UNCOMPLICATED RELATIONSHIP

Unfettered and simple are certainly varying ways to describe this serene Iga chawan by Sugimoto Sadamitsu. The simple, high sided teabowl tapers little from bottom to top and is crowned with a lip that undulates and moves just enough to give it a weathered and natural appearance as if worn down by the ferocity and velocity of the firing. The surface paints a subtle mural like a Momoyama ink painting across the piece which is high lighted on the very face with an area puncuated with green ash while the area at the base to the foot creates a wonderful shadowline of negative space. About as feudal looking as they come, Sugimoto has created a bowl full of complex subtlties with everything extra cast aside to present a chawan full of dialogue in a lasting and uncomplicated relationship with the viewer.

KLOCK HOLLOW

Several years ago I received a phone call from Bill Klock telling me a small pot was on its way via a US gallery all the way from England. While vacationing in the UK, Bill had spent time with his old friend Clive Bowen and made this little jug using Clive's Devonshire clay and glazes and then it was fired and sent on to Mindy and I. I thought it rather special that while trekking about St. Ives and devonshire that Bill took the time to make us a pot knowing how fond we are for his pitchers and jugs. In retrospect, I now believe this may have been the last pot that Bill made and it shows the same vitality, spirit and warmth of the pots that I first encountered back in 1989. It is just a simple little jug with a utilitarian spout and handle but it has more to say than, "just use me, pour away". It is the small details and marks left in the clay that speak to me about how Bill handled clay and how he thought about pottery, without any superfluous verbage, decoration or details, this pot tells me it is a Klock Hollow jug.

I should mention there is a short bio for Bill in the book; THE LEACH LEGACY; St. Ives Pottery and its Inspiration, page 134 & 135.

COMMONWEALTH ASH

Recently a friend sent me some wood ash from his studio in Virginia, so as with all new materials, I decided to test it and glazed and decorated a teabowl and put it in the last firing. When I unloaded the kiln, there were two teabowls near each other, one from the old ash and one from the new Virginia ash and though both the Nuka surfaces were similar the colors were quite different. The old ash which had originated in upper NY State came from Bill Klock and my sister-in-law and has a decidedly blue-grey tone to it while the new ash (see the attached illustration) from the Commonwealth of Virginia seems quite a bit cleaner running to a just off-white color and a much brighter surface. Truthfully I am fine with both surfaces but it is quite apparent what just over 500 miles and varied sources can mean when using wood ash as a major glaze component.

OBJECT

I am not sure when I first saw one of these Bizen sculpture by Kaneshige Kosuke but I am sure it was in the very early 90s. My interests and collecting mostly revolve around rather functional pieces, especially those used for tea ceremony but for some reason I was instantly drawn to this series of work. As I look at them, my thoughts consider things elemental and primal making the Bizen firing a perfect choice for such pieces. The areas of ash, dryness and wet surfaces combine to reflect light and set mood in a variety of ways depending on one's vantage point making for an "object" that is constantly morphing and evolving as the form may possible suggest as well. I used to have a photo, taken with actually film mind you from and exhibit I saw in Japan with a similar piece flanked by a chawan on one side and a mizusashi on the other, to this day I am still struck by how natural and symbiotic the arrangement was then as much as it is in my memory today.

AKA-E

A number of years back there was a rather nice but small traveling show put on by the Japan Foundation; EXHIBITION OF JAPANESE TRADITIONAL POTTERY : Work in Traditional Styles by Modern Potters. This was an easy to remember exhibit as the pieces, all 65 of them were rather memorable and indicative of the potters represented. Among the group was a simple aka-e decorated stoneware hachi with areas of black glaze and overglaze red and green enamels by Kato Kenji. Inspired by the Persian pottery he is best known for the decoration and presentation was entirely his own voice and unique among modern Japanese pottery.

The slideshow video I just put together is of a far more intricate and provocative designed hachi though the form, style and techniques are identical with Kato's distinct vocabulary with bits of Persian and possibly Scythian elements thrown in for good measure. The decoration is wonderfully balanced on the squared form with rich whitish and black glaze acting as the back drop for wonderful brushwork using a deep red overglaze enamel with accents of green about the surface all tied together by whispy tendrils of quick, delicate and lyrical line work. Though I imagine this hachi was intended as a serving piece, I can't help but imagine a table set with six, eight or even twelve of this hachi acting as "dinner plates" at an other worldly gathering of friends and family.

LAST MINUTE

Illustrated is another avenue I am testing, a crackle slip, applied on bisque ware and then glazed, the first tests have been promising. This test cup came out fairly promising with the stark contrast of the black glaze over the clear and slipped bowl. The big mistake I made was that I didn't get the slip completely mixed and there are small nodules of slip material punctuating the surface. This was a rookie mistake and one I know better than to make but in my defense, the test idea was very last minute, the kiln was loaded and as they say, "time and tide wait for no man". The next go around I will seive the slip thoroughly using a 30 mesh screen and make sure it is100% ready to use. Some mistakes are unavoidable but it is the mistakes that you repeat because of time or space  constraints that always leave a little mark and in this case on both mind and pot.

RESISTENCE IS FEUDAL

After the Second World War, there was a real resurgence and reimagining of the feudal traditions of Japan, whether they were the glazed wares of Mino and other locales or the Rokkoyo; potters across the country turned to these archetypal pots to bring them well into a new century. Among these varied styles was that of Tokoname where Ezaki Issei spear-headed the rebirth of their ancient pottery along with several of his students such as Osako Mikio and Takeuchi Kimiaki. The illustrated medieval style tsubo is one facet of what modern Tokoname ware looks like as interpreted by Takeuchi Kimiaki where the clay body has the classic appearance of pots from the Ezaki school of pottering making along with the vivid, almost illuminated ash glaze wrapping the lip, mouth and shoulder of the piece while trails ending in bidoro gems cascade down the form. Though there are both subtle and overt differences in the works of Ezaki, Osako and Takeuchi, there are also a number of similarity as each worked within a singular vision of what ancient Tokoname pots had to say as well as how they wished to communicate what the modern tradition would add to those pots that had gone before. It is hard to resist this type of tsubo filled with purpose and created without an over bearing intellect where the elements are casually crafted to create a pot filled with the merging of the ancient and modern spirit.

MONOCHROME HENKO

There is not a lot I can say about this wonderful ink wash by Mashiko legend, Hamada Shoji. Painted in simple monochrome, this ink sketch captures everything one can imagine regarding his molded vase forms together with a fluid and spontaneous rendering of his iconic sugarcane motif. Hamada has easily captured the volume and scale of the pot which would be a more than welcome addition to any collector who actually owns such a henko. I have seen several pot and painting combos over the years and it would seem with enough patience and money, a pairing is not necessarily out of the question. Happy hunting!

NUKA-2018

Back in Cleveland after several trips to Japan, I did a lot of testing and glazing using nuka recipes, one from Randy Johnston and the other from a potter in Japan. Over the years the formula morphed a bit from both of the original recipes to a mixture of both wood and nuka ash which is what is illustrated here. Deciding that I wanted to try out the old nuka surface I made up the old formula and found that the surface was just too stiff and the glazes used over it were more than a bit dry so i set about fine tuning it for the wood ash that I had on hand and the clay body I am using currently. This whisky cup is from the first sucessful tests of the modified nuka glaze with areas of black slip under and an iron overglaze splashed over the surface here and there. From these tests I have made up a larger batch of this glaze and am currently running a bisque in which there are test teabowls for this nuka formula (nuka-2018) and a crackle slip as well. Should be fun if nothing else!

KIN-KAKI

Though not the best detail photo I have seen, the illustrated image is of a detail of a rich and eloquent Mashiko tsubo that I found while surfing the web. Made by Yoshikawa Mizuki (b. 1941) the thick and deep temmoku glaze is lusterous and a perfect backdrop for the painted branches, leaves and the golden persimmon that flank the upper shoulder of the pot. There is a stategically placed branch dropping down into the lower third of the piece with the low hanging fruit taking center stage at what should be considered the front or face of the jar. Together with the strong and decidedly Mashiko form, the combinations of overglazes, the subject matter and the choice of glazes have made for a wonderful pot that brings to mind many a trek through Japan where both fresh, sliced persimmon and hoshigaki could be found and enjoyed along the journey.