OPPOSITES ATTRACT

Illustrated is an interior shot of a recent kohiki mizusashi that came my way. Well known for his kohiki ware and ash glazed pots, this piece was made by Kimura Morinobu and symbolizes the quiet and simple works that he has crafted over a many decades of making pots on the outskirts of Kyoto. While created as a practical and purposeful vessel for use in chanoyu, tea ceremony Kimura added some aesthetically pleasing touches that add to the serene and somber kohiki surface from areas of iron ringing the base of the pot to a rather stylized "bird" knob gracing the handle which has a rather archaic appearance. Perhaps the most surprising touch that was unexpected is the yuteki style glazed interior that radiates as soon as the lid is removed, creating a sense of movement within the interior of this otherwise simple pot. While the exterior has a rather quiet appearance, the interior is the opposite having a rather potent and robust presence that as I mentioned was not totally expected but works in harmony with the mizusashi overall. Like the way that black and white work together, as opposites in harmony, I think the balance of kohiki and temmoku are a perfect combination where opposites attract, especially the eye.

CENTURIES PAST

Illustrated is a rather lush Ki-Seto hanaire that has a surface that is actually alive with movement and activity created by the ash glaze and the wide array of shimmering nodules that proliferate the surface and an abundance of bidoro spheres that punctuate areas of the pot. Though it may seem hyperbolic, this Ki-seto created by Hayashi Shotaro is easily the most complex and unique of its type where a blend of tradition and modern inspiration collide to create a unique surface (and pot) that adds to a rather distinguished and long line of potters that have gone before. 

Beyond the somewhat uncommon surface the form is also particular to the potter, at its base it finds its roots in centuries past leaning on an anthropomorphic ideal in form articulated by vivid throwing grooves, spatula marks and the intentional distortion of the round form adding a bit of tension and drama into the mix. Despite the evocative surface and expressive form, at its core it tells a story about rustic and weathered beauty, made to be used and considered as yet another contribution to a long tradition and a body of work that spans decades and nudges the present just a bit closer to the future of modern Japanese pottery.

TIME & LABOR

Quite often when I am making pots, I find myself when left on my own to make various forms a particular size, large teabowls, 14" v-bowls, 18" plates, all within a practiced and zone of familiarity and comfort. Now and again though I decide to make pieces that are more labor and time intensive for their size and this 9" vase was part of a group where size and time formed an inequity of sorts. This vase is comprised of four stoneware pieces, base, neck/mouth and two lugs though I could have made the body and neck as one I choose to lute the pieces together once the vase was firmly squared up. Thrown and altered, the base was made reasonably square and the corners nicely recessed from the base, the neck was attached on the wheel and then the pre-cut lugs were attached. Using thick white porcelain slip, the texture was added impasto style and then all I needed to do was wait on the vase to dry, bisque and glaze. 

As with quite a preponderance of my current work, I opted to glaze the piece Kuro-oribe style realizing the slipped and unslipped stoneware areas would be rather different in appearance as is plan to see. I like the dark, somber top contrasting against the light and animated base which though seemingly diametrically opposed in tone and texture work quite well together in my opinion. As a mentioned, though somewhat time and labor intensive, the outcome was close to how I invisioned the form be it 9" or 16" tall so I will agree to call this a maquette for a larger, future project.

"AND POTS"

Though I don't think there is anything rare regarding guinomi by Tsukigata Nahiko, there really are not many illustrated in catalogues, books or portfolios. The majority of guinomi that I have seen are either ones I have encountered in person, perhaps a half dozen and the ones offered for sale on any variety of website. I have seen a number of really wonderful Oni-Shino examples with the Oni-Iga examples coming in second as to my personal preference. Illustrated is a rather nice Oni-Iga guinomi that comes in at a good size that fits well in the hand and is both easy to hold and appears rather easy to drink from (though I have not done so). The body of the form is wider at the bottom, tapering a bit and holding a good shot of one's preferred spirit while resting on a wide foot ring that shows off the three wad scars that seperated the guinomi from being perpetually attached to a kiln shelf. Unifying the form is the icy, light green glaze over which splashes of iron bring movement to the pot which has a slight appearance of a three dimensional Zen painting as you fondle the guinomi and spin it between your fingers. 

 As I said, I don't think this or other guinomi exactly rate as rara-avis but like most of the good works by Tsukigata Nahiko there is a rather unique and memorable exchange between pot and user with each and every encounter. It was the famous French author, Guy de Maupassant who said; "It is the lives we encounter that make life worth living" but somehow I think it is safe to wedge in "lives and pots" into his sentiment.

ATYPICAL

Though perhaps not your typical, everyday Hagi surface, rest assured this is a classic hanaire thrown from daido clay somewhere in Yamaguchi Prefecture and made by the late Notomi Choun (1921-1995). This simple form was thrown out of a sandy, coarse clay with an eye toward function and purpose before being glazed and wood fired to produce this somber Yohen-Hagi style surface creating a rather intriguing, even captivating appearance of movement and visual variation. The main body of the atypical vase is a blend of active glaze moving down the vertical form with fire red areas of exposed clay capped off by a pronounced shoulder and mouth which gives way to a thick ring of blushed Hagi glaze ringing the lip. Breaking the vase up ever so slightly, Notomi has added two spontaneously attached lugs or ears to eith side of the base of the pot which is just enough to keep the form from becoming common in the presentation of the form. Despite every attempt to create a simple vase with a simple surface, the potter, glaze and firing have unitied to make a piece that stands out and awaits its completion through use, just the way it was intended to.

A LEMON OUT OF LEMON-AID

On some days throwing can end up seeming like I am just getting lemon-aid from the proverbial lemons, things drag and just don't go quite as planned. Stemming from this I ended up with a single thrown teabowl, left over after throwing a group of corresponding lids off the hump and as I moved a ware board this morning the tooled and finished bowl took a tumble direct to the concrete floor. Unlike Humpty Dumpty, it only took one potter with some spare time and an inclination to try and do something with the near flattened bowl and the illustrated teabowl is the end result. Cracked and ovalled beyond correction I first mended the crack with a seamless patch and then gently paddled the form to what you see here using a large and aged kitchen spoon. Once I ended up with the shape, I brushed thick, textured slip onto the bowl and at the very least it will make a good "next step" piece for testing, bigger that a pod or yunomi to best gauge the results of the slip and corresponding surfaces. Despite the description, I really didn't put very much time into this bowl but given the general mood of throwing for the day before I do feel a bit like I ended up making a single lemon out of lemon-aid.

TRICKY SUBJECT

As I look at this chawan, I am reminded of the lineage from Rosanjin to Arakawa, Arakawa to Kato Kozo and finally to the maker of this bowl, Hayashi Kyousuke, the thread and influences are there but there is a resolute voice as well of the current generation. Though I see elements of the past and present in this chawan I find Hayashi's Ki-Seto to stand out from the pack, unique in its color, texture and use in the same way I look at the very same glaze by Hori Ichiro. While Hori Ichiro's Ki-Seto and pottery in general has a rustic, old and elemental look, Hayashi seems to pursue a sense of formality and more refined appearance in his forms and this could be in part due to his highly structured Yuteki-Temmoku work that he is vey well known for.       

This chawan is composed of rather simple and straightforward lines acting as the bones for what is to come, the lip, mikomi and kodai are all very well addressed but they are not the adventure unto themselves, the structure is the canvas for a surface that is idiosyncratic, intrepid and contemporary not terribly unlike the surfaces of Raku Kichizaemon XV. As you can see, there is movement to the surface where the intermingling of matt and wet tributaries create a landscape that interacts with hand and mind at the very same moment.  Over time I have seen quite a few Kuro-Oribe and Ki-Seto chawan by Hayashi Kyousuke and despite looking at the forms as formal and streamlined so often, his unique approach to creating his various surface brings more than enough movement and spirit to his work, creating pots that have something new to add to the traitions in which he works as well as have an uncommon story to tell about an individuals approach to a tricky subject.

HEPTAGONAL HAGI

I think that I am most attracted to a pot when it is obvious it isn't trying too hard to get my attention, where a strong, simple form has a complimentary surface and subtle yet compelling details and attributes. Illustrated is a such a pot, an unusual and non-symmetrical heptagon, seven sided Hagi mizusashi by veteran potter, Yamato Yasuo that at its core is rather simple, direct and has that unfettered sense of purpose aimed at but not restricted to its function in the tea ceremony.     

My assumption is that this mizusashi was coil built out of a coarse, sandy/ rocky clay and then carefully faceted to create panels of individual landscapes that work together around the pot creating a wonderful blushed vista. The glaze is mostly composed of a number of blushed pink and coral tones with accents of white and cream clinging to recesses and highpoints like they were intentionally placed there by a painted brush. Through much of the glaze there are small stones punctuating the surface which despite its opacity still gives a clear sense as to the clay surface hidden underneath. The foot compliments the form and is excised to create a raised foot completing the heptagonal form that is topped off by a custom made black roiro lacquer lid for good measure.       

This particular Hagi mizusashi made its way into a retrospective museum show on Yamato Yasuo in Yamaguchi Prefecture and is illustrated in the large accompanying catalogue from the exhibition as well as an exhibition catalogue. Despite the rather simple form it is rather plain to see that everywhere you look there are details, subtleties that are baked in and present a pot full to the lip with what it means to explore the modern Hagi tradition.

A-OKAY

I unloaded the bisque the other day and got a number of pots out that I had my fingers crossed on including a coarse slip and textured and thrown bowls in stoneware and porcelain. Now there is nothing all that complex about the technique and process but what I have found is that on occasion, porcelain and sometimes white stoneware pieces thrown and widely expanded with this heavier texture look fine until they come out of the bisque where if they are going to have cracked (hairlines) this is most likely when it will occur. I quickly checked the stoneware pieces except the covered jars which did not get into the bisque and then turned my attention to the porcelain bowls. Using a 10X magnifier, I gave each bowl a quick go around and then a second to confirm that all is a okay. I am rerunning my old amber glaze(s) in the next kiln firing so I will wait on glazing these before I move forward. I could always glaze everything in green but I am reminded, diversity is the axis of our world.

PARAGON

Perhaps a bit like a wandering solitary samurai, I really love the brooding, dark and complex nature of this yohen style Hagi chawan which exudes character and carries itself with its own defined purpose like a modern paragon. This chawan was dug out of a hunk of clay, kuriniku style as if the form had been in the earth since long before it was pulled from the earth to end up this form filled with motion and a posture that is exceptionally enticing. Created, glazed and fired by Kaneta Masanao the glaze surface is the result of years of experience where a careful and wild blend of Hagi glaze, ash, intense heat and the atmosphere conspired to create this gem of a chawan that certainly means as much in the hand as it does to the eye. The combination of the bones of the pot and the melting glaze makes for a dramatic and coordinated dance of movement, animated through their combination and now locked away in a visual struggle until such a time as the molecules and atoms of the piece drift away and the bowl is no more. I can say that though I have seen quite a number of Kaneta Masanao's chawan of all shapes , sizes and styles few are as evocative and prescient regarding the future of Hagi and all of the vast possibilities locked away inside the DNA and clay of those that work within the tradition.