INVITATION

I put this short video slideshow together to try to capture the presence, attitude and intention of this Shigaraki chawan by master potter, Otani Shiro. Though clearly a very visually pleasing chawan, from my perspective this chawan is all about purpose, the function it was created for, tea. The bowl fits well in the hand, the mouth is smooth and unincumbered by debris, the pool is smooth and wisk friendly and the weight of the piece is just about perfect. The manner in which the bowl was thrown and ever so slightly manipulated to create the soft, rolling lip, curved exterior and the smooth ash covered interior calls to the viewer, an invitation to use. I am not trying to paint this bowl as the perfect chawan, rather it was created using adegree of resolve, broad knowledge of the chanoyu and the utility of an everyday pot; it was crafted with experienced direction and in doing so a rather lyrical bowl was made.

いつ?

Looking like it was painted and made during the time of the great Rimpa painters, Ogata Korin and Kenzan or Sakai Hoitsu and Suzuki Kiitsu, this thoroughly modern molded piece was made by Ningen Kokuho, Arakawa Toyozo. Having the feel and appearance of some old Kyo-yaki this pot was painted with little more than white and black pigment on a blushed earth toned clay and then covered over in a thin and highly effective clear glaze to create an object that is truly timeless and certainly difficult to pinpoint or attribute to an particular artist/potter. Arakawa suceeded at making the various styles that he worked in to his own identifiable vocabulary and is well known for his underglazed and overglazed pots that add to his body of Shino, Seto-guro, Ki-seto and Kohiki wares. I am never disappointed by what Arakawa's pots have to say and each and every one has a story, a narrative about form, surface, purpose and aesthetics that go to the very core of pottery making and using and place his pottery among some of the finest ever made.

"Of the time, but timeless" Eero Saarinen

RISK, REWARD AND SAFETY

Back when I first started making pots I would work with ash glazes until my fingers were red, split and sore from the caustic nature of the material, same goes with iron glazes in which my hands and forearms were covered in a rash from the glaze. Within a short time all that folly came to an abrupt halt as I delved into the nature of the materials I was using and how to properly work with them and insure my safety and the safety of the potential user. Since I started making pots a number of materials have been reclassified and their safety questioned and guidelines established for percentage of use in glazes for these materials as well as creating a eutectic where the glaze melt is met and all the materials are in suspension, trapped within a solid. There are exceptions to what materials I will use and among those I will not and never have gone near are materials like various leads, uranium and several others but the most important thing about making pots is understanding the risk, reward and safety of what you work with. I always come from the viewpoint that ever material I use has some potential risk from the inhalation of particulate matter to heavy metal oxides that are best not absorbed by the body.

I assumed it went without saying that before you try anything, especially that you read off of a blog or a random page with a glaze formula that you investigate the nature of each constituent and understand how to properly handle the material. Since way back in my Old West approach to making and testing glazes, I have created a series of steps that are meant to ensure my safety and (yours) the user of my pots including not using materials that are deemed harmful on the food contact surfaces of pots, casting aside certain materials where the jury is still out on their safety and for myself, I always use an approved respirator, never a paper mask and wear latex gloves and sleeve protectors when using glazes that are not friendly in their liquid state (manganese and iron glazes spring to mind). All this being said, the bulk of my glazes/slips are made using pretty innocuous stuff like ball clay, feldspar, kaolin, whiting, neph sy, red art and gerstley borate with the additions of iron oxide, copper and cobalt. It is always best to err on the side of caution to keep you and your customers 100% safe and bear in mind, just because you read that someone else is willing to make use of specific materials doesn't mean that you should. Do your homework.

As another pottery observation, while looking at this stack of over a ton of materials isn't amazing that what ever you are ever looking for is inevitably at the bottom back of the pile. How does this always happen is it a law of physics?

SUBTLETY

Every pot has its nuances and subtleties but seeing them without the pot in hand can be a major obstacle and this is one of the reasons I have been posting the slideshow videos I make from time to time. For some pieces, even when the pot is right in front of you, those subtleties are masked in shadow and the wrong lighting but thanks to our friend the Sun, occasionally the attributes that bring a piece to life are plain to see. I received this Bizen vase a few weeks back to ID for a collector and after taking quite a few well lit shots, I set the pot over on a shelf to wait for the inevitable light show that happens in the later afternoon and wasn't disappointed. As you can see in the photo a wide array of hi-iro flashes and subtleties are brought out with the sunlight and the vase is painted in a number of colors and tones making for a rather attractive canvas. Made by the later Bizen potter, Masamune Satoru when this pot first arrived and was on a different shelf, my wife referred to it as the hidden vase as it was in a poorly illuminated spot in the house and was like searching for a form in the darkness. I took enough pictures to put together a slideshow video which I will post at some point in the not too distant future.

"Human subtlety will never devise an invention more beautiful, more simple or more direct than does nature because in her inventions, nothing is lacking and nothing is superfluous."  Leonardo da Vinci

SETTING THE TABLE

Recently my wife received an email with the attached photo of a lip bowl that I had made some time back. This bowl was made as a small family use bowl, thrown out of stoneware, altered just a bit, than stamp impressed on the four sides and glazed in my temmoku and medieval green glazes. I am always pleased to see my pots, or any handmade pots in use, completing the purpose of the piece. While I will say I have never been in a hurry to use chawan that I have collected, my pottery is meant to be strictly functional objects and if in the process, someone considers them attractive and decorative that is fine by me. What I have concluded over the years is that there is nothing more comforting, satisfying even than a table set in thoughtfully and well crafted handmade pottery and hopefully you agree as well.

(Photo provided by R&K M.)

蓋物

A short while ago my wife went ahead and bought a pot for herself, she fell in love with the piece despite the less than flattering photos which was certainly offset by the very appealing price. I partially mention this as it is rather rare that she initiates a purchase and because when it arrived, though poorly packed but safe and sound, it was a much better and enhanced version of itself. We were rather shocked at just how much better the piece was in person, it was literally night and day and I wonder if it had been photographed better if we would have gotten it at all. I built a short video slideshow of the platinum and gold overglaze painted Rimpa futamono (covered piece) made by Yasuda Michio (b.1949), student of Banura Shiro, Rimpa and Ido chawan specialist. I hope this conveys the atmosphere as well as the aesthetics of this piece, enjoy.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

I wanted to take this time to wish everyone a very Happy New Year, the year of the rooster. Illustrated is an older tokkuri and newer guinomi by Shigaraki potter, Kohyama Yasuhisa, just about the best way I can think of to toast in the new year.

LEFTOVERS

Illustrated is an Oribe style teabowl with a slip made up using leftovers; materials that have accumulated over the years, from defunct studios, friends and what have you. My normal black slip is made using cobalt, iron oxide and manganese but for this small batch of slip I used iron chromate and black copper oxide, both of which I have five pounds of that truthfully I have no recollection of inheriting and certainly did not purchase though both have been used over the years. I only made up 500gr of the slip which fits nicely in a small deli container and used it in place of my regular formula. As you can see from the picture, the slip bled quite a bit creating a droozy surface with tendrils reaching to the surface of the glaze creating floating metallic areas a bit reminiscent of oilspot pots though neither controllable or as reflective. I am not sure what I think about this effect and will probably make a few more pieces for a future firing but what I can say is that it surely is different than my stand slip and adds a varied quality to the main Oribe glaze I am using. I guess time and testing will tell.

LAST BLUE MONDAY OF 2016

Accommodate: the transitive verb; to make fit, suitable or congruous; to bring in to agreement or concord; to give consideration to

As I push through more slides, negatives and photos and convert them in to digital images, I come across pictures that I just completely forgot about. This blue pot is one such image dating back to about 1995 (?) or so from a show of Colin Pearson pots that we saw in Chicago. Like a Pearson piece from a previous post, this pot is in fact a fully functional teapot though a careful and studied use is suggested as its use is not necessarily 100% straight forward. I love the way that Pearson added appendages and handles to his pitchers, jugs and teapots suggesting their function while challenging the viewer and user to accommodate themselves to a slightly provocative manner of engagement. This technique proved to be both visual and intellectually stimulating and it is what makes many of Colin Pearson's later works among the highest level of the potter's art of the Twentieth Century.

IN THE MOOD

 

I can only guess that if you move from America's heartland to the West Coast, Cali to be specific, you need whatever prompts possible to get in to the mood for the holidays now upon us. That being said, there are times when you can push the boundaries of preparation by stringing up hundreds of thousands of Christmas lights or say, adding that festive touch to your large and impressive tsubo by Tsukigata Nahiko. All I can say is this may not necessarily be how I would decorate my Tsukigata tsubo if I had one but to each and every collector there are more than likely a plethora of ways to harken in the upcoming festivities and certainly this is one that will not be easy to forget. Since what has been seen can not be unseen I have posted a before and after photo of the tsubo at rest and at play.

Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, a wonderful Festivus for the Rest-of-Us and a very Happy New Year to all.