HIKIDASHI-GURO

There are very few potters who create a broad and diverse body of work that are as instantly recognizable as the pottery of Koie Ryoji and this hikidashi-guro chawan is no exception. The chawan is a classic Koie pot and bares many of the characteristics that point directly at him from casual, wonky form, incised marks on the exterior and an often used kodai. There is little else I can say other than as Koie touches the clay, it is given its distinct voice. Enjoy the short video.

BEACON

I would like to have started out by saying, took a number of photographs of this Iga mizusashi that came my way but that just wouldn't be the truth. A collector I know found this photo on the internet and sent it my way and I was struck by the fact that I certainly would like to handle this pot and see the richness of the surface and wide array of effects from running glass to areas of  charcoal scorching and a little bit of everything in between. Like many of Furutani Michio's pots, this piece shows evidence of the tumultuous firing process with debris attached and an area that runs green where ash built up and ran down to pool on the slight recesses of the shoulder creating nothing if not a reminder of medieval pottery brought to life in the 20th century. With every pot I see, I am constantly amazed at the truth, the beauty and power of modern wood fired pottery especially Shigaraki and Iga; it is the uncompromising dedication  and vision that makes potters like Furutani Michio the benchmarks and beacon of their respective traditions.

"Truth is truth to the end of reckoning." William Shakespeare

古伊賀

Looking a bit like an old Korean rice bowl in form, this robust Ko-Iga style chawan was made by veteran, renaissance potter, Kishimoto Kennin. Thoroughly entrenched in the mountainous heart of Mino potter where Shino and Oribe are king, Kishimoto has pioneered a rediscovery of Ko-Iga creating a wide array of pottery including chadogu but not limited to those pieces alone. Besides the traditional Iga pottery, he is also known for Iga-Oribe as well though it is his Iga pots like this chawan that create a thread from past to present and stand out among others working in the same tradition. The casual bowl shape of this chawan and spontaneously cut kodai are a perfect canvas for woodfiring and the natural ash that has settled and overtaken this pot are truly the marriage of potter, clay and fire, of which there can be no doubts, Kishimoto Kennin is a master.

For a Wednesday, sometimes one thing has little or nothing to do with the other; an acoustic cover of Coldplay's CLOCKS by Jeff Gunn;

A PLAN OR TWO

I am firing off the last of three bisques in this current cycle in which I have made groups of terra cotta, stoneware and porcelain and am rather glad to get these pieces bisqued. Tomorrow I will finish clear glazing the last of the terra cotta pieces of which this set of four shallow bowls is included. Thrown in terra cotta, black slipped and then carved, the finishing touch is adding white slip trailed dots in the intersections of the design. I like adding the slip dots to the tebori carved pieces, it brightens things up just a bit and creates an interesting focal point for the design. The only drawback is that I prefer to carve when the pieces are a bit drier but need to get the pieces finished while the slip will adhere and stay put on the clay, so accommodations need to be made in the process. Besides finish glazing the terra cotta pieces, I am hoping, planning to get the first of two glazes on the stoneware pots currently in the bisque and at any rate plan on loading the first terra cotta glaze kiln tomorrow afternoon and fire it off on Wednesday. We'll see how that all goes.

"Our plans never turn out as tasty as reality." Ram Dass

ONCE MORE

A friend of mine recently acquired a rather large, exhibition quality O-tsubo by Tsukigata Nahiko and it is quite a spectacular pot. At over 17" tall it is of a classic tsubo form but the surface is anything but typical being a showcase for a wide array of effects one will only see on a Tsukigata pot. Displaying a rich ash tamadare style face with icy looking Shino around, covered in varying thicknesses of natural kiln ash, the surface is alive and very three dimensional. This detail of the mouth and shoulder shows some of the richness and activity that cloaks the piece in a perpetually changing landscape depending on lighting and vantage point. All in all, this is a stellar pot by one of the great innovators of modern Japanese pottery and considering the new owner was never going to buy another piece, this purchase came as something as a surprise harkening back to the old literary adage; once more unto the breach.

(Photo  and permission provided by an anonymous collector)

EFFICIENCY

I unloaded the first of three bisque kilns that needed to be fired yesterday and as soon as it was empty, loaded it back up for the second firing. With some creative stacking, I am usually able to get about 45+ pieces in each kiln load and when done I will have fired over 160 pieces in terra cotta, stoneware and porcelain. After loading the kiln, I immediately set about glazing up the first group of carved porcelain bowls and a group of porcelain and stoneware teabowls. Rather than waiting to have to glaze all of any one clay at one time, I am going about this by glazing smaller batches to reduce the mental and physical stress normally associated with the process. Today I glazed up a large group of terra cotta carved, decorated and slipped pieces and tomorrow my plan is to deal with another group of stoneware bowls, serving pieces and bottle/vases.  I can already tell that this seems more efficient and far less taxing by breaking the glazing process into smaller and more manageable groups and will probably deal with glazing larger groups of pieces exactly this way in the future.

"The future ain't what it used to be." Lawrence Peter Berra (1925-2015)

BEIN' GREEN

Illustrated is a square  and squat formed Oribe kogo by Ishii Takahiro. Like the chaire I posted previously it is part of a tea set for chanoyu that includes the chawan, mizusashi, chaire, kogo and futaoki which all have a similar style of glazing to tie the pieces together. The kogo shows a rich clay flavor and texture that peaks out from behind areas of Ishii's Oribe glaze making for a very interesting landscape and the unglazed knob springs out from the nearly black, frosted top of the piece adding yet another dimension to the small and intimate pot. The eight sided form has just enough faceted texture to provoke the glaze to vary which makes this simple kogo interesting and different from a variety of vantage points. Bein' green isn't so bad after all.

"You see with your eyes. You know with your heart." Jim Henson (1936-1990)

YU-DAMARI

I will admit, it can seem like I drone on about certain things, like details perhaps. There is no escaping the fact that when I survey a pot, I am particularly detail oriented though I would like to think that the sum of the whole is not being missed during the process. I recently was studying a very nice Tsujimura Shiro Iga mizusashi and was struck by the posture and attitude of the pot along with the way it was thrown and the very fine firing it received as a result of what one can only assume is exacting placement of the piece. As I studied the pot, I kept coming back to the vibrant depth of the glassy ash (yu-damari) ring which encircled the knob as it it was planned just that way. Where the knob and the lid proper merged, there is a slight depression which filled up around the protrusion to create a stunning visual which invites the viewer to pick up the lid. Planned or serendipity, these are the type of details that accumulate to create a wonderful pot and could we have expected anything less from Tsujimura Shiro?

STACKED

Illustrated is a pair of tall stacked chimney pots from the last firing. The body and neck were thrown separately and later put together after the bases were paddled to create an overall textured effect and once assembled the round lugs were applied. The pieces were glazed in a rich green Oribe and then had varying amounts of iron added to the surface, heaviest at the top where it has changed the glaze and cascaded down the stacks and on to the bases of each vase. I really enjoy making pots like this, related to mallet forms as getting the pieces to work together is always a challenge and paddling the base separate from the stacks makes the process much easier and a bit more predictable as well. Each of the vases measures just shy of 16" tall and tough they could have been thrown in one piece, stacking the pieces is just quite a bit easier in the throwing and especially in the wedging!

And just because it is a Wednesday, here is one of my favorite songs by Mary Fahl, formerly of the band October Project entitled BEN AINDI HABIBI;

SALTY II

Illustrated is a simple en-yu salt fired chawan by Tokoname potter; Ito Yushi (b.1945). The form appears to be a blend of both the Korean archetype and a typical Japanese chawan with a wonderful surface created by using a kohiki style slip before the piece was salt fired. During the process several serene gohonde style spots were created and are surrounded by a patch of rich pink blushing which defines the face of the bowl. The crackled slip texture and distinct finger mark help distinguish the kodai from the bowl form and adds a bit more intrigue to the bowl. Ito Yushi is a rather adventurous Tokoname potter having studied with both Hineno Sakuzo and Tomimoto Goro, he has been very involved with the study of Korean pottery and has visited and exhibited in S. Korean a number of times. This chawan clearly shows a touch of that Korean sensibility while clearly stating its place of origin.