IT'S MONDAY

It's Monday, a Monday after the completion of another cycle and a down day. The only studio work I did today was to clean up, put shelves, posts, pyrometer and gloves back in their spots and sweep the floor. It is a slow day, no orders on the books, no commissions and what to make next, is entirely up in the air at the moment. It's Monday and I think I will simply take satisfaction in that fact and another firing that came out well with no loses, no crawling, nothing stuck to the shelves, what more can you ask for?

Illustrated is a solemn, solitary print by Kiyoshi Saito (1907-1997) entitled; NARA. This print reminds me of a quote that a friend was oft times heard to say; "All know the way, few walk it."   (Bodhidharma)

A PINCH OF THIS, A PINCH OF THAT

I have been testing variations to a few different formulas I use recently, my Oribe(s) included. For years I have used a small pinch of iron in the formula to temper the overall "green-ness" of the glaze and have decided to take it a step further. I recently made an overglaze composed of red iron oxide and frit made up extremely thin and then dipping the glazed Oribe (TPCu) pot into it. The addition of the wash over the Oribe has certainly tempered the green and created varying tones as well as softening the overall appearance. The bowl illustrated is a test bowl that I have been working out new textures on, the combination of the Oribe and the wash seem to accentuate the texture and create variation in the surface, especially in the recesses of the piece. In evaluating new glazes and surfaces it is rather important to keep good records, but I wonder how greatly "a pinch of this and a pinch of that" varies from potter to potter?

YOU KNOW ME?

Illustrated is a simple yunomi, eminently practical and thoroughly useful made by Tsukigata Nahiko. It is this type of direct and unfettered work that helps glimpse into the true nature of the potter. Though best known for his Oni-Shino and Oni-Iga works, Tsukigata was quite adept at a wide variety of styles which included Ki-Seto, Shigaraki, Hagi and Kohihi wares. This Hagi style yunomi is made in one of his classic forms he used for gunomi, yunomi and even chawan and the surface landscape is highly animated with varying shades of color, ishihaze and crackled slip about the piece. The tall foot accentuates the vertical nature of the form and it is easy to see the piece in hand and in use as it was intended. Though simple in form and execution, it seems to me that the simplest of things are usually bound up in a maze of complexity.

MONDAY BLUES IX

There is little I can say about this magnificent Persian influenced vase; from my perspective it is simply a masterwork by the late Ningen Kokuho, Kato Takuo. First thrown in a white clay and  painstakingly altered into a rectangular form, he accentuated areas around the piece with tool and spatula marks to further animate the pot. The upper tier has a number of hand modeled rams heads in various poses with accents of gold over the truly this inspired Toruko-ao glaze. The pot conveys an essential timelessness as if it had been made in 13th century Persia and survived intact to this very day. The white crackle "frosting" across the surface adds a sense of dynamic tension that creates a wondrous sense of the exotic and mysterious to yet another piece that is thoroughly out of place and out of time.

MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE

Admit it, when you think of Suzuki Goro, Ki-Seto, Oribe, Seto-Guro and Shino spring to mind; however, his diversity  and experimentation is broad and quite accomplished. One of the staples of Suzuki's works as far back as the 1970's has been his Shigaraki influenced pots in every shape and size. Back in the 1970's and 1980's a good number of his pots were Shigaraki style while currently they seem to be a much smaller percentage of his output. His Shigaraki pieces have the same dynamic sensibility to them as much earlier Momoyama and Edo works and the clay is handled in a brusque and masculine manner that creates their bold, almost bushi-like nature. Add to Suzuki-san's bold handling of the clay, firings that accentuate and animate his pottery and you can not help but have a winning combination.

Illustrated is a very medieval inspired Shigaraki tsubo by Suzuki Goro. This tsubo has a very austere, weathered appearance and a powerful stance and presence. Striped of the superfluous, Suzuki has decided to let the bare essentials convey his message; the simple lines, lugs, decoration and ash bring the pot to life like a resurrected medieval pot, recently unearthed and still ready for any purpose or challenge.

AME-YU

I have mentioned that a number of my current glazes are based on turning my trimming scraps into glazes, but I am not sure I mentioned how and when it came about. At the tail end of living in PA, I ran a bisque which included a pot that had been too close to the wheel while I was throwing terra cotta. I didn't notice the splatters on the piece and when it came out of the bisque, the terra cotta had fused to the pot, so I decided to glaze fire it anyway. Out of the glaze, it had turned into an almost Albany Slip like surface, so the die was cast; that is what set me on testing the terra cotta as a glaze. After a number (a big number) of tests with several additions to the base, I first came up with a rather nice, deep, rich amber glaze that reminded me of an Ohi ame-yu glaze and the name stuck. With more testing, I was able to make the medieval green, ao, tetsu-yu and temmoku all from the base with minor alterations and a certain percentage of the base calcined to solve the crawling problems.

The next step was to start to develop a vocabulary for the use of the glazes and the ame-yu was the first in line. White and black slips showed through the translucent glaze as well as copper and cobalt overglaze decoration were the first logic steps. I am not sure how I got there, but I made these Mediterranean styled pots and I thought, what makes more sense than to glaze them in a Japanese influenced Ohi Ame-yu glaze. Illustrated is a 12" tall jug with braided coil lugs and a copper rain pattern over the body of the pot. This piece was recently sent to me in an attempt to make a mate for it. The owner wants the pair to stand on opposite sides of a mantle. Though this is not my favorite thing to do, it sure beats trying to recreate a lid for a pot and after all, a challenge is a challenge.

UPDATE

Whether a pot is conservative, abstract, cutting edge or obtuse, its basis and roots stem from some historical archetype. I remember an art history professor of mine being fond of saying; "everything comes from somewhere".  Case in point, a while back on my blog, I posted up a very fine Iga vase by Kojima Kenji, now some months later, I find it actually has two distinct origins. The first is that it was exhibited at the Mitsukoshi Department Store in 2004 and is illustrated in the catalogue. The second reference for this vase is the original early Edo era vase that the Kojima vase owes a certain amount of its inspiration to, the Katachi (the essence of design?). Though not intended as an exact copy of the early Edo Iga vase, the characteristics, bearing and posture of the original, can be seen in the modern piece. The one thing that can be said about Kojima-san, beyond his pottery and firing skills, is his in depth study of historical Ko-Iga and Iga pottery. Through his study he has been able to understand the clay, forms, kilns, firing and wood choices for firing much better, all leading to him being at the top of his game. (The left illustration comes from the Kojima Kenji Mitsukoshi Exhibition catalogue 2004 and the right one from JAPANESE POTTERY (1971) by Soame Jenyns.)

"The core of his oeuvre is steeped in the ages-old tradition of Iga and Shigaraki ware - tsubo and kame, tea ceremony and sake pieces, and most of all vases - but the range of the forms and different looks he achieves within those traditions, invigorates the spirit." An excerpt from an essay in the Mitsukoshi exhibit catalogue written by Peter Ujlaki.

CU DIVERSITY

Illustrated is a close-up of the interior of an Oribe Mizusashi by Kakurezaki Ryuichi apprentice; Ishii Takahiro. The interior, truly highlights the rich diversity that a copper glaze, in this case an Oribe, is capable of. Though only one glaze, as the glaze matured and pooled into the bottom of the interior, it has gone from a rich, translucent grassy green to  an opaque boundary of blue-green  with black spots being formed by the build up of  high concentrations of copper forming black metallic crystals. The opaque blue-green has also created an effect reminiscent of pine-needles floating about the surface. In terms of any Oribe glaze, I don't think you could have asked for more diversity and testament to the possibilities of using copper.

For anyone interested in learning more about the elements, I would suggest watching this short video.

O-SARA

In discussing Oribe, many times I think of it as the glazed distant brethren of Iga and Shigaraki ware. In Iga/Shigaraki, though the pot may have a wide array of natural glaze effects from the firing, the clay and basics of the form  are on full display. Oribe has the same distinct quality about it, it has a similar richness and a propensity to run yet the clay underneath the glaze is there to see and enjoy. Each mark of the potter is crisply frozen and safely protected by the barrier of the glaze. Hayashi Shotaro is yet another wonderful Mino potter who creates unique, bold and inspired Oribe pottery. Over the years, first under the tutelage of his brother Hayashi Kotaro, Shotaro has developed a broad vocabulary or forms and clay textures which make full use of the various glazes he uses, especially his Oribe. The direct and aggressive manner in which Hayashi dealt with the clay of this Oribe o-sara is laid bare, except for a layer of his rich glaze that pools and accentuates every mark, depression and the textures that has created this highly gestural piece. This is both modern Oribe and Hayashi Shotaro at its best.

A CUP OF GLAZE

One of the real drawbacks of using the every depleting lepidolite Oribe glaze is that size does matter. The bulk of the work is relegated to teabowls, flat plates and medium size vases, bottles and mizusashi, all basically smaller pieces. The illustrated bottle is the exception to the rule, at nearly 14" tall, it posed its own unique challenges to glaze without making up a large amount of glaze, which was just not going to happen. The plus side of the glaze I use, is that poured or brushed, the surface tends to blend into itself in a rather homogeneous coating making it possible to glaze a large vase using little more than a cup of glaze. This vase, just under 14" in height has glaze built up a bit around the incised decoration and at the base of the depressed neck to create a darker contrast and adds a dimension to the surface that a solid and totally even glaze coat would not. The various areas of darker and richer glaze helps articulate the form and details and makes for a much more interesting surface. In all honesty, I was rather startled what could be accomplished with just a single cup of glaze.