The
other day we had customers stop by and bearing gifts to boot. Having seen my
post on the Voodoo Donuts, they showed up with two tasty looking Bavarian crème
filled donuts with chocolate frosting and green and yellow decoration just like
the ones I had illustrated in the prior post though of a much more classical
form. The two edible prezzies are nestled in on an old thrown slab plate with a
white Shino and resisted iron glaze of which we have a hand full we use for a
variety of functions. The iron glaze has a propensity to spot and have a subtle
oilspot effect which you cannot see in this photo. Back to the donuts which
were cut in to halves and shared along with a piping hot cup of coffee which
went quite well with the tasty treats. Though this happened a week ago just
looking at the photo makes me feel good on this cold, dreary Monday where the
daylight savings effects linger on. I seem to remember a quote to the
effect, "if it weren't for chocolate the world would be filled with a lot of unhappy
people", surely they must have misspoke and meant donuts.
I
know I have mentioned that I don't collect guinomi all that often and that most
are almost accidental acquisitions but every now and again a piece shows up
that I find compelling for any number of reasons. I purchased this fine little Echizen guinomi a
month ago and recently built a short slideshow videos to show it off a bit.
Made by Echizen wood firing veteran Nishiura Takeshi this robust and
exceptionally down to earth, even earthy guinomi just reminded me a a simple,
almost provincial piece easily navigates the old verses new timeline, defying
attempts to nail it down to a specific date despite being a product of modern
times. The vivid wood fired surface is covered with a wonderful array of
Echizen ash effects and the broad, sturdy form looks like it would be at home
in the hand of bushi or literati. The palette of colors ranging from blues,
greens, greys and browns balance wonderfully against the deep brown-green pool
that has frozen to the bottom and would look great looking up from a clear cup
of sake. I truly enjoy simple pots like this guinomi, no pretense, no bells and
whistles just filled with a vitality and atmosphere that nourishes the spirit
(and possibly one's inclination for spirits).
After a recent encounter with a rather nice temmoku
chawan by Kimura Morinobu, I searched around and was watching a video of him at
work and in a section of the video it shows him tooling the feet of some of his
chawan. The illustrated screen capture comes from that video and shows the
sequence and style of how he addresses the kodai of his chawan, they all
display a common thread, wonderful clay texturing from the tool, direct, fast
and just right for each bowl with an attached little pad, stamped with his
maker's mark applied after they are tooled. One of the other things I have
noticed is that he tends to make a narrower foot, much like those on old Korean
rice-bowls which I prefer to a broader foot. I like that a bowl rests on a
smaller pedestal and jumps up from that point, asking to be picked up and held.
I am sure I have said this before but nothing can sink a chawan faster than a
bad kodai and in looking at countless pieces by Kimura Morinobu, it is obvious
even in their practiced spontaneity that his thoughtful, all in approach to
pottery starts with the throwing, moves on to the trimming, glazing/ decorating
and is completed with his firing and it could be nothing less.
Admittedly,
the beginning of the year can be rather slow in terms of orders, re-orders,
commission etc. especially as yet another gallery has closed its doors. Several
weeks back I received a phone call asking me when I was going to pick up my
remaining work, six pieces, all terra cotta. I asked what was the matter and
then silence and I was given over to the gallery manager at Eureka Crafts in
Syracuse, this was their last week in business as a bustling retail area had
been converting over to restaurants and other edible specialties. I made
arrangements and went and picked up my pots and it was a somber moment for a
gallery in business since 1982 and had been carrying my work since 1992 (?). Though
at various times they had carried my stoneware, they had principally carried my
terra cotta works; slipwork, abstrakt resist and "It's Still Life"
among others, a great outlet for my work and that of a number of other crafts
people and jewelers. Not having had any advance warning, I was surprised and
now just a bit melancholy over the end of an era, Eureka was a wonderful
gallery run by wonderful people, crafts people. The work weeks starts, the
wheel keeps on spinning and terra cotta pots need making. Illustrated
is a medium size, high walled serving bowl made out of terra cotta with black
slip, incised decoration and white "tama" additions.
Nesting
on a kitchen shelf this illustrated set is a contemporary spin on the Sueki
style by Tsujimura Yui, son of Tsujimura Shiro and a wiz at a rather unique
Shigaraki styled firing. This photo was taken back in 2012 at the home of Alice
and Halsey North when my wife and I visited along with a small group from JASA
and has been sitting on the hard drive along with dozens of other images from
that time. I was impressed at the unique balance of the ancient and modern in
Yui's work which is clearly represented in this set composed of classic lines,
great clay texture and just the right amount of ash effects. Like his father's pottery,
there is nothing ostentatious or off putting about Tsujimura Yui's pieces, they
are warm and inviting and as you can clearly see they just ask to be handled
and used as frequently as possible.
I
received a package from Japan the other day, a rather inexpensive purchase off
of a ubiquitous auction website everyone seems goes to. I think the total of
the purchase with shipping was under $65 but despite that fact, the dealer/
shipper took every effort and thoughtful consideration to insure the contents
would arrive just as they were shipped. As is clear from the photo, once I
opened the box, there was a perfect level of crushed newspaper which peeled up,
fully intact as a single sheet of material though composed of a dozen or more
sheets of paper, the bottom of the package was made in exactly the same manner.
I suspect that once the bottom was laid in, the box was paced in the middle and
then the newspaper buffer was put in with enough care that it can also be
lifted out as a single cube, open on both ends. Once completed, the top panel
was put in and the cardboard box sealed and labeled. As can be seen in the rear
of the box, there is a small crushed area that stood up well due to the
exacting and caring way in which the pot was packed. I know it may seem
trivial to expound on the virtues of good packing but such efforts are not to
be overlooked and as often as I say a good bowl can be ruined by a bad foot, a
good pot can easily be ruined by bad packing. I can say that over the years I
have personally lived through a number of broken pots sent my way, a few that I
shipped, though one large box was actually driven over and I cannot relate the
number of horror stories I have heard, simply put, there is no such thing as
common sense packing, it is a skill and deserves to be applauded. Thanks for
the unique and dedicated packing! (I probably should mention that I
was also very pleased with the contents of the thorough packing, a very fine
chawan that I will put up at some later date.)
In
an ongoing project to convert old 35mm slides to digital images I came across a
group from the very first show of my work in 1992. The exhibition was held at
The Verne Collection in a space that they was provided them at John Carroll
University, a Jesuit institution in the center of University Heights, Ohio. If memory
serves me correctly, I provided approximately 60 pieces which included five or
six large hanging wall platters and a number of tea oriented ceramics such as
teabowls, water jars and vases though other items were also exhibited. Given the
nature of the show, my first exposure to the art scene, everything sold out in
the first two days of the show. In conjunction with my debut, there was great write
up in the Cleveland Plain Dealer, penned by Hellen Cullinan which was
illustrated with several photograph including one of me with a large wall
platter. Illustrated from this show is a Shino and copper red glazed water jar
form from the show under the wonderful "Junko My Love" print by
internationally known artist, Daniel Kelly. Considering the focus of the gallery
was principally 2-D the walls were filled in by famous prints spanning three
centuries, though this was my favorite at the time. It is quite a time warp
seeing the nearly dozen images from the show and remembering various pots that
were brought there and sold of which the large Shino and copper red platter and
this water jar still stand out all these years later. A big thanks to Mitzie
and Michael for the opportunity and to Helen for such a wonderful (and
positive) review.
I am a bit surprised now and
again when a photo and description of a pot are quite different than what the
piece looks like in person whether it is a piece that I visit or a piece that is sent
my way. Recently I received a bowl that looked like a solid temmoku chawan and
to affirm that thought, the box clearly reads; temmoku chawan, nothing more,
nothing less. As soon as I opened the package and box it was obvious that what
I was looking at was no ordinary, monochrome temmoku but rather a surface more
akin to some style of yuteki-temmoku with vivid, if dark spots with luster
surrounds inside and out. I put together this rather short video slideshow of
the temmoku chawan by Kimura Morinobu and as you can see the variety in the
spotting and streaking makes for a rather active, animated surface and
certainly quite distant from a monochrome surface. I will also mention that Kimura
Morinobu's works have interested me since our Japan, Kyoto visits back in the
early 1990s. I have handled a number of his pots and enjoy the way he handles
clay in a no-nonsense and direct manner based on function and created to please
the eye. I hope this short video slideshows gives a glimpse of what the piece
has to say in person.
Quite a while back, on
7/13/2012 to be precise, I wrote a blog post entitled KINTSUGI in which I
illustrated the change a pot had made from being damaged and repaired, taking
on a renewed existence as an altered and possibly even enhanced pot. Having
seen photos of the pot before its untimely incident and then the repaired
version miz 2.0, I can say that though the damaged was rather unfortunate it
would have been even more so if the pot had just been discarded and not brought
back to life with a simple (?) kintsugi repair. Since that time I first posted
the image I have been asked a couple of times what the overall pot looked like
and I finally got around to searching through storage discs to find a photo of the
piece in question and here it is. Made by Oribe specialist, Takauchi Shugo this
Oribe mizusashi has his classic textured, hacked and spatula raked surface to
present a rather powerful and purposeful piece despite its kintsugi repair. The
pot and lid were both originally thrown round and then both were pushed oval
and the lid manipulated a bit but not cut to fit the form and mouth opening.
The rich green that Takauchi used highlights and accentuates the form and vivid
textures that he creates making for a rather potent and unique Oribe pot that
16th century bushi may have enjoyed. It is obvious that once damaged why the
pot just screamed; "repair me and make mine gold!".
Illustrated is a large
serving platter and pasta bowl glazed and decorated in a tin based majolica
based on formula from both Dick Schneider and Linda Arbuckle, both appear to be
based on a recipe known as Batz majolica easily found all over the web. Using
wax resist and several colors, after putting down the wax spirals I painted alternating squares ofcrimson and yellow on the surface and then
went in with copper and black accents to mimic the white resisted spirals as
well as the help animate the overall surface. I should also mention that I add
just a tiny amount of color to the white base glaze to soften it a bit, perhaps
.5%, this presents a white surface without being so white. I like the slightly
muted white surface and finds it works better with the colored washes and
decoration that I tend to use. I know a number of these larger serving pieces
have ended up in the hands of caterers and they stand up pretty well to the
constant use and abuse. I know my wife and I have a few pieces made in the late
90s which look close to new but I think the first pieces of majolica I ever made
were back in 1990 or 1991 and I now wonder how they have fared after all these
years? It may be rather clear by now that I rely quite a bit on
spirals, not only because they are easy and simple to work with but rather because I
have always been interested in the significance of the device. The universal
and spiritual aspects of the spiral and its relationship to culture across the
globe and into the reaches of the universe, think spiral galaxies and beyond,
the spiral is much more than a simple decorative device and can be interpreted
as many things by many people. What better than to use a decorative device that
can say so much with such a simple circular collapsing brush stroke.
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