TO EACH THEIR OWN

"For me, creating is about cutting away the unnaturalness by engaging in the act of making." Kato Kiyoyuki

Though best known for his more sculptural ceramics, this Ki-Seto chawan was made by Seto ceramist, Kato Kiyoyuki and despite the vivid, abstract decoration, this is a wonderfully functional chawan. The slightly wet Ki-Seto glaze has created a rich, pebbly texture that is broken up by the incised decoration that was then accented with copper to add a certain zest to the bowl. The face of this chawan has become Kato's canvas of abstraction which allows the viewer to interpret the design according to each individuals set of unique experiences which makes this chawan unique to each and every person who encounters it. I am a huge fan of this type of decoration and chawan as the purposeful, abstracted ambiguity allows for a type of ceramic Rorschach in which it means different things to different people making for a far richer individual experience.

"Reality is only a Rorschach ink-blot, you know." Alan Watts

MYSTERY NOVEL

At first glance the illustration is a bit ambiguous and certainly out of context but as you look at the photo, you can catch bits and pieces that may point you in one direction or another. What you are looking at is the bottom interior of a mizusashi and when you remove the ceramic lid you are first struck with the iridescent sheen that covers a great deal of the bottom of the pot which was finished with a crisp swirl to activate the interior though for most of the pots life, the interior is likely to remain a mystery to the viewer. In certain respects, lidded pots are like a well written mystery novel that as you move along from chapter to chapter the story unfolds and as a reader you are clued in as to what exactly is going on if you pay close enough attention. I think good pots are just the same, the allure and attraction of the form, surface and volume of the piece pulls you in and then you lift the lid to see the mysterious contents of the form, in this case  a rich wood fired surface of natural ash coating a Shino glaze to add warmth, depth and a sense of nobility to the pot. For some who have followed along, the pot is a sturdy, powerful Oni-Shino mizusashi which resembles a pair of stacked stones with a roughly thrown ceramic lid with this illustrated detail hidden within. I know it is easy to get lost in the details and lose sight of the whole but for a number of the truly gifted potters, the great details construct the great pots and in my opinion, Tsukigata Nahiko had the ability to create details which few can forget even over a lifetime of looking.

SUMO-SIZE ME

On any given day of throwing I am prone to making my teabowls a bit on the large side. This way of working pre-dates my first experiences with the work of Kumano Kuroemon and was just a natural occurrence in making functional pots. My early thought process was simple, if you made a slightly larger teabowl they could still function for use in the tea ceremony but as a bowl form they had a greater range of uses being a bit larger from soups & salads to sides, chili, ice cream and almost anything you can imagine. On Monday as I was sitting at the wheel I had to throw a group of lids off the hump to go with a series of covered serving bowls and once the group was thrown I found myself with clay left over that I thought was about two pounds and proceeded to throw what ended up being a rather large teabowl form. Once thrown I weighed it out and realized it came in at 2.5lbs and as you can see, now tooled and a bit lighter it is a bit larger than my normally large teabowls. I decided to go with a thick combed porcelain slip for the surface and will likely glaze it in one of my Oribe formulas when the time comes. I am not sure what the prescribed function of this finished piece will be but it certainly has sumo-size me written all over it.

SUMI-NAGASHI

Illustrated is a simple, elegant tsubo decorated in slip, sumi-nagashi (floating ink) style by Kondo Yutaka. In several previous posts I have wrote about Yutaka and his simple yet decisive and bold use of mishima inlay using black and white as his surface and this tsubo is no different though there are hints of grey tones as well. The single, segmented strand of "decoration" draws the eye to the piece and guides the viewer up and around the space with only a hint of disturbance from the pure white form. Though Kondo Yutaka did not work exclusively in black and white, the pieces in which he did show a strong mastery of technique and concept where the two colors play out a dialogue far more conversant than many pots with far more decoration and design. If I were to try to describe Kondo Yutaka to someone who had never seen his work it would be straightforward; he created strong simple forms and made use of very little to speak eloquently about his creative voice.

A LITTLE RED, A LITTLE GREEN

Illustrated is a truly wonderful and inspirational Okinawan style chawan by Hamada Shoji. White slip over stoneware with a clear glaze and iron lip accented by the two color enamel decoration of Hamada's sugarcane design makes this bowl come alive and jump out of the photo. A delicate balance of humility, folk craft and intellect this chawan is decorated in a vivid green and red enamel, the brushwork appears fluid, effortless and immediate. These are all of trademark characteristics of a master in full command of a technique that is as much muscle memory as it is unconscious action, capturing the spontaneity born from a life time dedicated and immersed in pottery and craft. There is very little that can be said about Hamada Shoji, his pottery and his unique decoration that has not been said before but I will only add this play on the mingei axiom, "beauty born of use" to say; this is beauty born of doing.

DESTINATION UNKNOWN

I am not too sure how convincing this surface is in the photo but in person it has a real earthy and honest feel to it. Using the iron stoneware I have been mixing up here at the studio and my clear glaze I was after a surface that had a bit more activity and grit to it while letting the clay itself show through unobstructed, basically, it was a destination unknown. I can't say I knew exactly what I wanted but I was looking for something that added a bit of depth to the surface and by using a tiny bit of ash, iron and manganese over the glaze, this is what I ended up with. The clay clearly shows through the glaze allowing for any marks to be front and center yet there is a certain depth that just isn't there when using the clear on its own. I am not sure where I am going with this surface and need to run more tests, always more tests but considering I had neither formula, map or destination in mind I think I arrived at a starting point and every journey starts there.

那智滝

Bearing a strong resemblance and named after the famous ,Nachi (no) Taki of Nachikatsuura, Wakayama-ken, this elegant and mystrious iron Shino chawan was made by Toki native, Sakai Kobu. I have written about Sakai previously and have even posted slideshow videos of his work as well but figured as long as his work passes on through they always make for wonderful slideshows. Like many of his chawan this surface is packed with a wide array of effects and textures not to mention the plunging white waterfall that runs from the lip down to a rich pool of white which encapsulates the kodai. It never ceases to amaze me how Sakai Kobu paints such evocative landscapes in his glazes from our humble planet to celestial star scapes and galaxies,  both real and imagined. Enjoy the slideshow.

 

SQUARED AWAY

I really like to see wood fired altered forms that have been thrown and then manipulated, you can most times see the process left in the clay itself. The subtle or sometimes rather obvious scratches, drags, cuts and lines left in the clay give away how the potter altered the form and in certain instances with what type of tool. The illustrated square form Bizen kinuta vase was made by Masamune Satoru, a potter I have written about previously and one who's works I happen to find a tremendous affinity for, in other words, his work and how he worked speaks to me. This vase has a surface with a wide variety of  effects that has that misty morning appearance where the clouds and haze are retreating showing the rich fire color at the neck and where the wads were placed. This is Bizen at its elemental, straight forward, uncontrived and stripped down of the superfluous in its making and its firing; all squared away, a basic yet convincing pot.

CUT SHORT

Though there are several major categories for defining Ki-Seto glazes, I like to think of them in to only two distinct, broad styles; dry and wet surfaces. The illustrated tsubo falls in to the drier surface category which cloaks the clay and gives way to a myriad of variations in the color and texture all of which paint the identity of the maker in to and on to the pot. This particular Ki-Seto tsubo was made by Ningen Kokuho potter, Kato Kozo and shows the influences of Mino's Momoyama heritage not to mention that of his master, Arakawa Toyozo. Thrown with a definite attention to the wheels rhythm, this pot was paddled a bit flat on opposing side which he used as his canvas, embellished with a quick and fluid grass decoration on either side and then glazed in his distinctive glaze. The rich color and texture highlight this tsubo from mouth all the way to the transitional area above the foot with ash "pebbles" bubbling up around the mouth where the glaze was a bit thicker and the surface percolated to create these fine gems. As gravity took over, some areas of the glaze ran, creating glassy ash runs making their way to the cut foot ring and adding a bit more drama to the canvas. I like this type of pot and Ki-Seto surface that sets the mind to thinking about the past, present and future of a tradition and makes it even more difficult to walk away from a conversation cut short with so much left to talk about.

AND ON IT GOES

I was recently asked to make a set of whisky cups using the thick combed slip and my Oribe glaze and after a few design possibilities, this is what was decided upon. A simple, straight sided design with a strong pedestal style foot and thick slip combed in an alternating pattern that will hold a single ice cube and a good shot of what ever is prefered and here is the prototype. I am sure the influences of this form and several others I make are rather obvious but I am not sure what potter's would do with out these pioneers; the masters like Kawai Kanjiro, Hamada Shoji, Bernard Leach and others, not to mention the thousands of years of pottery history that predates us. Though the expression goes; "imitation is the sincerest from of flattery", I would like to think that I have added my own particular vision to such pieces and that though I could never match the original genesis, the style and tradition continues in my pots and those of countless others. It is amazing how much you can fill a small cup with not only liquid but content as well.