GROWING LIST

Though I have been a bit bogged down in throwing and decorating terra cotta I have been accumulating both stoneware and porcelain pieces thrown at the end of the day with no idea as to potential scheduling of completetion. Working and building up pots is a rather common thing here with pots sometimes hanging around for two months or so in the green stage as more occasional pieces are added to the growing list.Though at this moment I have no idea when I will get to the 40+ or so pieces, I took sometime this afternoon and decorated a few of them using black and white backgrounds and wax resist. At the moment the glazing thought process is to use the soda blue, amber and Oribe to highlight the surfaces and pieces but anything and everything is subject to change.     

The illustrated covered jar with small finial is thrown out of stoneware and is likely to be glazed in the soda blue. The form is rather simple, streamlined with a notched foot, applied knob and a decoration the compliments the pot and should be just the right amount of contrast to add movement once glaze fired. Of course working with a runny glaze on a straight-sided pot can certainly spice up the dynamic but I will wad the lid and fire it with the feet resting on small slivers of soft brick, what's the worst that can happen?

BLACK & BLUE

Illustrated is a Kuro-Bizen guinomi by Oiwa Tomoyuki who apprenticed under Kakurezaki Ryuichi and his influence is rather clear. This guinomi is of a generous size and the rather interesting and engaging form which has a rather evocative surface and despite its name, there is quite a bit of blue encasing this diminutive pot. Perhaps what attrects me the most to the piece is the hap-hazard and casual way it was thrown, moving clay, distorting the lip and waist in the process but  the foot is crisp and sharply cut, I like that contridiction. For being such a small piece, this Bizen guinomi is filled with little details and features that make a rather pleasing presentation and though it has not been used, it has a nice, warm tactile feel that works well in my hand and my wife's and she is considerably smaller than me. All in all a nice balanced package that shows equal part of Oiwa Tomoyuki, his master and centuries of tradition all wrapped up in 6 x 6.5 centimeters.

TANUKI DUO

Though this pair of Shigaraki tanuki kogo look in disarray, both are in perfect condition despite the fact that I have seen them "banging" around for some time now. After watching this tanuki duo for a while I finally decided to act and add these to the growing number of Furutani Michio tanuki that we have, five in total now. I know to some these may seem trivial and incidental but each one was hand molded, carved and detailed by one of the true masters of 20th Century Iga and Shigaraki and rather than see them end up damaged along the way I figured they would be at home with the others that we previously collected. In the case of these two, both are well modeled and well fired with a nice coat of ash and a wet surface around the pieces. Each is well seated with its base and has just the right amount of space for temporary storage of incense as its intended use though you could always use them to hide a chocolate truffle or two if you are so inclined.

HONEY

Recently I have been playing with an old amber glaze which I refered to as honey amber, it was over 50% Albany slip. Since there is no Albany slip I decided to make a new amber using materials I have in abundance and to be honest the results left the glaze just a bit flat, it was nice enough but I wanted more from the surface. As with most things I decided to give it the Oribe treatment and set about changing the percentages of materials in the formula as well as adding both a glaze and various oxide washes over the glazed surface.    

Illustrated is one of the first test cups photographed using two different light sources; tungsten bulb and your friend and mine, the Sun. Based on the old Albany formula which I believe came from Val Cushing, the new variant bares no actual similarity to the old recipe and I have been calling this surface, black honey amber. I have thrown a few teabowls to proof out the new surface and before the cyle is done will also likely throw a small covered jar as well. I know it seems like I take baby steps when it comes to upscaling tests but 1) always better safe than sorry and 2) making up 2000grams or more of a glaze that doesn't end up working gets old really, really fast.

SURVIVOR

There is something to be said about a pot that immediately speaks of the herculean battle waged with fire and ash and certainly among this group who glaze their pots, Tsukigata Nahiko and Kumano Kuroemon always stand out among the crowd. This Kuma-Shino mizusashi is a perfect example where though locked in a battle for survival and facing the distinct possiblity of melting and succumbing to the heat of the kiln, this pot is a survivor and lives to tell the tale. The thick Kuma-Shino surface coating in a thin coating of luscious green-blue ash is interupted by areas of intense and crusty ash painting a narrative that potter and collector alike can understand and appreciate for the complex and beautiful landscape now frozen into the surface.

This particular mizusashi was thrown as a bowl form and altered a bit prior to the firing and once it had come out of the kiln intact a simple cypress lid was carved and fitted to the pot completed with a thin wood strap acting as a handle. I love the contrast between the simplicity of the lid and complexity of the surface all the while being unified by a simple form that waits for the viewer to remove the lid to expose the wonderful Kumano treasure exposed within.

O-TSUBO

I am reasonably sure that many visitors to Shigaraki have seen this somewhat large (!) Ko-Shigaraki O-Tsubo on display at the small museum of mostly historic pottery located downtown (I am sorry the name escapes me at the moment). When people talk about large Japanese pots, this is always the piece that springs to my mind as I stand 6'2" and it was rather impressive and almost my size, in height, luckily not width or circumference. I realize this is not the best photo, it was originally a poorly lit picture with a negative now decades old but it still gives a sense of the scale and granduer of this large early tsubo. perhaps my favorite features of this behemoth are the indented furrows, three of them surrounding the based and the strong, defined mouth and lip with just enough movement and undulation to really call attention to its features. As I mentioned, to me this is a big pot and moving forward I guess in any description using the word or term large, there should likely be a number of caveats which include a link back to this pot for reference.

30 MINUTES OR LESS ÷ 2

Realizing that it is unlikely I will work tomorrow and I had a few minutes to play with, I decided to to make a teabowl from start to finish in 15 minutes or less. Starting with a little over 1.5lbs of clay, I threw a standard nondescript bowl and then decided how to procide. I will admit this was a bit of a cop-out as there is nothing that pushes any parameters at all in this hexagonal piece but it came to mind and I went with it. I dried the clay just a bit and proceeded to beat on it with my large wooden spoon until it had its overall shape and then defined the lines with a metal rib and a rasp. I then dried it a bit more and tooled the foot and finalized all the angles before covering it in thick white slip and worked it impasto style in opposing directions around the teabowl. So in just under 15 minutes, this is what I ended up with, a rather large bowl covered in thick, impasto slip on to its next stage, drying which I can assure you takes a wee bit longer than 15 minutes but the heavy lifting is now complete.   

Here is to hoping everyone has a wonderful (an safe) Fourth of July!

OBJECT IN B&W

I am sure to anyone following my blog, it is clear I am not a photographer with my premise now in the digital age being, take lots and lots of pictures and hopefully one or two may be worth something. For a number of my pictures it would seem to be a confluence of luck, placement, sun, shadow and timing all together to get a shot that is interesting. I think I got lucky with this shot where the pot, in this case a Shigaraki bird object by Kohyama Yasuhisawas in just the right place and seemingly at the right time for this old school black and white study of light and shadow.    

I must admit, the texture and incised decoration circling the object are heightened in the image and present a nice study of a tactile invitation where the mood highlights the provocative form. In truth, Kohyama has a definite mastery of creating forms that are part geometry, organic and animated whether they are small like this little bird object or the large, objects of movememnt and even flight in his Kaze, wind series. As for this throw back photo of an object in B&W, all I can do is hope it captures even a hint of the attributes that make Kohyama Yasuhisa's work so packed full of emotion and life. 

"Black and whte is abstract; color is not. Looking at a black and white photograpgh, you are already looking at a strange world." Joel Sternfeld

CARRYING ON

Over the years I have seen quite a few pots by Kawai Takeichi including at Merlyn Dailey's EAST WEST SHOP in Victor, New York. My wife and I would stop there every chance we got on on treks between upstate NY and Cleveland. Merlyn always had quite a few Kawai Takeichi and other modern pots on hand as well as numerous prints including those by Kosaka Gajin who's minimalist black and white images we greatly admired. At one point he had two mizusashi at the gallery, both molded and square in form, one rich gosu and the other in this exact pale green ash glaze over slip trailing, both were sold the night before we showed up during an exhibition of Japanese prints.    

Flash forward a couple of decades and this mizusashi came our way in a slightly different form than the previous two we had handled as it is truly square and the lid fits in any position you decide to set it, the others were almost a bit lozenge in shape and only fit in two positions. Made in a mold with an applied inner lip, the body was quickly sliptrailed in a gritty, almost sandy slip. The texture in the sliptrailing gives the decoration a wonderful visual and actual texture with each plane of the square decorated in a similar manner pulling the form together and presenting bold almost calligraphic designs at the center of each side. The lid has a simpler decoration in which straight lines define the geometry and borders the edges, finished with a perfect handle that reminds me of earlier English pottery. To complete the form, the mizusashi and lid were glazed in an ash glaze that makes for a pale green surface that builds up slightly on the northern side of the slip trailing creating areas of glassy and wet accents carrying on a tradition inspired by Yanagi, Hamada and the Mingei Movement. Now to be clear, I am in no way comparing this pot to the work of Kawai Kanjiro but to my eye Kawai Takeichi has captured the essence and presence of the master's work and certainly is an exceptional addition to the school founded by a quiet and humble artisan decades before this pot was even conceived of.

ELEVENTH HOUR

Today was one of those days that doesn't have throwing/ making in the cards but rather a couple of errands and several hours of packing pots from the firing that was unloaded yesterday morning. In the firing were several orders as well as three teabowls that had to be quickly photographed and then packed up. I started with the serving pieces which need far more attention than the smaller pieces and worked my way to the teabowls which sold to a customer as soon as I sent him the photos. In the eleventh hour I received an order through my Trocadero marketplace and packed the last package that I am going to pack today (then off to the Post Office and one last errand.)

Illustrated is one of the three Kuro-Oribe style teabowls from this firing thrown out of a small batch, sandy white stoneware and faceted. As per usual, it is hard to know exactly what the surfaces will look like given the glazing process and usually each one is a welcome surprise with highlights here and there, especially around the interior walls and floor of the bowl. The one feature that I am pleased with for the longest is the shelf that is created from the faceting process which fills up and creates these deep, dark pools of almost black though more amber and rich green in the right lighting. This bowl and its compatriats are all now packed up and going halfway cross the country, it is always pleasing to see my pots collect dust somewhere other than my studio, so hasta manana