GOSU BLUE MONDAY II

Looking at this lyrical, slip trailed design, I am reminded of Charles Rene Mackintosh and the Arts and Crafts Movement with just a hint of Jugendstil thrown in for good measure, but if you look closely and know the work of the potter, it is definitely all Kawai Kanjiro. Given the well educated and experienced nature of Kawai, he was fully aware of the prevalent movements and historical backdrop of art, craft and specifically pottery; he was an artist of the world who happened to live and work in Japan working within a Japanese sense of design peppered with bits and pieces of what had come before. This wonderful gosu henko shows a brilliant combination of traditional Japanese style married with odds and ends of all of the experiences that Kawai had accumulated with  the areas where the slip trailing has captured and thickened the glaze, creating a rich indigo decoration which is just spectacular and the result of years of creative experience. Though more decorative and representational, it is a masterwork by the artist synonymous with gosu, Kawai Kanjiro.

VARYING OPINIONS

I find it somewhat fascinating and perplexing that a discussion can easily erupt into an argument in no time what so ever. How this came about is that a collector I know through the world wide web sent me a group of photos of a chawan, a rather nice chawan that as the discussion came down to the kodai, I commented I thought it was a bit weak for the form and not as good as some of the potter's best kodai. This observation was not taken well and from there the emails turned in to something of a free for all from his end. I had learned a long time ago that getting in to such a heated discussion via email would never end well and decided not to enflame the situation. Eventually, things calmed down and relations returned to normal. This is certainly not the first time this has happened and I doubt it will be the last.

It would seem that in this age of anonymity and internet relationships that there are several caveats that need apply when discussing "stuff" or rather, at least this is how I see it. First off I think it is important for everyone to realize that just because this is my opinion, it doesn't make it right, it just happens to be how I see things based on the myriad of experiences that make me, me. Secondly the end game does not have to be unconditional agreement, we can agree to disagree and even at times be turned around based on another's viewpoint or "argument". Third and directly related to one and two, we are all entitled to our opinions without being branded heretical for them; in other words, if I have an opinion and flat out say that it is mine and just because of that fact it does not necessary make me right and the other side (the party of the second part) needs to make that same concession. Conceding to the fact that we all have varying opinion does not declare either party a winner or loser, just that we have agreed that we see things in a different light for any variety of reasons. I know this all sounds rather silly but in the time of depersonalized communication I think we all just need to respect each other's viewpoints and for goodness sake, can't we all just get along?

Illustrated is a captivating beishoukuji yohen chawan that in the end, we could both agree was quite nice.

JARS

I was playing around on the computer this morning and decided to take a group of photos of jars I had made and turn it in to a short slideshow. I did this for the excercise but it does give an insight in to the types of jars I make and like. I am especially fond of the ring knob which finds its way into my pottery via an ancient sword pommel and I tend to rely on the umbrella style cap lid that I have been making dating all the way back to my first trip to Japan in 1990/1991.

志野 風景

Illustrated is a Shino chawan with a rather adventurous appearance and quite the story to tell. At first glance the surface almost has a marbled look to it but after further study it is a rich interplay between layers of the feldspathic Shino glaze over a bold red iron slipped surface. The surface paints a landscape that calls to mind tall snow covered mountains or even glaciers melting their way to the foot of the bowl. The iron ring around the mouth frames in the landscape and creates a certain amount of tension between the top and bottom of the Momoyama influenced chawan calling to mind a bold keshiki and an even more dynamic adventure. Ever good chawan should evoke some memory of a time or place in one's life, tell a story (or two) or at the very least create a new experience that the viewer is not likely soon to forget. I think this powerful Aka-Shino chawan by Tamaoki Yasuo does just that and then some.

FRINGE BENEFITS

When I first set up my marketplace on the web, my expectation was to sell some of the pottery I made as well as to find new homes for pots that I had collected to study. From the beginning I realized I couldn't keep every pot that I bought and the thought was to buy pieces that I wanted to learn from and in some other way would leave an impression on me and consequently, my work. What I didn't expect was that fellow collectors, friends and even customers would ask me to try to sell pots that had for any number of reasons, no longer suited the collector or collection. This has undoubtedly been a wonderful fringe benefit of the website. Over the years I usually see a good handful of pots a month that pass through my hands and go on to new collectors, collections and even the occasional private or public collection. It is quite enjoyable to have new pots come by that I can study and as the pieces don't cost me anything, the price is always right.

Illustrated is a rather well fired Iga vase by the late Furutani Michio. This is a pot that was bought from a Japanese dealer and over time, the collector concluded the piece was not quite right for his collection so it came (and went) by me and it was very rewarding to get the opportunity to handle it. The form is quite strong with a slight lean forward to its posture due to the dramatic lobes and intense firing. The color of the liquid ash is rather elegant despite its definite bravado. Quite frankly, this vase has a wide array of effects creating a vivid landscape that is exceptionally well suited to the form; knowing how adept Furutani Michio was at both creating form and their strategic placement in the kiln, how could it have been otherwise.

SALTY

Illustrated is a simple molded vase by Mashiko legend and Ningen Kokuho; Hamada Shoji. This piece was first molded and then had trails of slip applied as only the master could do and finally had pigment brushed vertically at various points to highlight the areas of pure white slip. The pot was then loaded and fired in a salt kiln creating this subtle but unique surface which in this case is covered in an extremely fine pebbled texture, likely fired somewhere in the back of the kiln, the front reserved for Hamada's best work and tea wares. Though hundreds of these pots were made, each is separate and distinct due to the individuality of not only the slip and brushwork but the effects and variations created in the salty atmosphere. I am particularly attracted to the slip decoration at the far left where the pigment has gone from a subtle blue at the top to a soft, spring like green at the bottom. I think the surface would keep even the casual viewer engaged in a conversation about all the distinct possibilities that salt has to offer.

ALTERNATIVE PERSPECTIVE

I was digging through images at the request of a client and came across this photo of a bowl I made some time back. The  saffron neriage teabowl was originally photographed using either a white or black background with a tungsten light source with a tungsten correcting "filter" in the digital camera and once I shut off the lights, the sun was beginning to set and was streaming into the room, just enough to highlight the bowl and shed an alternative perspective as to how the piece looks in various conditions. Though it will be somewhat redundant for me to say so, it never ceases to amaze me how a pot can look so different depending on the source or light or the placement of the piece. I remember being at a fellow collectors home and seeing a modest Tsujimura Shiro Iga pot on a bookshelf and then he pulled it down and placed it in the middle of a small Chinese style table and it was an entirely different  piece with a greater sense of commanding the space. I am not saying the various lighting makes my pots any better, but with this type of atmosphere, it certainly doesn't hurt any.

FAITHFUL SERVICE

After almost seven years of faithful service, my inexpensive Casio Exilim digital camera finally gave up and expired. Though with its demise, I felt somewhat rushed to acquire another camera, I impressed back into service my old Sony Mavica until a good and proper choice could be made. I spent a fair amount of time researching what would be a good replacement camera and after trying to use the Mavica and realizing it was no longer suitable, I needed to make a choice. I ended up ordering a Canon, 16 megapixel SX520HS. I have been using it and putting it through its paces and the photos and videos are light years ahead of my old Casio. I am still trying to get used to all of the setting and am still struggling with over lighting images, but overall the shots are pretty good and the videos, even from a real distance have proved to be quite satisfying. It will take some time to get used to a camera with more than just a few settings, but as time moves on, so doesn't technology and a necessity to keep up.

Illustrated is a close-up of a Kimura Morikazu yuteki guinomi. I was quite impressed with the macro features of the camera and rather pleased with the ability to capture crisp detail shots. The individual cells of the oil-spots are clear with the myriad of other effects rendered far easier to study than in a simple 1:1 photo. The detail shot shows the complexity of the glaze and the miniature universe captured in the surface that is hard to understand without the guinomi in hand. When you think about the size of the guinomi and the potential of the detail shot, it is rather amazing how easy it is to capture detail with the simple click of a button; whether the pot stays here or goes on to a new home, the photos act as permanent reference to what the appearance of the pot had to say in crystal clear pixels.

ON THE ROAD II

There is that saying, you'll always remember your first and after this weekend, I admit, it is undeniably true. This past weekend I was looking through several boxes that had been packed since all the way back to our move from Cleveland. I was looking for some elephant ear sponges when I came across a bowl well wrapped up in sheets of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Inside was the very first glaze test I had made dating back to 1989 while at Plattsburgh State. Not really knowing any better, I went to the library and using a formula from a ceramics book from 1948(?) with a few suggestions from Bill Klock, I made up 2000grams of a glaze I had no clue would work or even what the temperature range was. I glazed three pieces of which this shallow teabowl is one and loaded them in to the kiln which was a cone 9/10 firing.

Once the kiln cooled down sufficiently, I snuck out my tests like a thief in the night and was beyond surprised; the glaze worked but looked entirely different on each piece depending where it was in the kiln. This bowl was fired near the cone pack where the kiln had reached a soft ten and as one can tell, the glaze was beginning to decide to be on the shelf rather than the pot. Being the first of many thousands of tests, I thought that this was going to be easy if everything works like this each and every time but I was about to learn a myriad of things from "the first". I took the time to bask in the momentary success of glaze testing marveling at the wonderful fat glaze rolls, ethereal texture and color and the sheer fact that a handful of chemicals mixed about with water achieved what at the time I thought looked a bit like a "museum" glaze on a terribly bad teabowl. The gauntlet had been thrown down and I was on the road of testing, forever etched in my being, I am amazed that that simple memory and experience is as fresh today as it was 25 years ago, time surely flies.

Cat Stevens; ON THE ROAD TO FIND OUT (1971)

A SENSE OF BLUE

Illustrated is a Persian blue koro by Kato Kenji. The lyrical and wispy vertical decoration punctuated by a modest pedestal foot with piercing goes all around the foot and lid creating a simple yet practical vessel. Capturing the essential elements of medieval Persian pottery it is neither bogged down in the formality or ritual of its purpose welcoming in the viewer with a casual attitude. The decoration, standing majestically, evokes a natural and simple atmosphere while the pierced lid gives the form a feeling of perpetual motion fulfilling its distinct and aromatic function tying together  the senses of sight and smell; calling to mind a favorite field or garden of past or present.