SIMPLE BOTTLE

Illustrated is a simple bottle form made by salt and wood firing pioneer, Jack Troy. Thrown in porcelain with an ever so slightly bulbous mouth, the pot was paddled flat creating two larger planes flanked by pointed sides to define the form. This bottle was fired in a wood kiln some where away from the heavier ash deposits creating a soft flashing of ash overall with a few areas of build up which melted and ran down the right shoulder and by plan or serendipity, the pot is completed. All in all this is a rather eloquent bottle but it has a sense of purpose (I know, I use that word to often) where the sheer simplicity of the form has a tremendous amount to share with the viewer. I will never tire of saying  this about a really good pot but the simpler a piece is in its throwing and form the more complex it is to make it so and this is where the thousands of hours of throwing and creating make all the difference.

"To gild refined gold, to paint the lily............ is wasteful and ridiculous excess." (from King John) William Shakespeare

DEVIL'S BUCKET

This impressive and well fired Shigaraki oni-oke style mizusashi was coil and thrown on the potter's wheel and has a rich surface and a lid that sits well on the turned in mouth. Made by veteran Shigaraki potter, Tani Seiuemon I, the pot was fired in an anagama wood fired kiln for nearly a week, the resulting effects paint the surface with deposits of natural ash some of which has turned to glass across the surface. Though fired with the lid in place, the velocity of the fire pushed its way into the interior which settled on the floor of the mizusashi creating a soft covering of ash adding just a bit more to the interior aesthetics.

You can see more of this mizusashi over at my trocadero marketplace by following the link;
http://www.trocadero.com/albedo3studio/items/1331556/item1331556store.html

COMB OVER

Illustrated is an cap jar that I made recently where I matched up a band of thick combed slip on the body and lid of the jar. Covered over in my Oribe style glaze, the white slip shines through the surface and creates both a tactile and visual texture that ties the piece together while focusing the attention on the belly of the pot and the contours of the lid. This downward view shows off the decoration and gives a sense of the vertical feel and the sturdiness of the pot as well. I am particularly fond of making lidded vessels and being able to match or harmonize lid and body is both a constant challenge and a rewarding pursuit.

A nice touch for a rainy Monday, BLACKBIRD by Julie Fowlis;

QISMAH

When it comes to firing the results you achieve can sometimes be distilled down to where the pot was placed and in regards to a wood, salt or soda kiln that is certainly the case. This compact and well fired chawan is an excellent example of being in the perfect spot of a wood fired salt kiln, the results are literally painted across the face, back and interior of the bowl which processes a distinctly defiant tone having made it through the ferocity of the firing. If you look carefully you can see some of the impressed mishima texture peaking out from behind the ash and salt surface identifying Ningen Kokuho, Shimaoka Tatsuzo as the maker. The bowl is a compact form that easily rests comfortably in the hand and rests on a simple yet effective foot with an eroded indent in the ring caused by the wad sinking into the clay during the tremendous fury of the firing. Shimaoka fired a number of his tea pieces and other pieces of merit in highly desirable spots in the kiln to give them every advantage for a painted by fire surface and in this case it is just another example of being in the right place at the right time.

IN PERPETUO

Illustrated is a simple guinomi that is about as pure and uncomplicated as they come but it is filled with cues and details that make it a marvelously compact pot. Made by Furutani Michio, this Shigaraki guinomi is perfectly suited for the task at hand and is animated by the rhythm in which it was thrown and the ash covered surface all the while being perched atop a carefully crafted foot with just the right amount of lift to beg the viewer to pick it up. In the throwing a slight amount of undulation was created in the lip and mouth further accentuating the movement of the piece, a skill that after years of practice and experience just comes naturally without any fuss. The simpler a pot the more demands are made on both the potter and viewer and that is exactly how it should be, a perpetual conversation between maker and user.

MnO2

Back while working at Cleveland State I tried my hand at both reduction luster and oxide saturated glazes to get metallic surfaces and ran across my notes recently and decided to resurrect at least a couple of the formulas.  The reduction luster glaze was fired in a sealed sagger using some organic materials to try to create localized reduction and as per the original notes the test came out fine. The big problem with the tests however is that after a number of times trying to photograph the test pods, the results look anything but interesting. The surfaces are a smoky silver metallic with flashes of iridescence especially where the glaze is thicker with it turning a reddish copper on the high points where it breaks though and the only way to see this is in person, on hold for the time being. I decided to move on to the MnO2 saturate glaze which was originally based on a formula with 22% red iron oxide (!) though with a number of tests I was able to take an alkaline clear glaze and add a moderate level of manganese dioxide and a few other chemicals to the recipe to get a reasonably durable bronze to smoky grey surface while using far, far less of the MnO2. The tests have reached a point where I need to move beyond pods and glaze rings and I decided to throw a teabowl that has a overall matsukawa texture to be the next step in the process. For anyone keeping track, the glaze I am currently retesting uses less than the original amount of MnO2 and is much easier to work with though I would still recommend rubber gloves (and a mask) in use at all times. I will update when I can get a few tests in an upcoming glaze fire.
 

 

OCHAWANGAMA

A friend sent me this all too short video of Nakazato Taroemon XIII working and a brief appearance of the famous Karatsu Ochawangama covered over in a soft blanket of grass which is now a shrine in the city of Karatsu. Known for his E-garatsu iron decorated wares and his vivid Persian blue style pottery, Taroemon XIII (1923-2009) is shown brushing an iron pigment over slip on a tsubo, the video also showns some still photos of his father, Ningen Kokuho (Juyo Mukei Bunkazai) Nakazato Muan, Taroemon XII ( 1895-1995) at his kiln and at work and is represented by a vivid Karatsu mizusashi.

YUGEN

Illustrated is a serene Shigaraki chawan by Shiga Prefectural Intangible Cultural Property, Ueda Naokata V (b.1927). Perched atop a strong, stable foot the bowl has a seductive curved form that is covered in ash on the face with vivid, wet fire color around the back of the form and into the interior creating a piece of profound grace and subtlety. The slight lean to the posture and undulation to the lip serves to welcome the viewer to explore the form and enjoy the presence and utility of the pot. Ueda Naokata V studied at the Kyoto Ceramic Research Institute and with his father, Naokata IV (1898-1975) and together they helped revive the traditional methods of anagama firing in the Shigaraki Valley for which both are held in very high regard. Known for his creation of insightful and classic teaware (chadogu) Naokata V has been collected by a number of museums throughout Japan and abroad and is also included in a number of pottery compendium of modern Japanese pottery. We were very fortunate to have been able to met with Ueda-san on each of our trips to Japan in the 1990s and have a wonderful presento from our last visit to always remind us of both the character and generosity of this legendary potter.

STILL BLUE

Illustrated is a bottle vase with a hakeme slip surface under the latest incarnation of my Ao+ glaze. I throw the body of the bottle and neck separately for ease sake and then put it together and slip them making the whole process a snap. I put the slip on about a quarter of an inch thick and then comb it creating deep valleys and high points that react differently to the glaze and the touch making for the most amount of variation as is possible. I am rather pleased with this gosu like glaze and find it is highly effective over different designs, decorations and slips and works well with a large number of forms as well. Though this bottle is not terribly large it has a good presence and is made just a little bit taller through the use of the vertical combing. I will not say anything conclusively but I may be at the end of testing for this particular glaze as it does just about everything I was hoping it would do, I guess I am on to the next glaze.

IRON & CHROME

Illustrated is a simple, straight forward Kawai school wan-gata chawan by Kawai Hisashi (b.1942). Influenced by Kawai Kanjiro, this bowl combines what he learned from his teacher(s) and creates a fusion of the personal and the learned from the rich tessha tetsu-yu glaze to the chrome green splashes originally favored by Kawai Kanjiro. Kawai Hisashi first learned the use of the pottery wheel in Yasugi (1960) and later studied with Kawai Kanjiro and Kawai Takeichi, a contemporary of Mukunoki Eizo starting in 1961. Born in Yasugi which was also the hometown of Kawai Kanjiro, Hisashi went on to establish his own kiln and currently works in Shiga Prefecture where he creates Kawai influenced Mingei pottery and is known for his wide variety of glazes from gosu and shinsha to tetsu-yu and shirahagi. The decoration on this chawan resembles a 1950's abstract expressionist painting where  the chrome green splash has sunk into the tessha glaze creating a wide array of effects that break up the nearly perfect and serene reflective tessha surface creating a sense of chaos within the clam field of the surface. I should also mention that it is this "splashed" chrome green that Warren MacKenzie has popularized here in the United States showing how influential was the work, technique, glazing and teaching of Kawai Kanjiro and how understandable it is that those who studied directly with the master have been inspired by him while creating pots that have as much to say about the maker as they do the great teacher.