THICK MELTING SNOW

As I look out our front windows, there is bright white snow as far as the eye can see, covering the farms, hills and valley but if you look carefully, selectively, you can see areas of the thick snow melting. The vista reminded me of a slideshow video I made sometime ago and never posted of a rather unusual Hagi mizusashi covered over in a thick white shirahagi glaze resembling thick melting snow. The mizusashi was made by Miwa Kyusetsu XI  student, Yoshida Shuen (1940-1987) in the early 1980s as a thrown "cone" that was then altered to create an ovoid form to which a very thick, over 1/2" roiro black lacquer custom lid was added. The mizusashi is accentuated by combed banding around the piece with a bold spatula mark on the face and areas of intense, dripping glaze resembling melting snow on the exterior and around the mouth of the interior creating a rather engaging visual presentation. Though I had forgotten to post this video, I certainly had not forgotten the pot and hope the slideshow fills out the conversation I had with this simple and practical Hagi mizusashi.

OUT OF THE BOX II

Illustrated is a detail shot of a futamono, covered box by Matsubayashi Hosai XIV, what makes this piece a bit different is just exactly what you are looking at. The Matsubayashi family have made Asahi-yaki for generations and what that means in broad terms is that using local materials, local to the Kyoto environs, their pottery is similar to gohonde spotted wares one normally thinks of as Hagi ware but it has its own unique qualities as you delve deeper into the pottery. The covered box which I recently handled and photographed will become a slideshow video at some point but I thought its unique character and Chinese influenced surface shows just how Hosai continues a tradition while thinking a bit outside the box. This surface is lush, exotic and well suited to the piece which is intended as a sweets box, thrown out of a fine stoneware clay the piece is glazed right up to the edges which have developed thick rolls of glaze without the lid and bottom being permanently affixed. Like the more traditional Asahi-yaki made by Matsubayashi Hosai XIV, this futamono is precisely thrown, well crafted and the glaze is applied with perfection, though not the normal pottery one would expect from this potter it is obvious that this was not his first attempt at such an uncompromising and demanding surface.

TURN OVER A NEW LEAF

Illustrated is the turned footring interior of a terra cotta vase I made recently. As you can see the pot is decorated in my "falling leaves" decoration of red, yellow and green leaves on a rich, black background on terra cotta clay which includes sgrafitto outlining and detailing the leaves. The idea to decorate the interiors of the foot rings and undersides of lids has to do with something someone said long before I started making pots and has stuck with me" "every object has six sides", simple enough and from my perspective that includes the bottom. Though I don't necessarily decorate the bottoms or lid interiors on every pot, I do so when the mood and pot asks for just a little more embellishment or those times when I am just in the groove and a little more is just what the clay doctor ordered. I know that when in use this vase will have some water and flowers in it but when it it time to clean up and put it away it is easy to turn over a new leaf with little to no effort.

THE BEST EVER

Back, shortly after we moved to central NY State a friend of mine called and excitedly told me he had found me the most incredible mizusashi that one could imagine. naturally, I asked for a description or a photo, after all we are living in the digital age but was told he was going to pack it up and ship it to me and it was a house warming gift. Days passed, then a week, then two and I decided to ask, how was it shipped, strapped to a herd of snails pointed in the approximate direction and was told his car broke down and he just hadn't made his way to the post office, I would just have to wait for the most exceptional, incredible mizusashi known to man. Several more weeks passed and one day while working in the studio the postman showed up with a somewhat large box for a mizusashi but I figured it was just well packed. As soon as I opened the box, I knew something was not quite right as the contents we not likely ceramic and the weight was off. As I pulled and cut away foam paper, newsprint and bubble wrap the piece emerged, not a Japanese mizusashi but rather a Danish Modern ice bucket designed by Jens Quistgaard for Dansk in 1950. Made out of staved teak with a waterproof liner on the interior, the Quistgaard ice bucket is a classic marriage of traditional and modern Scandinavian design and has proven to be one of my favorite "mizusashi" that could have been that I have every received as it was a gift from a great and caring friend.

KR VI

Illustrated is a fine Kyoto style chawan by legendary master, Kiyomizu Rokubei V (1901-1980). This chawan shows the classical training Rokubei VI received from his father, the fifth generation of the family, with inspirations of Rimpa and Nihonga style painting The fine, crackle feldspar base glaze plays a fine host to the whispy grass and solid purple morning glories that adorn the chawan all sandwiched like a scroll painting between lip and foot. There is a balanced sense of nobility and pathos to this chawan that I can not shake but unlike the beauty of nature that it portraits, this chawan will endure long beyond most potters and viewers.

IRON & ASH II

Illustrated is one of my bamboo form vases which came out rather well with a rich iron surface dipped in my favorite ash glaze. After the piece was thrown, I cut out three large areas creating a tripod style foot and using two little, pinched wads of clay I added lugs to either side near the top of the vase and then cut out half moons to match the feet on the piece. As you can probably tell, this is another pot that I got very lucky on as the ash ran all the way down the pot and stopped just shy of sticking the piece to the self; though I like runny glazes, this was more than a bit close. I have always been fascinated by various take-gata, bamboo form vases by the likes of Rosanjin and Arakawa and have tried to make my own version of the idea and when coupled with various subtle details and various glaze combinations I would like to think that I have succeeded.

FEW AND FAR BETWEEN

I remember the first pot that I ever saw by Tokuda Yasokichi III, it was a long time ago and was part of an exhibit that was also showing pieces by Hara Kiyoshi, Udagawa Hosei and another potter who I just can not name at the moment and never saw his pots ever again. The Tokuda was an elegant, large gourd form vase with a brilliant assemblage of colors complimenting and provoking the lines of the piece, it was quite wonderful and did I mention large? Over the years I have seen a disproportionate number of vases in all shapes and sizes and lots of plates as well but mizusashi and chawan, few and far between. I am certainly not suggesting in any way that his chawan and mizusashi are "rare" or "scarce" as I have seen them all over the internet and in catalogues and books but I can count the chawan I have seen on one hand and about the same for mizusashi. The illustrated chawan is an earlier work by Tokuda with a deep, rich purple ground accented with copper greens and blues and even white punctuating the bowl. The bowl is simple in execution but a perfect ground for his brilliant glazing and enameling to which few can match his technique and craft. Though I have not seen many Tokuda Yasokichi III chawan first hand, I can say without any hesitation, they have never been anything less than a rewarding conversation in color, space and form.

EMERALD POOL

Quite a few years back my wife and I were at a museum show of gemstones and in the exhibition was a large emerald crystal that was absolutely radiant and just full of energy, I have always suspected that her interest in wood fired pieces with sheets of glassy ash and bidoro possibly stems from that momentary experience. I recently had a chance to handle a very medieval style Iga mizusashi that had a great surface inside and out as this photo of the ringed emerald pool of fractured, glassy ash will attest. To get a perspective, the center of the bottom is slightly pushed up which creates an unintentional but vivid channel that encircles the entire interior ring with this rich, emerald ash making for a most welcome surprise when the lid is removed. I am constantly amazed at how much this simple style of pooled, melted ash and some emerald crystals have in common visually from the intensity and depth of color to the fractured nature of the structure making for a rather intense experience.

"Simplicity is the most difficult thing to secure in the world; it is the last limit of experience and the last effort of genius."  George Sand (Amantine Lucile Aurore Dupin 1804-1876)

PADDLE AWAY

I was going through a file of photos over the weekend to send a few examples of a piece a customer was interested in ordering and came across a group of an Oribe style tataki mizusashi I made some time back. Having a number of photos, I decided to build a short video slideshow of the water jar that I hope gives the piece a bit more depth and shows some of the details in both clay and surface. I enjoy making pieces like this as I have said before, despite what plans you may have, once that paddle hits the clay, you get what you get and can guide the piece in certain directions but total control is out the door which in the end makes for a much more casual pot.

NOT JUST ANOTHER BOWL

I saw this very well wood fired chawan the other day and was immediately struck by its posture, form, surface and incised decoration, it is one of those pieces that you have an instant connection to, a dialogue which just feels right and is obviously not just another bowl. The teabowl was made by legendary Tokoname sculpture and potter, Koie Ryoji and bares his signature across the surface as a bold, lyrical design across the ash coated surface. Few potters have been as imaginative, bold and even provocative as Koie through out his long career from his Chernobyl series of sculpture to his thought provoking pottery which pushes the concept of function, tradition and accommodation. I like this chawan as much because it has a comfortable attitude with a simple form and decoration as it is the embodiment of the casual which like his contemporary, Suzuki Goro, Koie spins out such pieces with seemingly effortless and boundless energy.