OKABE’S PERSPECTIVE

“Fundamentally, no form or shape exists. The fact that the material itself has a reason for existence is the starting point of my work.”

“Clay acquires meaning only in its relationship to fire and glaze.”

“The connection between the materials-clay, shape and glaze- and the factor called the human being brings about the concreteness of ceramics.”
Okabe Mineo (1919-90)

Okabe Mineo was the son of the legendary Kato Tokuro. Much has been written about Okabe, so I will not extol the history and achievements of his life. Let is suffice to say, he was a master of each style he embraced. His Ko-Seto, Oribe, Shino, Ash glazed and celadon works are among the finest of the 20th century. His use of Oribe was homeric in nature, second to none and in my opinion unparalleled in the 20th century.

(The chawan illustrated is an early Ko-Seto ash glazed piece by Okabe Mineo, circa 1950. This piece is used with the kind permission of a private collection.)

CONTINUING KILN WOES

I recently had to do some ad hoc kiln repair on my electric bique kiln. I have an Olympic kiln and it has been a true work horse and very problem free. The first problem was solved by replacing my tube assembly for the kiln setter and new switches.

Once repaired, I loaded the bique and off it went. Seemingly no problems, though a bit slower than previously. Now as I am firing another bisque and am having a near impossible time making the last 50 degrees of cone 06, I have no choice but to admit it is time to replace the elements.

The elements in the kiln are just about 5 years old and on average I fire the kiln twice a week, so do the math. I have ordered new elements and when they arrive, the fun begins. Though I have replaced elements several times before, it is always such a long period of time between doing so, that the lead up to the process is always wrought with a bit of anxiety. There is little you can do wrong to replace the elements, but I am just dreading the process not to mention the down time and loss of a day to do so. As usual, I’d rather be throwing!

MARKS

Shoji Hamada was arguably one of the best mark makers in pottery of the last century. His repeated use of the sugarcane motif was casual, engaging and very prominently articulated his pottery. There are a number of good mark makers today; Tom Coleman, Michael Simon and Ron Meyers spring to mind.

Like many potters, though I understand the importance of the mark (and line) on clay and as a decoration, it takes years to develop a vocabulary of marks that work well and are responded to. Good marks add value to a pot and help establish it’s form and gesture.

I use a variety of marks, some from cartoons, historical examples and some just happened on for my pottery. I try to match the right marks with the right surfaces and pots and am always looking to improve with the help of critical analysis of collectors, potters and critics. As Soetsu Yanagi points out; “unless a thing attracts the mind it is not a thing; unless the mind gives life to a thing it is not as yet complete”. Good marks engage the mind, completing a process started by the potter and help bring the pot to fruition.

NEW BIZEN

Whenever I think about Bizen pottery today, I invariably think of the Isezaki family. Isezaki Yozan(1902-61) was the father of Isezaki Jun, Ningen Kokuho of Bizen pottery and his brother Isezaki Mitsuru, Prefectural Living National Treasure of Okayama and Jun’s son is one of the quintessential faces of modern Bizen pottery; Isezaki Koichiro (伊勢﨑 晃一朗 ).

Isezaki Koichiro (b. 1974) has had a rich learning experience having studied with his father (Jun) as well as, being in proximity to his uncle (Mitsuru) and his father’s apprentice Kakurezaki Ryuichi. Koichiro also went to the US and studied with noted wood fire potter Jeff Shapiro. This blend of eastern and western traditions is evident in his pottery and firing technique which is helping add a new definition to modern Bizen pottery.

Much of his work is similar in style to the pictured chawan. His chawan in particular, have been stripped to the bare essentials of form and are nearly minimalist in execution. His work is not only visually engaging, but is seductive in the hand, soft in it’s lines, evocative and enticing. To finish the bowl, the wood firing has left rivulets of ash cascading down the teabowl further accentuating the height and curve of the piece. The foot is also deceptively simple in it’s finish and the roving lip calls you into the interior. Overall this chawan is a minimalist tour de force.

FREE TO TEST

I have been making pots long enough now that I have inherited misc. supplies from various sources. While at Cleveland State the university co-op went under and they gave away a large amount of chemicals and clay. I got quite a bit of colorants, stains and glaze materials that I could use and squirrel away. After leaving CSU, I was lucky enough to get materials from various sources, potters retiring, leaving clay, etc. and I was able to put together a constant pool of usable materials and things I knew were no longer mined and a bit out of the ordinary. I still take every opportunity to get ‘free” stuff whenever the chance presents itself.

Back while at CSU, I used copper sulfate and cobalt sulfate on porcelain with some interesting results. Having recently inherited a small amount of cobalt sulfate I thought to try it out with my ash glaze and see what would happen. I mixed the cobalt sulfate with gerstley borate at 1:1 and mixed it up watercolor thin. I painted a small band around the lip of a teabowl and fired it along with the rest of my pots.

The results surprised me a bit. It ran with long tendrils down the bowl, nearly four inches. Considering the less that ¼” band I painted on the lip, I will need to keep in mind the potency of cobalt in general and the running qualities of the cobalt sulfate/gerstley borate mix. It does make for a rather fluid surface and definitely accentuates the vertical nature of the bowl.

A BOOK GLAZE

When I first decided to go and interview the local pottery professor in Plattsburgh, NY (Bill Klock) I stopped at the local used book store and bought the two pottery books they had; FINDING ONE’S WAY IN CLAY (1972) by Paulus Berensohn and MAKING POTTERY WITHOUT A WHEEL (1965) by F. Carlton Ball and Janice Lovoos. Though neither gave me any insight into wheel throwing, both we very illuminating as to the scope and possibilities of clay.

The other day, I was tooling around Amazon.com and stumbled on the MAKING POTTERY WITHOUT A WHEEL book and have to admit, I was somewhat surprised at one of the reviews of the book. It pointed out that the glaze section of the book was severely outdated. Not to sound argumentative, but how can any glazes, that work, be outdated.

I have been using several formulas, mostly that I have altered a bit, from this book for 20 years. What worked when the book came out in 1965, works today. In fact, one of the nicest blue-green celadons I have ever used came from this source and I continue to use it now and again some 45 years after it was published. Here is the formula exactly as it is in the book;

Choy Blue Celadon Cone10 (weight in grams)
Feldspar 1226
Whiting 150
Flint 496
Kaolin 96
Barium Carbonate 400
Red Iron Oxide 50

I have also illustrated the glaze on two teabowls I have made. The first one shows the glaze right out of the book. The pale yellow-green version was just tweaked a bit. Though most of my glazes started out as book glazes, most have been so altered that they bare little resemblance to the original formulas, but this Choy Blue Celadon is great, as is and I love this glaze and think it is absolutely timeless, many thanks to Ball and Lovoos!

KILN REPAIRS

I am currently without my bisque kiln, an electric kiln, while I wait on parts. This hiccup interfers with my cycle, no bisquing, no glazing. All part of making pots I guess. Over the years, I have rewired my kiln(s), put in new contacts, switches and elements and have done the necessary repairs to my wheel as well.

It occurs to me periodically, that most potters are the proverbial “jack of all trades”. In my arsenal is carpenter, electrician, plumber, chemist, mold maker, packing specialist, book keeper, inventory manager and more that I am probably missing or unaware of.

Of course these skills are mostly minimal and only as they apply to pottery, but it just amazes me how these skills develop out of necessity and economic restraints. Now all I have to do is wait patiently for the UPS truck to show up!

THE MARK OF THE POTTER

I have always liked the way Japanese potters glaze. They grab hold of a pot and dip it in the glaze using their fingers as a form of resist. Once fired, the fingerprints are forever apparent on the pot. To me, the Japanese are highly effective at this technique and plan it into the overall design and decoration of the pot. It is a casual and simple means of adding additional gesture to a piece. In this case, this truly is the mark of the potter.

Over the years I have seen a number of potters use this technique very well. Warren MacKenzie comes to mind. In my glazing, I occasionally use my fingers and even hands as a resist when using two glazes. It is a way of noting the process and that I was there.


Of all the people that do this, Arakawa Toyozo is among my favorite. I first saw his work back in 1982 and have studied his pottery at every opportunity. Arakawa was a Ningen Kokuho and his effortless, spontaneous and casual manner for decorating and glazing is the pinnacle of the art. His simple marks and fingerprints articulate his pots and create beauty out of timeless and classical simplicity.

(Photograph of an Arakawa Toyozo mizusashi with sparse plum blossom design and his fingerprints around the foot. Used with permission from a private collection)

SLIP TRAILING

I first tried my hand at slipware back in 1991. I had always loved the works of the early American redware potters and I especially loved the work of Michael Cardew, so I thought, why not give stoneware a break.

I started testing first earthenware and terra cotta clay bodies and finally found one that suited me. The next step was testing slips to meet up with the terra cotta I was making up. I got a good fit almost right away and set about making some redware style pieces with amber glazes. Though it was working, I was just not that enthused with the look.

What I ended up deciding on was a blending of Cardew and Juan Miro. I opted to use a background of black slip over the terra cotta and then used white sliptrail designs under a nearly crystal clear glaze. Though I didn’t know it,that was the look I was going for. The new slipware became my first body of work the galleries accepted (I had only been making pots for about 18 months) and has continued to be 30% of my sales up until the present day.

I have developed a large group of designs based on both traditional slipware and my own newer style designs. I am forever using the ubiquitous spiral as well as my “landscape men” and a cast of thousands. The real love of slip trailing is that you have one shot, you can’t hesitate or it shows. The designs are instantaneous and in some distant way related to the immediacy of Zen painting. Besides, how can you go wrong with black and white?

LIGHT

"Light is the first of painters. There is no object so foul that intense light will not make it beautiful." Ralph Waldo Emerson

(A carved porcelain covered box by Japanese potter Kano Mitsuo)