CONJECTURE

There is a chawan in the Cleveland Museum of Art, a study in the stark and simple, though inviting none the less. The chawan I am referring to is an early 17th century Shigaraki piece that was obviously made specifically for the purpose of tea. At first glance, it appears ordinary and unassuming, study it a bit more and its presence takes hold like a hypnotist conveying the sense of “Tea” and the medieval to the viewer. This is a unique work, made during the infancy of chanoyu in the early years when the rules of tea ceremony, etiquette and pottery were being codified. Despite when it was made, nearly 400 years ago, it stands the test of time and still fulfills its function as the center piece of the tea ritual.

It is a simple work and it is exceedingly difficult to make a simple pot a great pot. It is subtle, serene and contemplative in nature. The subtleties can maintain a dialogue as times change and it is viewed with new eyes. It is the essential wabi/sabi pot and is austere and noble. It appears as a near perfect construct of the various elements that make up a pot, in this case a chawan, with none out of balance or superfluous. In many ways, it is a perfect chawan

Over the many years of studying this chawan, I have often pondered its origin. The scenarios are many, but certain elements are fixed fast in my mind. There is this Shigaraki potter and part time farmer who I have always envisioned as the potter from Ugetsu. One day he is visited by a gentleman from the old capital, Kyoto. He asks this potter, have you heard of this new fashion, the tea ceremony? The mostly isolated valley potter has not and inquires after more information. The visitor explains the broad concept and steps and even about the hacked up piece of bamboo (chasen). He thanks the man for the info and goes back to wedging his clay.

Time passes and this potter takes every opportunity to study chawan when he brings his wares to Kyoto. He examines the clay, glazes, forms, feet and interiors. Very little of what he observes fits the tactile, rough and unglazed Shigaraki clay and pottery. More time passes and as he is making soba-choko, the form begins to materialize, along with the foot. After numerous attempts, the high walled, straight sided Shigaraki chawan emerges. It exudes strength and its feel is wonderful. In time, many of the Shigaraki potters are making various pots for chanoyu, though there can be only one CMA chawan and the anonymous potter who made it.

(I searched around for a photograph of this chawan, but unfortunately the only image is held by the CMA and copyrighted. This chawan can be seen in the STUDIO POTTER Vol. 19, No. 2 on page 28)

MENTORI

I wrote about Kohyama Yasuhisa last week and thought to show a piece by him that exhibits the classic characteristics of his works. This mentori, faceted “object” is about 12” tall if my memory serves me well and the front and back show very different styles of his mentori techniques. The rear has two angled planes that were very deliberately faceted by pulling down a wire with a rocking motion on each. The front shows his classic tool drag down the middle of the face of the pot which creates a very tense point of attraction to the piece.

Though the piece appears to be charcoal grey in color, it actually has a soft, off green appearance of ash that wets the surface in some areas together with coloration created by his sueki style firing and the pots having charcoal beds built up around them. This piece was made in the early 90’s and shows a style that has pushed beyond Shigaraki traditional pottery to add to the lexicon of anagama fired possibilities in the Valley.

I’M READY FOR MY CLOSE-UP

For anyone following or reading my blog and website, it must be apparent; my photographic skills are less that I would like them to be. For many of my pots, the glazes surfaces are a bit more complex that my photographs may convey. With my new partridge feather glaze, I have been trying to capture what it really looks like in person and maybe this close-up does the job. The glaze is very runny and where it terminates it rolls and also creates large droplets which cling to the pieces. As you can see, it has a variety of copper and iron tones and looks great over my temmoku glazes.

To finish out the week, I thought I would respond to a query regarding Albany Slip glazes. A potter emailed and asked if I had a good Albany Slip replacement glaze. I am unsure where this formula originates from, but it is a really great glaze;

NEW AMBER CELADON Cone 9/10
Alberta Slip 33
Custer Spar 20
Flint 14
Wollastonite 13
Whiting 7
Gerstley Borate 3
Kaolin 3
Yellow ochre 7
Bent 6

To be fair, I have modified this glaze (NAC 11-17) for my own use a bit and add some Red Art and a bit of wood ash to the recipe for more interest. It is worth playing with.

IPTV; KOHYAMA YASUHISA

Here is a short video, but a good visual introduction to Shigaraki master potter, Kohyama Yasuhisa (1936). Kohyama-san was the first potter to build an anagama in the Shigaraki valley since the middle ages and his work and firing techniques are unquestionably a blend of the old and the very new. His works have been collected by museums around the world.

I was very fortunate to study and work with Kohyama-sensei for a while in Japan in 1993 as well as spending time with him at the Cleveland Institute of Art and Kent State University while he was a visiting artist here in the US. I was there through his preparation for a major show in the Netherlands and participated in firing his anagama kiln. It certainly was a wonderful experience and one I will never forget.

This short and somewhat grainy video was shot at SOFA, New York in 2008.



There is a very nice article on Kohyama-san that can be seen on Steve Beimel’s weblog;
http://www.japanlivingarts.com/?p=1736

TRANSFORMATION

With all things, there is much about Mashiko pottery that I like and dislike. One of the things I like best about a lot of Mashiko-yaki is the effort to produce objects of utility and function. When I think of Mashiko, naturally I think about Hamada Shoji and then to his best know pupil Ningen Kokuho; Shimaoka Tatsuzo (1919-2007). I have handled a large number of Shimaoka’s pots and have always been pleased with their feel and grasp of utility. Though all of his works are marked (after the death of Shoji Hamada), many of the works with his mark were made by apprentices. Much of his pottery that comes from his kiln has that “people’s art” (mingei) feel to it and as such it embraces function and every day use whether it is made by him or any number of his students.

The illustrated piece is a bit different than the every day Shimaoka pottery. This Yohen-Jomon Zogan mizusashi is intended as a piece of ritual and due to its choice spot in the wood fired kiln (nobori-gama) it has exceeded the everyday object. Fitted with a custom made roiro lacquer lid, this mizusashi shows off the inlaid rope design Shimaoka is so well known for along with natural wood ash cascading down the front of the pot and encircling the lip. It is the subtle choices of form and firing that transforms this Shimaoka pot from a piece for daily use to a master work intended for the ritual of tea (chanoyu). It would seem, these choices are what separate student from master.

THE FURTHER ADVENTURES OF Cu & Fe2O3

I have been playing around with one of my base glazes for some time trying to see how far I can go with it and trying to create a specific type of “glaze runner” that I am interested in. I first altered the glaze by adding large amount of red iron oxide to it and from there began adding amounts of talc and copper. As I moved the amounts of copper and red iron around, I ended up with a very runny, iron saturate glaze that was highly refractory on its own, but showed promise over the basic base glaze.

Over time and some fine tuning, I ended up with a partridge feather (yamatorige) style running glaze that exhibits copper, golden and red iron tones. Though just in its beginning stages, it appears I can control the length of the running, by varying the thickness of application. If you have looked around my blog at all, it may be apparent that I like glazes that are very glassy and also ones that are very runny. I am not sure why, but it may have to do with my interest in wood fired pots with runny ash tamadare and glassy bidoro. At any rate, there would seem to be a number of applications that I can “run” with for this glaze and I have yet to try it on a more or less horizontal surface. One thing at a time.

This bottle was dipped and then pulled out 1/3 and then again out 1/3 to get three degrees of thickness. The three levels are relatively easy to see in the first picture. The teabowl had the interior poured and then in for one 4 count dip. That surface had a wide array of effects and this partridge feather glaze needs more testing and more pots to glaze. It is always nice when you can actually get to where you are going……………..

IN THE OLD DAYS

As I sit down to write this, I am reminded of those “old days” stories. “When I was young, I had to get up a half hour before I went to bed, walk 20 miles through 6 feet of snow in a blinding snow storm before getting to work and working for 20 hours, and I felt lucky …………” That being said, this is not exactly like that.

I remember when I first started making pots, there were stories about all the extinct materials and how ceramics was a different beast now. I listened, politely, and in the back of my mind there was always this thought, but you have ceramic grade spodumene and Albany Slip, what else could you ask for. Then in 1992 or 1993, the well ran dry first on the Albany Slip and then the ceramic grade Foote Minerals spodumene.

In certain respects, I was lucky and saw the proverbial writing on the wall. I squirreled away as much of both as I could get my hands on, a supply that has lasted to this day. Now I must admit, the storehouse is barren and the days of great Shino and various Albany Slip glazes are almost at an end. I have substitutes for most, though they are not quite as lively and rich, but as the supplies dwindle, it is time to move on. Acknowledge and move on.

I now understand all those tales of lament regarding previous extinct materials. At a certain level you become somewhat accustomed to using specific glazes as part of your visual glossary and then you need to find new surfaces to articulate your pots. My lepidolite Oribe is another example of those bygone glazes, but as you look at truly great Albany Slip, spodumene and lepidolite glazes, you see there really is something that we will all sorely miss………….

Illustrated is one of my stoneware teabowls with Albany Slip glaze over a bisque slip.

A MID-RANGE DUO

Like many potters, I use slip for various reasons in each temperature range I work in. I occasionally work in the Cone 5/6 range and have been using this slip, on and off since the early 90’s. I am not sure if I got it from Kirk Mangus or Bill Broulliard, but it has been an effective slip all these years on a wide variety of clay bodies.

Rudy Autio Slip Base (Cone 5/6)
Nepheline Syenite 12.5
Ball Clay 12.5 (I use Tenn #10)
Custer Spar 25
Kaolin 25
Flint 25
Zircopax 10 (this is for a white slip)

This is the clear glaze I have used on and off since about 1994. I am not sure where this FPC (Four Part Clear) came from, but it has been a very useful companion to the above slip recipe. I tend to use this glaze on the thinner side, though it also looks nice a bit thicker and rarely has running issues. With a few additions of colorants, it also makes a nice colored transparent glaze.

FPC (Cone 5/6)
Gerstley Borate 25
Spodumene 25
Custer Spar 25
Flint 25

Illustrated is a black slipped teabowl made back when I was in Cleveland using these two formulas.

KO-IGA IN MODERN TIMES

“I try to enter into the spirit of the old Iga. I approach the masterpieces of that time, and allow myself to be charmed by them at the same time as I coolly analyze them. To make beautiful Igayaki, one shouldn’t fuss too much with the shapes but stat conscious of showing off the beautiful green color.”

“When I am ready to form a piece I always think in terms of trying to express the energy of the clay, but how to express that is always a difficult problem. For my kind of work, as it was for Old Iga, the clay is crucial; it dictates the pottery.”

These two quotes are from an exhibition catalogue filled with wonderful Igayaki by Kojima Kenji (b. 1953). He has been actively working to reproduce Old Iga (Ko-Iga) style pottery since 1973 and even did an apprenticeship in Bizen, to fully understand the nature of kiln firing and forming unglazed clay (yakishime). Though the work is heavily infused with elements of traditional and medieval style pottery, there is a very modern presence to his pots that holds out hope for such anachronistic work for the future.

(The illustration is an Igayaki mizusashi by Kojima Kenji from the exhibition catalogue; KOJIMA KENJI CERAMIC WORKS)

PHONE CALL

I have been very actively working toward several glaze tests that I am conducting. Three glazes are in the secondary stage of testing. I have made up enough of each to glaze up a test-yunomi. As I have mentioned previously, testing is just another part of keeping things interesting and hopefully out of this process, something tangible and within the scope of what I do, will emerge.

In the midst of glazing today, I got a rather unexpected phone call. I was contacted by the Canton Museum of Art (Canton, Ohio) asking for some biographical info. The museum had just acquired a large black and white slip trailed terra cotta plate for their permanent collection. Though I haven’t seen the exact piece, I am assuming it was made back when I lived in Cleveland. I told the curator, I would get back to her with the info she requested in a few days. I have had a number of pieces collected by public and private collections, but from my perspective, this is the kind of news that can sure perk up a snowy, glaze day any time!