MOSTLY BLACK & WHITE

Having worked with a number of potters and at different locations has a large number of advantages. In essence, you learn all along the way and pick up neat tricks and glazes as you go. What you do with these new techniques and surfaces is up to you. Over time, you can process this input by putting it into a blender and out comes something different than it was when you first picked it up.


Illustrated is a large, about 24” platter made of stoneware that combines a number of influences. The crackle slip comes from Randy Johnston, via Warren MacKenzie, the ash glaze over the slip is from Kirk Mangus and the vivid black overglaze cames from Warren as well. The decoration comes from years of studying and absorbing Zen ink paintings, especially from Nakahara Nantembo (1839-1925). Though I relied on a variety of sources, the platter comes together as something that I have to say. Using what has come before to create something original is the best that I can ask for.

IPTV; SHORT BUT SWEET

When I think about the giants of Japanese pottery of the 20th century, there are a number of potters who spring to mind, however the ones who always top my list are Shoji Hamada, Kawai Kanjiro, Okabe Mineo, Kato Tokuro and certainly not the least of which is Arakawa Toyozo. I was lucky enough to see my first Arakawa chawan back in 1982 and over the years have seen and handled a number of his works. Despite the seeming simplicity of his pottery, there is a combination of timelessness, elegance, brilliance and power all infused into his works. His mastery of Seto-Guro, Shino and Ki-Seto is made all the more remarkable as he pioneered the clay, glazes and firings that had almost entirely disappeared from Japan. It is thorough his remarkable artistic and creative genius that these arts have made such a dramatic comeback.

For my 200th post, I am putting up a very short but sweet video exerpt from an older National Geographic special that I first saw on PBS Television, it was entitled; LIVING TREASURES OF JAPAN. At the time I saw it, I had recently met with Ningen Kokuho swordsmith, Gassan Sadaichi (Sadakazu) so the segments on him and Arakawa Toyozo were of extreme interest. As I mentioned, this is short, but I hope it is as fascinating to you as it has been to me for all these years.

BOOK LEARNING

“ ‘I want to learn about pottery. What book should I read?’ I am sometimes asked. ‘I want to see a pretty girl, what book should I read?’ That’s what the Zen monk Sengai (1750-1837) would retort if he were alive.” Kitaoji Rosanjin (1883-1959)

I have often found this quote by Rosanjin particularly interesting. In over two decades of making pots, I have been asked that question more times than I care to recount, but the irony is that was the very same question I asked many years back. While engaged in writing an article on modern Japanese pottery, I met with Bill Klock and one of the first questions I asked was; “what book should I read to learn how pottery is made?”. Though Bill is not Rosanjin, he simply smiled and replied; “all of them”. With a grin still on his face, he suggested I come down and get my bearings by watching people make pots and trying it out myself. I am still not sure if going to the pottery studio for that first time was a good idea or not. The verdict is still not in.

ONKO-CHISHIN

“In a modern world, I am seeking for a work which creates tranquility and can suggest Wabi and Sabi. Mino has the wonderful Shino tradition handed down by our ancestors, I would like to continue progressing in daily life with the ceedo; ‘Look at the old to learn the new’. “ Yamada Seiji

Illustrated is a classic Momoyama influenced Shino chawan by Mino veteran potter; Yamada Seiji (b.1932). The form, glaze quality, sparse and fluid decoration and wonderful kodai make for a splendid statement about modern Shino which takes its cues from the Momoyama archetype.

More pictures of this chawan can be seen here;
http://www.trocadero.com/albedo3studio/items/1087584/item1087584store.html#item

A short video of this chawan can be seen here;

LIBERTY

“What light is to the eyes- what air is to the lungs- what love is to the heart, liberty is to the soul of man.”     Robert Green Ingersoll (1833-1899)

THE FIRST

I recently encountered a teabowl that took me way back to the very beginning of our chawan history, as they say; you never forget your first. Back in the early 1980’s my wife’s work kept her going back and forth from upstate New York to Cleveland and on many of the trips, I would accompany her. We were fortunate to meet Mitzie Verne (grandmother of actor James Franco!) on one of our trips and while my wife worked, I was invited over to the Mitzie Verne Collection of Cleveland at the time still located at her home. Her house was a treasure trove of object from her numerous travels as well as Japanese prints, paintings and pottery for sale. Despite the sensory overload, the best part of the visits was always Mitzie’s charm and infectious sense of humor. One this one fatefull visit, Mitzie showed me a wonderful large boxed kakejiku scroll and a great chawan. Despite the fact that we could barely keep our heads above water as it was, we bought both. The scroll was by Tessai, a famous painter with unimpeachable provenance and the chawan was by Takahashi Wasaburo. What I had succeeded in doing was to buy our very first, honest to goodness Japanese chawan. It may seem like no big deal now, but back then, there was no internet and no easy access to modern Japanese ceramics, short of treks to NY City or Japan. The hunt was always filled with phone descriptions and even poorer Polaroids!

Illustrated is the very first chawan we ever collected and we actually still own it. It never ceases to engage me and the dialogue a bit more mature than when I first obtained it. The chawan is by Takahashi Wasaburo (b. 1948) who studied with Ueda Naokata IV and Ningen Kokuho, Shimizu Uichi. This chawan was wood fired and is a really deep and intense seiji glaze with splashes of rich iron splashed around the surface. This chawan shows the influence of Shimizu and the shape feels wonderful in the hand and my eye always sees something new even after 25+ years. I am glad it has decided to stick around.

LEAVING WELL ENOUGH ALONE

When I start using a new glaze, I am constantly trying to figure out its limits and limitations. By pushing the glaze I can get differing surfaces, running qualities and sometimes a glaze that bares no resemblance to the original. Maybe it is the wannabe alchemist in me that makes testing, retesting and altering what already works an enjoyable part of making pots.

Taking a minor cue from Tsukigata Nahiko, I have been playing with the iron content and thickness in the glaze that started out as my “new” partridge feather glaze. As I have nudged it a bit, here and there, I have been seeing a new glaze quality periodically that resembles some modern Tamba pottery. In my most recent firing, I glazed a severely paddled teabowl in my temmoku and tetsu-yu glazes and the illustrated bowl is the result. It is a really nice mixture of runny ash and iron intermingled in the one glaze. I wonder why I just can’t leave well enough alone, but the real question is why would I want to, it is just not in my nature.

“There is only one thing stronger than all the armies in the world, and that is an idea whose time has come.” Victor Hugo

AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT

I am constantly sketching out ideas and filling folders with ideas for pots, surfaces and decoration. Over the time period of making pots, I am afraid I am probably responsible for the single handed eradication of a tree with all the “scrap” paper I have used for these sketches. Despite the fact that I will not live long enough to persue all of these ideas, or even want to, periodically I flip open a folder and decide to make something that is out of the norm and not as comfortable as just throwing a pot.

This weekend, flipping open the folder, it opened up to a series of sketches of slab built bottle forms. So without thinking it through, I went down Sunday afternoon and rolled out slabs for a Monday build-a-thon. I set about cutting slabs to a form I had sketched out and set about building several bottles. I should interject here that I am not a great hand-builder by any means and the process is slow, tiring and wrought with problems along the way. After a full day of working and trying to set the lines of the piece to something akin to straight and even, I end up with two bottles with thrown necks. The larger bottle, illustrated, is about 18” tall and what I didn’t take into consideration was how to glaze them. The bottles ended up much wider than my current glaze buckets. Should have stopped, smelled the coffee and thought this one through to its conclusion.

In the time I built these, I could have easily thrown a dozen pots or more. Now remind me please, what was my motivation?

IN SITU

Anyone who has been to Japan and visited historical residences, castles or temples can attest to the fact that the decoration in most is sparse with objects set about to punctuate the space rather than overwhelm it. For westerners, or at least this westerner, it always struck me as, where the heck is all the stuff? The Japanese are fond of cleverly storing their stuff in wood boxes in closets, under the floor boards, in tansu of every shape and size imaginable (including a stair kaidan tansu), kura (secured and fire resistant storage building) and elsewhere. The preference was to use singular objects to accent the mood, season or occasion. In time, these objects are repacked in their storage boxes and rotated out for other pieces.

Since my wife and I started living with art and craft, we have basically done the same, with a few pots out and then rotated when the mood hits us. The same goes for Japanese scroll paintings, kakejiku, which are also picked to express a visual mood or co-ordinate with the seasons. Living with art and craft to create the ideal environment is a very old concept and is very much alive and well today among collectors of all sorts. Today the concept of blending East and West is very common and having seemingly disperate objects on display takes a keen sensibility and a good eye to create “that” harmonious balance.

A friend of mine went from collecting western painting and glass, to include modern Japanese pottery to the mix. Despite having enough dogs to qualify as a kennel, his home is perfectly suited for the display, above ground level, for pottery and he has built a very nice collection over time. Under the watchful eye of his significant other (she is an interior designer/decorator), his pottery is intermingled with other objects of glass and his painting collection.

Illustrated is a wonderful Uraguchi Masayuki large seiji tsubo under the watchful glance of a very complimentary oil by American 20th century master, Ben Shahn. Though this combination may seem out of sync, especially if it was described to you, in actuality, the two works work create a visual counterpoint to each other. Living with “stuff” is a great way to control your own environment and replenish the spirit often diminished in a hectic, demanding and fast paced world. Enjoy what is on view, at least for now.

(Photo used with the kind permission of a private collector)

EXPERTUS, TESTIS, EXERTUS

Anyone who has spent time at the Cleveland Museum of Art can attest to the fact that if you want to see good pots, you are certainly at the right place. The pottery spans each time period and collection from ancient Greece, Egypt and Rome through the Art Nouveau, Arts and crafts and modern studio pottery movement. It really is a great place to see and study pottery. Among the large collection of Japanese and Chinese pots there was a wonderful display of small and intimate Jun Yao wares. Those soft and atmospheric lavender blue glazed pots with vivid splashes of deep purple or crimson coming up through the glaze were among our favorites to look at and ponder.

From time to time I have experimented with trying to recreate a nice soft looking jun-yao glaze. I have been moderately successful and then for some inexplicable reason, the glaze just stops working. While in the midst of testing several months back, I got out a test pod that showed some promise. It had that quality I was after where it breaks hard on raised areas and sharp lines. Some tweaking here and there and here is the latest result. The underglaze decoration is based on copper and the actual glaze has a slightly more lavender tone to it. I am going to try and tweak the glaze a bit more and come up with a purple underglaze decoration that isn’t as refractory as the previous attempts. All in good time and I suspect that I will no sooner get it to work just the way I want that it will just stop working yet again.