Wood-firing; Fantasy and Reality

kamataki

flames

sparks

It seems that studio potters worldwide have fantastic dreams about wood-fired pottery.  I was born and grew up in Japan, and moved to the UK over 20 years ago.  I am also one of dreamers that believes in wood-fring with Anagama (cave kiln) and in following the ancient potter’s wisdom.

Asian potters and potters in the rest of the world have a different understanding and a different concept of wood-firing.

In Europe and the USA, many studio potters and artist potters fantasize about magical results through wood-firing.  Yet they are not paying much attention to the clay and the firewood they use.  People are invited to wood-firings and atmospheres around kilns are more likely to be a barbeque party with drinks.

In Japan, most wood-fire potters shut their gates during their firing, invite no visitors, try to create a calm environment and concentrate on the firing.  They prepare as much as firewood as the can afford, and place offerings of sake, rice and salt to kiln gods on the kiln near the fire-mouth.  3-4 day firings are considered to be rather short and over 6 day firings are quite normal among Japanese wood-firers.

These differences seem like between European ‘Alchemy’ and Japanese ‘Tantric Buddhism’.

I just hope that I am able to produce beautiful vessels some day, using my simple Anagama with split-firewood and tenacious labour.

New Anagama Building (Kamatsuki)

log work 1

log work 2

I have just started my latest anagama project with a new kiln design and working in a secret location in the wood.

 This time I would like my kiln to be very private and personal.  I had a rather bitter experience with people for my previous 3 kilns.  People were curious about my Anagama with their different reasons but did not quite grasp how much hard work involved in anagama building and in producing wood-fired pots.  In the U.K. most people soon got bored and could not bear watching someone work constantly.  They often suggested me some ideas to reduce my laborious work quickly.  I listened to them but still carried on my way of working.  It seemed that I upset them and became their annoyance. 

This is the main reason why I have decided not to invite any visitors (who are just curious) to my pottery. 

I prefer working quietly with a couple of apprentices (who passed my test) and I love having few close friends around my kiln.

Wood-firing (kamataki) with Svend

with his pot

young svend

One of my potter friends, Svend Bayer is regarded as the best wood-fire potter in the U.K. and his fame is worldwide.  I went to help at his latest 4-day firing in Devon last week.  It was a great pleasure to work with him and I liked his simple life style, keeping everything tidy and clean around the pottery.  

I always find progress in his pots, something small but a new approach.  I look forward to his solo exhibition in Oxford next week.  Click here for more about his exhibition information .

(Svend doesn’t fancy posing for cameras and I selected old but rather nice photos of him)

Zen – Great Hermit

great hermit

The above words, taken from ancient Chinese literature could be translated as;  A great hermit hides at the Court or at the market, while an inferior hermit hides in the mountains or in the fields.

It roughly means…..

While an inferior Zen master separates himself from the real world, a truely great Zen master lives among ordinary people and yet is not  influenced by fame and wealth.

Wood-firing (kamataki) in Czech Republic

preparing kiln shelves

careful packing

serious workers!!

ready for action!

miss photogenic

punk jesus?!

kiln stokers

kiln master

night shift

heating up

team work

flames

smoke

more flames

two tired men

celebrate

party while waiting to cool

anxious eyes

good firing

stick together

happy ending

Here’s some images from our wood-firing at the symposium last month.  I took my tea bowls to the Czech Republic but couldn’t carry my old camera to take photos.  I had no time to be a photographer anyway. 

While the students were away to visit a porcelain factory and a glass-making studio, Lukas and I prepared for the firing a couple of days earlier than scheduled.  We wanted to make sure that we could open and unpack the kiln in the afternoon on Sunday (the last day of the event).  After glazing some pots, the trolley kiln was packed carefully from Wednsday afternoon until  late evening and everyone helped.

We started the firng at 11 a.m. on Thursday.  We had many volunteers for the shift to help stoking firewood.  It took 30 hours to reach 1260, our desired temperature.  We stopped firing the kiln after a few more hours of soaking and closed it.  We all celebrated our successful firing with bottles of champagne and wine, and enjoyed a lovely supper the girls had prepared.

The kiln was cooling very slowly.  The next day (Satusday), Lukas and I had time to go to Prague and do some shopping.

Everyone was keen on opening and unpacking the kiln on Sunday. We opened it in the afternoon, and all seemed to be happy with the good firing results.

Lucas and I made a good team and we were really pleased to find a nice local clay that worked just like Japanese clay.  It was more than we had expected.  I do hope I will be able to go back to Jurta again and run other workshops for young students some day.

(photos by friends at the symposium)

Messages on the Bottle – from California

(1) bizen?

(2) bottle’s mouth

(3) bottom

(4) thin slip

(5) stamp

(6) verdict – tokoname

 

Does this vessel look like anything you have seen?
Not sure if this is authentic or really anything?
About 8″ tall…
3.5″ round
very heavy…about 2lbs
Brownish with an iridescent glaze…
has a mark but I can’t really make out exactly what the first character is.
Thanks for any suggestions!   (Brad )

I have received an email with the above photos from Brad in California.  I guess he wanted to know more about the bottle he has bought.  It is always difficult to judge an item based only on photographs.  My initial impression is that of a Bizen sake bottle, but it looks very heavy and in my opinion, too thick for Bizen-ware.  Comparing it with some pieces in my private collection of old Japanese pottery, which consists of 12th to 18th century pieces, including a few Tokoname jars of different periods as well as occasional odd pieces that come into my possession from time to time, I am inclined to say that Brad’s bottle was made in Tokoname.  It was fired with coal with additional wood stoking, in a huge kiln called “secchuu-gama” which is a kind of nobori-gama.  The measurements and the description given by Brad, as well as other tell-tale signs present on its surface, i.e. the thickness of the bottle combined with a thinly applied slip and the absence of a glaze are, for me, confirmation of its provenance.  In addition, natural wood ash at the bottom shows a sign of upside-down packing in firing.  I have no idea about the first initial of the stamped mark but it should take 0.7 litre of liquid.  I would say it was a container for hydrochloric or nitric acid which was in great demand in Japan in the 1950’s.  I have seen many bigger acid bottles with handles when I was only a kid.  This is the best I could do without seeing and touching the bottle.  I hope I gave Brad the answer he was looking for.

It is the best to see and handle an actual pot to identify what it is.  Last year I had the chance to work at the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge where I was invited to identify old Japanese pottery.  Around 300 pieces of ceramics were examined and classified, among them many chawan and chaire (tea caddies); Dr. John Shakeshaft helped transcribe my words while Ching-Fen typed everything down.  I managed to sort out most of them, but a few puzzling pieces still need to be researched further.  I will tell you more about the treasures I found there if I get a permission from the museum.

One Life, One Meeting – in Czech Republic

tea utensils

preparing bowls

guests

bow with thanks

a bowl of tea

enjoying tea time

more guests

young tea drinker

end of tea party

I love drinking maccha (Japanese word for powdered green tea) in a beautiful chawan (tea bowl).  I took some tea bowls from my chawan collection as  hand luggage to Czech Republic.  Despite the fact that they could break in transit, I still wanted to show them to the workshop’s participants over there.  I also decided to perform a simple tea ceremony of my own kind of tea ceremony.  For me, actually using a tea bowl is the best way to explain a bit of traditional Japanese culture.

I was not able to carry (or to bring) everything with me.  I contacted the Japanese embassies in London and Prague a week before my departure.  They were very helpful but I only found a contact for Urasenke groups on both sides.  I tried to borrow some utensils for a day or two from Urasenke in Prague.  They were rather reluctant and I understand their concern of an accident.  

I did not want a Japanese tea ceremony that was too perfect anyway, so I decided to find something for my kind of tea ceremony.  I managed to find a couple of vessels for mizusashi (fresh water jar) and kensui (waste water pot) in the sotorage room at Jurta pottery.  We found a самовар (Russian kettle for tea making) in a cafe in Decin town-centre and borrowed it for a day.  Mitate is a concept that consists of giving something another meaning of use.  I was quite satisfied with this utensil setting.

My kind of tea ceremony went well and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves.  We had a jolly good time.  What I wanted to show was how to enjoy drinking maccha in a beautiful chawan.  I tried to put the first wabi tea-master Rikyu’s spirit into my Cha-kai (tea party).  And I believe that Rikyu did not  care about a ceremony at all.  He just wanted to offer his hearty hospitality to his guests, as if this was their last meeting ever.

(photos by friends at the symposium)

Raku – in Czech Republic

raku demo

with simple tools

chawan making

coming to the point

inside care

end of demo

I came home with happy memories from Czech Republic.  The symposium ran for two weeks and was held at Jurta in Nebocady, Decin, with famous Dresden just across the border.  I met 30 – 40 enthusiastic participants (Czech, German, Polish, Slovakian etc) and started with a Raku demonstration.

For this demo, I prepared a special clay that I found in a small local village that used to be famous for its ceramics.  I showed my traditional method with simple handmade tools that I brought from the UK, and explained the importance that tea masters hold Raku tea bowls with in Japan.  My friend Lukas did a pretty good job of interpreting my English into Czech.  Without his help throughout my visit, I would not have survived a day in the Republic.

(photos by friends at the symposium)

Mountains and Mist – in Czech Republic

railway

mountains

after summer shower

After buzy slideshows, talks and demonstrations of Japanese pottery at the weekend, I found a chance to enjoy the Czech countryside.  Like in Japan, there are mountains and clear streams: I have missed them for so long so I felt quite happy.

Lukas, who accompanied me during the visit, and I found an old village that used to produce pottery.  There, we met a lady painter named Olga, who told us where to find clay.  We managed to get some of the local clay to make our pots with.  We also later fired it in our wood kiln. 

I will tell you all about it when I get back to the U.K. and when I have more time for the blog.

(photos by friends at the symposium)

Have Chawan, Will Travel

shino

hagi

karatsu

bizen

I am off to Czech Republic for about two weeks.  I have been invited to run a workshop at ‘ Ceramic Summer in Nebocady 2009 ‘.  I have selected a few chawan from my private collection, including four special ones, i.e. Karatsu, Hagi, Bizen and Mino which will travel with me.

I believe tea bowls will be more appreciated with real maccha (powdered green tea which is just whisked).  ‘ A Beautiful Tea bowl in Use ‘.  That’s what I really would like to show to my audience.  

Japanese Embassy in Prague has been very helpful in finding someone who would support my project.
I look forward to meeting East European potters.  I am not sure if I shall have time to write my blog and upload photos while I am there. I should find out soon.