have pulled off. Though one might expect this to be some press molded tile, in fact the decoration was created separately, a slab of white stoneware was used as the base and using textured stamps, pieces-parts where created and assembled, appliqué style to the base. In all, at least eight separate pieces where applied to the base tile in such a way that a firm and complete marriage of components was employed to keep the tile from "falling apart" in the bisque or glaze firing. 

As you can clearly see the perfect choice of glaze was employed where it is rather opaque in the background and semi-transparent on all the detail painting a perfect portrait of the subject matter in textured detail. This tile as I mentioned is double framed and on the reverse of the frame is a hand applied label that reads, " SHINKAI KANZAN MADE THIS, CERAMIC PLAQUE, TWO AUSPICIOUS BIRDS". If the decoration, surface and detail didn't get my (our) attention than the great title certainly did and it is quite perfect for the house where The Birds reside.

SQUARED UP & ASSEMBLED

While I was in the groove of throwing some small pieces and squaring them up I got this bug to make a few slightly larger pieces and this composite vase was one of the pieces. Don't ask exactly how I got here but here are the facts, the base and neck were both thrown round and squared up and assembled together where I added a slab mouth and lugs to the form. My intention from the beginning was to make this form rather quickly so nothing was measured and the actual construction is not perfectly symmetrical by design which I think gives the piece the wonky and not fussed over feel that I was aiming for. Though I was interested in making a piece larger than a tokkuri, I kept my ambition in check and ended up with a vase 14" tall and once fired should end up just over a foot in height. I only made a couple squared forms this time around deciding to wait and see how they glazed before making more.

BUNCHEONG TSUBO

I guess I should start out by saying that though I have a fair working knowledge regarding Korean pottery my familiarity with modern Korean (South Korean) potters is spotty at best and that extends to the maker of this tsubo Yoo Byung Ho (b.1947). This large and impressive tsubo is a type of mishima slipware popularized during the Joseon Dynasty known as Buncheong ware where in this case, the pot was thrown out of a slightly coarse clay, heavily and almost rustically faceted and then covered in its entirety in what appears to be a simple yet complex stamped decoration before being covered over in a white slip. Once the white slip set up it was scraped off leaving slip in the recessed areas before being glazed in a semi-matt transparent glaze and fired. The result is a tsubo seemingly in perpetual motion with a nearly dizzying movement of pattern and other slip and glaze iterations making for quite an impressive pot in person.

An important dish was presented to her majesty, Queen Elizabeth II that was made by Yoo ByungHo in 1999 which I think attests to the quality of his workmanship and artistry. Coupled with this accolade, this tsubo comes complete with a catalogue from an exhibition held in Japan which prominently illustrates this fine and noble Buncheong tsubo. As I mentioned my working knowledge of the modern South Korean pottery scene isn't 100% but it all boils down to a good pot being just that, a good pot.   좋은 냄비는 좋은 냄비입니다 

SPARE PARTS

I had this idea a while back and for the record it wasn't a particularly good one either but it did leave me with one small, rounded closed form in stoneware so I decided to see what I could make with it. First I paddled the piece into a cube and then refined the edges leaving the top of the form ever so slightly domed. The next step was to push in and define the foot so that the piece rested on the center of each side and then made a small spout for the burgeoning pouring vessel. The last step was making a squared and carved stopper and fitting it to a matching square opening in the top of the pot. Once bisque I decided to go with the Kuro-Oribe style surface which has made it next to impossible to photograph but the idea and sense of form are easy enough to see even if the glaze and effects are not. In the end you'll have to take my word on the fact that this piece certainly came out better than the original multi-cube assemblage that was fairly quickly recycled for other projects that made a bit more sense.