ANOTHER ROAD TRIP

Last Friday we made our way down to Middletown, CT to drop off pots for the upcoming annual holiday sale. I probably should just mention that this trip involves minimal effort, basically there and back again in a day trip verses the amount of packing materials, boxes, bubblewrap, tape, two days packing on my knees and UPS charges that add up quite quickly without  the  area bonuses of the excursion. The drive is quite nice with the tail end of autumn hanging on as you pass through the Berkshires and down to southern CT with a further trek from Middletown to Guilford for what adds to the reason we are in the area in the first place. In Guilford we start out getting a tasty cheeseburger and onion rings at Nick's, followed by grabbing up some pastries at Meriano's and then to a very nice wine store where the owner always has wonderful wines and suggestions for our Thanksgiving Day, Christmas and New Years dinner wines. I know I make mention of this trek every year but it just makes the drop off of pottery so much more special when involves stops at locales that used to be part of our daily lives when we lived in the area. I miss distinct aspects of Guilford, along with Williamsburg, York, Windham, Cleveland and Plattsburgh, more than just a general sense of nostalgia as each area had something to offer, wonderful experiences and opportunities and stuff that you just can't find anywhere else.

Illustrated is the show card and a temmoku and medieval green tray covered in meriano's pastries; cannoli, almond, chocolate and strawberry-cheese croissants.

"I don't like nostalgia unless it's mine." Lou Reed

MEMORY LANE

Recently I was involved in a discussion regarding the potters Hori Ichiro and Yamada Kazu revolving around how they worked and the wellspring of their inspiration. Quite naturally the conversation was steered toward the Enbu-Shino work of Yamada Kazu and the origins and technology of the glaze and it brought me back to a stellar chawan only recently made in that style that I had handled back in 2012. This Enbu-Shino chawan came from a collector that had decided to part with his collection so he sent it to me and I was able to handle it for several weeks as well as take quite a few photos of the piece from just about every conceivable angle. My initial take away from handling the chawan was the raw energy transferred from the fire, trapped in the surface and the tension created, over time that impression has lasted and I still have that same sense, I see a lyrical, almost abstract presence painted on the surface. From my perspective, this style is another in a long line of potters, especially in modern times, pushing the clay, glaze and firing to find where the limits really are and as a by-product of this experimentation often wondrous results unfold. No matter how you interpret Yamada's Enbu-Shino, it is certain to leave an impression and spark a conversation.

The following is a part of the description that I used when it was put up for sale on Trocadero; "Powerful, dramatic, enigmatic, there is a nearly unending number of descriptions that would still all fall short in describing this large Enbu-Shino chawan by Yamada Kazu. Enbu literally means "dancing fire" and it is that dancing fire that pushed the clay and glaze of this chawan to the very limit where the glaze turned to molten glass and began to flow like lava down the sides and into the interior of this pot. But pushing the limit is nothing new for Yamada Kazu who has broke new ground in his pursuit of Shino, Oribe, Ki-Seto, Seto-Guro and even Shigaraki pottery."

 

 

BATTLE ROYALE

Looking a bit like the trunk of a windswept pine this powerful Shigaraki vase was made by Hyogo Prefecture potter, Omae Satoru. This positively medieval looking hanaire is coated with a myriad of all natural glaze effects and colors from glassy ash to crusty charcoal with a ash drip suspended off the bottom like it is trapped in the wind a result of being fired on its side. The pot was thrown and then manipulated, gouged and to complete the form, thick, nascent lugs have been attached at the shoulder to complete the form. It is quite obvious from the surface that a brutal and ferocious battle, a battle royale if you would, has taken place between clay and fire all at the behest of a potter dedicated to creating works that provoke and challenge the viewer. Omae Satoru creates a variety of work from Shigaraki and Bizen to Karatsu ware and beyond having moved from Kobe to Shigaraki where he set up a studio before moving to Awajishi in Hyogo in 2010, possibly just another step on his potter's journey. What I can say about this battle scarred vase is that it speaks of a potter who is willing to push the limits of not only clay but the firing process and every potter who does so adds a page, perhaps even a chapter to what it is to wood fire.

(With any luck, I will put together a video slideshow of this pot in the future.)

PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS

I am still struggling with making this NOA, nuka oatmeal glaze work consistently as well as determining exactly how to use it. It is proving to be extremely temperature sensitive and demanding its own place in the kiln or it comes out way too stiff and rather unattractive. It has been quite a while since I have tried to use a glaze that was this set on an exact temperature and am beginning to wonder about its overall efficacy and reproducible results. In general I have a list of properties that a glaze should have in order for them to go into any scale of production, they are as follows;

>First and foremost suits my interests and works well with my forms and other glazes and washes, in other words, it plays well with others

>Easy to make

>Materials are readily available (except my lepidolite Oribe)

>Cost effective

>Not overly finicky in the glaze application

>Good glaze to body fit

> Slight variations in firing temperature with similar results

>Consistently repeatable results>Little to no crawling or pinholing

>Preferably a 90% success rate in firings

Obviously my list of glaze criteria is nothing but common sense requirements but I know I have fiddled and struggled with glazes in the past and probably will so in the future that are just never going to pan out as reliable surfaces. By coming up with a list it is much easier to just say, enough is enough and stop wasting time, money and energy to fight a fight that can not be won and know when and where to pick your battles. The jury is just not out yet on my NOA glaze quite yet.


Illustrated is a stoneware bottle with the nuka oatmeal glaze over black slip accents, top and bottom and iron and black glaze accents around the piece.

KANNYU II

I found this illustration the other day while I was trying to do some "research" on Sung celadons and there it was between some wonderful old Chinese pots. This light blue kannyu-seiji chawan is by Kishimoto Kennin who besides mastering this particular glaze has delved deeply into a wide array of surfaces and styles from Shino & Oribe to wood fired Iga-yaki. I love the casual form and posture of this bowl and the horizontal ridge that runs around the piece creates a wonderful glaze stop where the glaze pools a bit, darkens and the fracture pattern is altered. The ridge is highly affective on this chawan creating a rich visual element to the piece which breaks up the uniformity of the walls of the pot as well as the continuity of the surface. The ridge and lip create dark, iron saturated lines that together with the unctuous roll of glaze at the base and around the fingerprints add yet more definition to the lyrical and mysterious quality of the chawan. Over the years I have seen quite a few pots with this style of glaze and ironically many are stayed in their presentation, some even boring but in this chawan, Kishimoto Kennin used all of his years of experience to create a pot that is a dissertation in what it means to be kannyu-seiji.

YAKI-YOKAI

I am not quite sure if this meets the Halloween criteria but I thought, what the heck, it's my blog and as long as I operate within the known laws of physics, I should be okay. I found this image a while back and it immediately struck me as a powerful and iconic image that only Fujiwara Ikuzo is capable of and it is fiercely wood fired as well. Looking a bit like a sentinel guarding the kimon, demon's gate, he exudes an attitude and posture which defies entry unless perhaps he can be tricked in to a game of gakko (tag). As with many of Fujiwara's hand sculpted pieces, this Oni is filled with dynamic tension and power and yet has just the slightest hint of wry humor in his expression which has a sense of being inviting, impish and a bit nasty all at the same time. Given the way in which Fujiwara Ikuzo sculpts his pieces, the wood firing has added a softness and shadow to the form giving it quite a degree of dimension and personality, bringing this somewhat disagreeable character to life out of a large block of clay. What's not to love and Happy Halloween!

GREEN 2 GREEN

I think I showed this particular Falling Leaves covered piece as greenware two or three weeks past. Here it is now fired and still warm from a firing this weekend showing leaves falling about a dark black background which I hope establishes a mood and sets up a sense of motion about the pot. I posted this to give a perspective of the piece from greenware to decorated where in many respects, little changes except the pot gets fired and the surface obviously changes quite a bit, but thanks to a really dependable terra cotta clay, there is little to no warpage, a small amount of shrinkage and very rarely does the clay crack. Though this clay is not the greatest to throw and can be quite a struggle at times, all in all given the clays super powers, it is worth the effort.

"The one thing that matters is the effort." Antoine de Saint-Exupery

B&W NOT B&W

Here is an excellent ink wash by sometsuke master and Ningen Kokuho; Kondo Yuzo. Though painted in black and white and not blue and white, this simple and easily recognizable thistle design is along with persimmons and sharp mountain landscapes a trademark design of Kondo Yuzo. As mentioned these designs are usually portrayed in deep, vivid cobalt with faint washes of blue to even grey tones with the additions of red and gold depending on the piece. Known as the Japanese thistle, cirsium japonicum, this particular plant caught the attention of Kondo early on and can be seen on many of his works throughout his long and illustrious career as one of the finest sometsuke artists of the 20th century. Beyond his initial family and students, the influence of the stylistic renderings that Kondo Yuzo is so well know for has influenced both potter and painters alike during his lifetime and well beyond.

"The thistle is a prince. Let any man who has an eye for beauty take a view of the whole plant, and where will he see more expressive grace and symmetry; and where is there a more kingly flower?"  Henry Ward Beecher

YAKIMONO JIZO-BOSATSU

Known as the patron saint of children, travelers and those languishing in jigoku (hell), Jizo Bosatsu is one of a large number of "deities" in Buddhism. If you have ever traveled to Japan you will find Jizo literally everywhere, along roadsides, in gardens and cemeteries and of course in Buddhist temples crisscrossing the country. Illustrated is a small, sculpted stoneware Jizo-bosatsu figure made by Mashiko ceramic artist and sculpture, Fujiwara Ikuzo. Though quite idiosyncratic to the artist, Fujiwara has kept the idealized features of the praying Jizo so that the imagery is immediately identifiable from the forehead jewel representing the third eye to the long earlobes and serene expression alluding to the state of nirvana. Like many of Fujiwara Ikuzo's figures, this small okimono has a somewhat comical appearance not intended to mock or satire the iconography but perhaps to make it more approachable and easier to fit within the modern home as welcomed guest and spiritual representative and advisor. What ever his intentions, this wonderful little Jizo-bosatsu figure is likely to find himself quite at home from bookshelf to home alter and just about anywhere he may wander.

SAME PLACE ALMOST 365 DAYS LATER

It is that time of year, a place where I find myself year after year when I just don't feel like I can get enough work done in a day and certainly can not get pots dried out fast enough for bisque firings. Over the years I have taken to using the kilns to dry out my terra cotta pots thanks to a forgiving and all purpose terra cotta clay body that I have tweaked over the years. The terra cotta that I am currently using was originally from a formula that I got from Dick Schneider back at my CSU days though the current incarnation has be altered quite a bit to all for what I call shock drying which rarely results in any warping or cracking of the clay. Illustrated is a black and white slip tray that was made on a Monday and glaze fired on a Sunday thanks to this drying method. Using soft brick under the tray, I allow the heat to perculate up through the bricks and dry out the clay which can take a couple of hours but makes it ready to go in a bisque the very next day. From here it is simply about balancing out pieces, filling and firing the kilns and getting everything finished. There is never enough kiln space or time and I always seem to get inventories to galleries just at the last minute or a day or two late but luckily, for the most part they are very accomidating. Thanks.