TIDAL POOL

As I look at this rather large piece I am reminded of lapping waves swirling around in a tidal pool where the dark recesses speak a bit ominously of what is hidden under their depths. The wonderful texture and surface of this large Iga platter was conceived and executed by Kojima Kenji bringing a good idea into outstanding results. The Iga green of the surface coalasces into deep, dark pools at the depths of the swirled texture creating sheets of gem-like bidoro across the breathe of this modern osara inspired by the longevity of the Iga and Ko-Iga traditions. 

Attached  to the overall photo is an exhibition card which once again clearly shows a vastly different surface from the here and there photos. For whatever reason, my photo was taken using normal lighting and the surface is predominantly green in appearance while the card photo shows a rather distinctly brown pot is if in contrary universes of illuminating wavelengths. At the end of the day if you asked me which best represents the actual presentation of this large Iga osara I would have to say that I guess it depends on the light source you are viewing the piece in and whether or not you are wearing sunglasses.

DEMO PIECES

I am not sure why, but Bill Klock has been on my mind a lot lately. I used to be able to pick up the phone and pick his brain, just say hi or discuss any number of things including his world view which I respected and held in high regard. As I make pots, Bill is one of those voices in my head along with a few others that guide me away from my worst impulses and at times finds his way into my pottery. As I came upstairs today I passed a small group of his teabowls on the living room shelves that are that constant reminder of not only Bill but the ideals and experiences he brought to clay from his earliest introduction to clay, to working with Leach and then Onggi potters and his years of teaching and helping spread the word about contemporary ceramics and crafts in general.   

This simple teabowl, now glazed in Cardew Shino was one of a group of demo pieces Bill made the very first week I had started in clay, casually and quickly thrown with a folded over rim for durability and to acheive a specific look, the bowl sat around for a few days under loose plastic before he tooled the foot, trimming off very little but creating a deep well inside the foot ring on each piece in sucession. This lesson set me on a path and direction and taught me to think about the finished bowl while it was being thrown and how addressing the foot would alter the original thrown form, it was a simple  exercise but it was never fogotten. Thanks Bill.

END OF THE DAY AGAIN

I really didn't have a lot I needed to get done today (for orders or commissions) so after throwning for a while at the end of the day, I switched over to white stoneware and porcelain to get a handful of test pieces made in order to escalate some ongoing glaze combo testing. As you can see there are a group of sandy, small back clay faceted guinomi along with some waisted yunomi and even a larger, waisted teabowl that will have thick slip apllied. I will be using these as tests for glazes that I currently use with additional glazes and washes built up to see what the overall effects will be and I predict a fair amount of movememnt when I am using several glazes and several washes to boot. Currently one of the Oribe glazes, the Kuro-oribe is actually two glazes with several washes on top and I am moving that theory forward to the amber and my older temmoku glaze to see where I end up with by throwing everything and the kitchen sink at them. As I mentioned, I expect a lot of movement and running so once glazed and loaded into the kiln, each will have its own, individual tile to rest on to protect the shelves and give me some small measure of confidence that shelves and pots will not become one.

BROAD SPECTRUM

Exuberant, whimsical, spontaneous, all three of these words spring to mind as I look at this Iga hanaire made in Echizen by Yamada Kazu. Quickly thrown and marked up a bit by Yamada, the form transitions from the solid base to the slooping shoulder and determined neck and wavering lip and moth while being flanked by two assymetrical and almost uncorodinated lugs that add movement to the upper form. The casual nature and movement of the vase is the perfect canvas for the woodfired surface that adds even more movement and visual interest to the pot from running green ash, areas of slight charcoal scorching to thick brown ash here and there.  

Despite the fact that Yamada Kazu is presumably best known for his various Shino glazes, Oribe and Ki-Seto, he was brought up under the watchful eye of various Tokoname potters and family before relocating to Fukui Prefecture, the home of Echizen-yaki. Though he is well known for his pursuit of the varying Mino traditional wares including his rather idiosyncratic Enbu-Shino, Yamada makes a number of wood-fired pots as well as mishima and even Karatsu pottery. Diverse and inquisitive, his body of work is rather broad and this clearly playful Iga style vase is a rather illustrative example of that though as even a casual observer may remark, his works are unified by his casual throwing and the bones of his pottery. These attributes tie his pottery together, perhaps not exactly neatly but well enough to spot his work out of a crowd of other potters intent on creating works on a broad spectrum of styles, surface and forms.

BROADENING THE HORIZONS

Back in the earlier days of collecting my unofficial motto was; "if it isn't chawan its crap", we well I was 110% focused on chawan as the end all and be all. In walks Elizabeth Wilson of ASIATICA in Kansas City whom my wife met on a business trip many years ago and struck up a relationship with the gallery owner. Within a few weeks of that visit, Elizabeth had sent us photos of a large Tsujimura Shiro osara and a truly enigmatic Tamba tsubo by Ichino Etsuo along with two copies of the Arts of Asia magazine in which each issue one of the pieces was illustrated in ads for the gallery. This early encounter was destined to reshape our, again my understanding of modern Japanese ceramics broadening our horizons and kicking open the door to a vast array of varying forms as well as styles, traditions and surfaces.      

Illustrated is just such a piece that is not a chawan, this curvy koro with the cool blue glaze was made by Ono Kotaro and despite its scale it surely has quite an impact blending aethetics, function and animation all within its somewhat small form. Thrown out of thick porcelain and then festidiously carved to create rythmic waves like poetry in motion around the koro which is perfectly accentuated by the pale blue seiji surface. The lines and shadows created by the form add dimension and animation to his work which at each and every turn appears to be filled with vitality. Focusing on three primary surfaces; hakuji, ouji and seiji, Ono Kotaro has built a large repetoire of forms, some carved other smooth, using a limited but expressive palette where less is more and perfect to work in sync with the purity of the porcelain and the implied motion of the peaks and valleys of the pottery. There is rarely a day that goes by that I don't think back on those earlier formulative years with modern Japanese ceramics and think it was a really good move broadening our horizons.

BLUE GRASS

I am back to using this old soda blue glaze again which dates back to my days in Cleveland, I think the formula came from either Bill Brouillard (CIA) or possibly Linda Christianson who was teaching in Cleveland at the time. I have been using the glaze on both stoneware, with slips and on porcelain as seen in this example of carved black slip through to the clay body. I thought I had to get around to expanding the possibilities, making a few pieces with my "grasses" pattern and I think it works well despite not being easy to photograph. In this case a small eight or nine inch bowl with small divets implying lobes around the circumference which works well with the border and pattern incised and carved into the piece where the black slip turns truly dark and bold. Its a simple form, decoration and overall idea but I just won't complain when all three come together and avoid the necessity for the hammer to get involved.

 

IRON & ASH IV

Wonderful and powerful ash and iron glazed (haiyu(no)tetsuyu) chawan by Kyoto potter, Kimura Morinobu. The broad bowl fits well, cupped in the hands with a foot that compliments the curved form that culminates in the uneven and meandering lip. The tetsuyu is speckled with small iron crystals that are interrupted by the areas of thick, white to green ash that adds a rather pleasing mottled effect across the exterior and part of the interior creating a visual depth to chawan. Though I am slightly biased when it comes to Kimura Morinobu, I think it is safe to say that his simple and uncomplicated work blends parts of the Kyoto wabi-sabi aesthetic that goes back centuries along with the clean and unfettered lines and surfaces that are clearly the characteristics of modern pottery espoused in the 50s and 60s as well as across the various Scandanavian countries. Though this chawan is a bit more complicated than others, the bones of the pot remain true to his ideals of simplicity where this surface is right at home creating an overall sense of harmony which is quite typically seen in the works of Kimura Morinobu.

TETSU-GAMA

The box for this small Kojima Kenji sakazuki reads; IGA, TETSU-GAMA GUINOMI, KENJI and after handling it, the "cryptic" iron kiln notation makes a bit more sense. Thrown just on the thinner side, this open form has just a bit of uneveness to the posture and lip and the foot was very casually cut making for a stable but slightly wonky pot at first glance. Clearly wood fired, the surface is covered in a layer of melted iron from either slip or glaze and then further cloaked in natural wood ash creating a variety of effects including a rich cascade of brown ash and iron and ash crystals punctuating the interior of the guinomi. The exterior face of the piece was incised with the potter's mark which is now covered over in the same brown glass as part of the interior which is both a nice feature to admire as well as its tactile appeal. There is a lot going on with the form and surface of this Kojima Kenji guinomi which as I am wont to say, it punches well above its weight in both its aesthetics and function. 

 

FIFTEEN MINUTES OR SO

I built a couple of pots today out of slabs from yesterday and realized I had a semi-firm piece of slab that I likely could make something out of and decided on a fifteen minute project. Since I rarely make plates or dishes with this challenge I decided to go with a raised piece, like a small taza. Using the corner of a box, I quick formed the clay to this approximate shape and dried it a bit with a heat gun. I then took a small amount of left over slab and rolled it into a pedestal foot and attached it where the four angles met and added a pierced hole to the foot for effect. Using a rasp I defined the shape along the side angles and flattened out the ends before adding white slip that I then combed into alternating directions. All in this came in at less than fifteen and probably shows as well but rather than have to recycle the clay I figured why not make a form that I haven't made before and let's get it in a bisque and then a glaze fire to see how it comes out. I better you are thinking, why not use Oribe green, since I rarely use that surface.

MEMORIAL DAY 2024

I am reminded on this solemn Memorial Day of the most poignant quote by John F. Kennedy; "As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter the words, but to live by them.". I hope that we can live up to this expectation and honor those who have sacrificed so much so that we can enjoy our freedom and liberty so hard won and possibly even harder to maintain.