INTERSECTIONS

"Any intellectually conceived object is always in the past and therefore unreal. Reality is always the moment of vision before the intellectualization takes place. There is no other reality."  Robert Pirsig (b.1928)

Illustrated is a porcelain teabowl with an etched design under my haiyu glaze. The design, though similiar to the "landscapeman" design is in fact based on a drawing on a chalkboard in a scientists office from a 1950's science-fiction movie. The design always reminded me of two solar systems or universe intersecting and the resulting shockwave that occurs when this would happen. It would seem to be a good fit under the flowing and iridescent effects of the haiyu glaze.

SENTINEL

Illustrated is a very large and bold Iga vase by one of my favorite contemporary Iga potters, Kojima Kenji.  Standing sentinel, this is a very gestural piece, though it has a monumental presence and the interaction between clay and fire has created a very evocative surface. Between the rich fire red hi-iro and areas of ash and bidoro, the pot is swept in a variety of changing tones and effects.  Though very decidedly Iga, or possibly Ko-Iga, this vase shows the influences of Bizen pottery, which is where Kojima served his early pottery apprenticeship. I see this in a lot of his earlier works and occassionally, even now, some elements of Bizen-yaki creeps into his pottery. I think at the end of the day, when you are dedicated to producing medieval style works, there will always be some general overlap between many of the ancient Roku-koyo and I think this pot admirably displays the cross currents of the older, medieval wood fired traditions.

"We perceive and are affected by changes too subtle to be described." Henry David Thoreau

YUME (NO) HI

To anyone that frequents my blog, it will come as no surprise that though I love all kinds of pots, I hold a special place for wood fired pottery, particularly Shigaraki and Iga. Through a number of trips to Japan, including a stay in Asanomiya, outside of Shigaraki to study, our base of operations was Kyoto so that we could take a number of day trips to both Shigaraki and Iga to see the pottery and potters there. With treks to visit Kohyama Yasuhisa, Furutani Michio, Honiwa Rakunyu, Tani Seiemon, Takahashi Rakusai and Shunsai, Otani Shiro and others, my exposure to wood fired pottery cemented itself above all others.

Among my favorite contemporary Iga and Shigaraki potters is Kishimoto Kennin (b. 1934). Kishimoto is truly one of the renaissance potters who has specialized in very controlled and exacting Iga firings for many years. In addition to his Iga wares, Kishimoto has worked and mastered a wide array of pottery styles, including; Oribe, Iga-Oribe, Shino, Ki-Seto, celadon and several others. Having first started working in the early 1950’s, he has had a number of years to study and perfect each style along the way, though his kannyu celadon and Iga works are among his best in my opinion. From my perspective, his celadon and Iga pots rarely disappoint and each one unique in its presentation, they all have something rather profound to say.

Illustrated is a large and generous Iga chawan by Kishimoto Kennin. The way in which the form is articulated, mimics the contours of the lip creating an inviting and gestural bowl that truly begs to be handled. The form together with the blend of ash and hi-iro is the paint the canvas needed to complete the chawan. One of Kishimoto’s real talents is creating pots and masterfully firing which animates the keshiki, landscape of the pot to best highlight the form and the marks of the potter. Kishimoto Kennin is a potter who very skillfully paints with fire.

You can see more pictures of this chawan here;
http://www.trocadero.com/albedo3studio/items/1116136/item1116136store.html#item

SOUNDTRACK

It is a rather busy day of packing, shipping and misc. running around today, so I thought I would share this iconic, cultural nugget from 1983; SONG FOR A FUTURE GENERATION by the B-52s. If you are a fan of 80s music, it doesn’t get any better than this and on a personal note, I have made more pots to the B-52s than possibly any other music I can think of, it is my soundtrack to making pottery. I know, how does that speak to my character?



Enjoy!

A FLARE FOR THE DRAMATIC

Just recently, I was fortunate to be able to study a wonderful tsubo by Tokoname legendary potter, Osako Mikio (1940-1995). This tsubo was truly the embodiment of the medieval tradition of Tokoname and was the epitome of simplicity, strength and grace. Osako Mikio, together with his teacher, Ezaki Issei and fellow student, Takeuchi Kimiaki, ushered in a rebirth of medieval Tokoname styled pottery, re-establishing the idiom and tradition. The trio borrowed from the past to re-establish a contemporary Tokoname, the oldest of the 6 ancient kiln sites, Roku-koyo

Using cues from old Sueki wares, Sanage-yaki (glazed medieval pottery) and the yakishime pottery fired in large O-gama which fired to 1300 degrees c., Osako carved out a vital niche in Tokoname pottery. He arrived at ceramics late in life, starting to study with Ezaki Issei at the Tokonmane ceramic Research Center in 1968 and staying with his teacher until he built his first kiln in 1982. Known for his yakishime and ash glazed pottery, Osako won a number of prestigious awards including including first prize at the International Ceramics Exhibition in Vallauris.

Osako Mikio, who came late to ceramics, left well too soon at 55 years of age. His profound understanding of wood firing, post firing and pottery in general was exceptional and his forms and surfaces are mature beyond his years of experience. A fitting quote by Dr. Frederick Baekeland from the catalogue; MODERN JAPANESE CERAMICS IN AMERICAN COLLECTIONS, sums up the true nature of the potter and his pots; “The strong, conventional potting and rich sobriety of Osako’s ceramics appeal to the modern taste and accords well with the aesthetic canons of the tea ceremony.”

Illustrated is a meihin (masterpiece) tsubo by Osako Mikio made in 1982, the year he built his anagama and won the Vallauris prize. It borrows strongly from the ancient Sueki pottery found in Tokoname and has a spectacular ash surface composed of both applied ash and natural ash (shizen) that formed while the pot was wood fired in a Tokoname style anagama kiln. The fullness of the pot, culminating in the wide, flared neck puts me in mind to one of those timeless pots, born of the medieval tradition, yet executed in the modern day. Measuring about 12” x 14”, it is a pot of nobility and purpose and among the finest pots by Osako Mikio, I have ever seen


(Courtesy of a private collector)

HOPELESSLY INFLUENCED

Ever so often I think back to all those years in front of the TV looking for forms to “recreate”. One of the shows that was a constant influence was the genie’s bottle from I DREAM OF JEANNIE (1965-1970). It has a definte graceful form and scale and the fact that Barbara Eden lived inside, didn’t hurt my recollection of the bottle either. Since I began making pottery, the genie bottle has worked its way into my vocabulary of forms, from the near identical copy to bottles loosely based on the idea.

Illustrated is a recent genie’s bottle form, about 13” tall with a series of rings around the form and decorated in my temmoku and medieval green glazes. Where the sharp angles are created, the glaze pools around the mouth and body forming think green glass, very much like bidoro. As far as my pottery goes, quite a bit of my work is hopelessly influenced by television and movies with a keen interest in turning the 2-dimensional images into 3-D reality.

ROZOME

It has been a while since I have worked in the style I refer to as rozome. I tend to go off with something new and many times, forget the established style until an order, inquiry or commission comes my way. Now for those wondering why I use the term rozome, mostly associated with wax resisted fabrics that was actually where the idea came from many years back while strolling the streets of Kyoto. We saw an exhibit and demonstration of rozome and I was immediately drawn to the directness and immediacy of the process. The actual term for wax resist on ceramics is ronuki, of which Kawai Kanjiro was the undisputed master of the 20th century. The other reason I have stuck with the term rozome is that once the wax is applied, the “background” color is then applied, much the way in which I work; this is applied to the raw clay with slips and wax allowing the heat of the bique kiln to remove the wax. I know the same can be said for ronuki as well. In the end, toe-may-toes, toe-mah-toes.

Illustrated is a stoneware rozome influenced jar and shallow wall bowl both with spirali e tagli designs under my medieval green glaze.

THE ROCK ON IPTV

For those that have not seen the documentary, THE ROCK OF ST IVES, here it is, in three parts posted up on Youtube. Though certainly not in HD, the grainy video, often with poor sound is still an outstanding testament to Bernard Leach and the movement around him including footage of Hamada Shoji, Michael Cardew and David Leach. Well worth a watch and a great insight into a potter and pottery of the period.

THAT INCURABLE SPARK

“Book collecting is an obsession, a disease, an addiction, a fascination, an absurdity, a fate. It is not a hobby. Those that do it, must do it.” Jeanette Winterson (b. 1959)

I have been fascinated with this quote by acclaimed British writer, Jeanette Winterson. It is an insightful and very accurate perspective of the psyche of a collector, not necessarily a book collector, but any collector who has that spark, a passion for what objects they surround their lives with to nourish the mind and spirit. For me, this quote could have started out by saying; “Pottery collecting”. Over time, making pottery and living with pots has become an obsession and this obsession does not necessarily bow to reason or logic, it is an incurable spark. The owning of pots is not for me the end all of the obsession, rather it is wanting those specific pots around to study, to learn from, to converse with and maintain a meaningful dialogue with. Living with pots is the important part, the ownership is secondary as no one can really own anything, at some point, it gets passed along. It is the time you spend with these objects and what they do to help you maintain a truer path in life that is important and each and every successive owner will learn their own lessons from each object they enter into the dialogue with.

Illustrated is a large, O-Tsubo by Karatsu veteran potter, Nakatsuka Takaya. Tell me, what is not to be obsessed with?

BACKFIELD IN MOTION

I like Bizen pottery, probably as much as the next guy, but the one thing about it is at a certain level, much of the pottery looks about the same. Much of Bizen appears to be the same forms, same surfaces with very little to distinguish it from other potters and kilns. Enter a select group of Bizen potters who never fail to disappoint or impress with their exceptional knowledge of firing, wonderful forms and great and varied surfaces. One potter who fit into this group was Ningen Kokuho Fujiwara Yu (1932-2001). Though a lot of his work is on the very pragmatic end of Bizen-yaki, Fujiwara Yu is best known for his well fired tsubo and hanaire, some of which have withstood the extreme crucible of wood firing.

Illustrated is a truly exceptional hanaire by Fujiwara Yu. The surface is alive baring witness to the extremities of the firing; the ash is suspended in motion as if someone just hit the pause function on the remote. Obviously fired on its belly, the botamochi areas are surrounded by liquid tamadare runs, some ending in monumental drips of vitrous brown glass. All in all, a rather totemic form with a surface any collector or potter would be more than happy with.