Skip to main content
Entoten
FacebookInstagramPinterestYouTube

Menu

Skip to content
  • Shop
  • Blog
  • Artists
  • Places
  • Press
Cart Sign In Search

Recent Posts

  • The Genius of Unusual Methods: Glass Art by Ishida Tami January 14, 2021
  • Kishu Urushi by Hashizume Yasuo and Reiko: Unfeigned Expressions in an Ancient Craft October 23, 2020
  • Playful and Soulful: New Kutaniyaki by Horihata Ran September 28, 2020
  • The Intrinsic Value of Crafts: New Ceramics by Kazu Oba August 16, 2020
  • Tea is Always a Good Idea: New Kyusu by Yamada Yutaro August 2, 2020

Categories

  • Workshops and Webinars
  • People
    • Ayumi Horie
    • Bill Geisinger
    • Floresta Fabrica
    • Hanako Nakazato
    • Harada Fumiko
    • Hashizume Reiko
    • Hashizume Yasuo
    • Horihata Ran
    • Hoshino Gen
    • Ikushima Harumi
    • Inoue Shigeru
    • Ishida Tami
    • Jarrod Dahl
    • Kazu Oba
    • Kenneth Pincus
    • Kikuchi Yuka
    • Kitamura Tokusai
    • Kobayashi Katsuhisa
    • Kubota Kenji
    • Kuriya Masakatsu
    • Maeda Mitsuru
    • Marshall Scheetz
    • Mike Martino
    • Mitch Iburg
    • Muranaka Yasuhiko
    • Nakaya Yoshitaka
    • Nitta Yoshiko
    • Ontayaki
    • Samuel Johnson
    • Sarah Nishiura
    • Saratetsu
    • Sasaki Shoko
    • Shumpei Yamaki
    • Takami Yasuhiro
    • Tanimura Tango
    • Watanabe Ai
    • Yamada Yutaro
    • Yamauchi Takeshi
    • Yokotsuka Yutaka
  • Baskets
  • Ceramics
  • Design
  • Glass
  • Kintsugi
  • Metal
  • Textiles
  • Urushi
  • Wood
  • Mingei
  • Research
  • Food and Craft
  • Topics
  • Tea
  • Travels
    • Arita
    • Bizen
    • Hagi
    • Karatsu
    • Kuroe
    • Kyoto
    • Matsumoto
    • Mino / Tajimi
    • Onta
    • Shigaraki
    • Shizuoka
    • Sonoma County
    • Tokoname
    • Vietnam

Top Posts & Pages

  • A Tour of the Pottery Towns of Southern Japan: Part II: Onta
    A Tour of the Pottery Towns of Southern Japan: Part II: Onta
  • Guide to Choosing Your Tea Whisk for Matcha
    Guide to Choosing Your Tea Whisk for Matcha
  • The Flavor of the Earth: The Rustic Ceramics of Shigaraki
    The Flavor of the Earth: The Rustic Ceramics of Shigaraki
  • Wood Artist Nakaya Yoshitaka: Chronicling the Lives of Trees in His Work
    Wood Artist Nakaya Yoshitaka: Chronicling the Lives of Trees in His Work
  • Revisiting the Pottery Village of Onta: The Resilience of Natural Rhythms
    Revisiting the Pottery Village of Onta: The Resilience of Natural Rhythms
  • “No Bad Clay”: Karatsu Pottery by Mike Martino
    “No Bad Clay”: Karatsu Pottery by Mike Martino
  • Visiting the Old Pottery Town of Bizen and Kurashiki Craft Show in Okayama
    Visiting the Old Pottery Town of Bizen and Kurashiki Craft Show in Okayama
  • Woodwork by Jarrod Dahl: “The New Wood Culture” of Connectedness
    Woodwork by Jarrod Dahl: “The New Wood Culture” of Connectedness
  • Guardian of a Craft: ‘Kata-e-zome’ by Esteemed Textile Designer Yamauchi Takeshi
    Guardian of a Craft: ‘Kata-e-zome’ by Esteemed Textile Designer Yamauchi Takeshi
  • Takami Yasuhiro: Master Bamboo Basket Weaver
    Takami Yasuhiro: Master Bamboo Basket Weaver
November 2019
M T W T F S S
 123
45678910
11121314151617
18192021222324
252627282930  
« Oct   Dec »

Renewal: New Ceramics by Samuel Johnson

November 14, 2019Ceramics Samuel Johnson

Ceramics by Samuel Johnson in our shop ->

Exhibition of New Work by Samuel Johnson at Entoten Gallery, San Diego CA,
November 16, 2019, 12:00-4:00 pm

I was tingling with anticipation this fall as I awaited new work from Minnesota potter Samuel Johnson who said that he wanted to return to the roots of his early ceramics training and create altered painted tableware. I had never seen painted work by Sam, so I was very curious to see this style of his work.

Altered and painted bowl with flower motif by Samuel Johnson, 2019

Sam’s ceramics training began after he graduated from the University of Minnesota and became an apprentice to his mentor and teacher, Richard Bresnahan. Richard trained in Karatsu, which is one of the most well-known pottery towns in Japan, and later founded the Saint John’s Pottery at Saint John’s University since 1979. The process of learning under Richard was not dissimilar to how apprentices had learned for generations in Karatsu, which was watching and imitating the techniques of their masters.

Altered bowl by Samuel Johnson 2019. Sam stamped the bottom of the bowls with a waves motif (which he calls “wifi markings”). He applied blue slip, white slip, then painted and glazed the work.

Sam elaborated on what appears to have been a formidable and unforgiving learning process. “At night, after the work of the studio was finished for the day, I would be given a form to study and reproduce. The lessons came swiftly and only once. My teacher would move from his wheel to mine, throw a sample of the form he wanted me to make. This could be a small dish, an altered cup, a bowl with lid, or a bottle. He would say very little about it. The demonstration usually lasted just two or three minutes.”

For the next several weeks, sometimes even months, Sam would work to imitate the form. Eventually, Sam became very proficient at these forms and painted ware known as e-Karatsu (pronounced eh-Karatsu) that were versions of designs passed down for generations from Korea to Karatsu, and onto Minnesota.

Cup with ridge line and impressed cord pattern by Samuel Johnson. I love the corduroy feel of this cup.

But when his three-and-a-half-year apprenticeship was over, Sam decided not to reproduce these forms. He wanted to lean as little as possible on them so that he could open his eyes to new influences and nurture his own personal vision.

The reason he now wanted to return to these forms after a 20-year interlude was because he had been feeling unmoored in recent years as great political and social changes were occurring in the world at large as well as in his own personal life. He wanted to find out what he could create by returning to the place that gave him a sense of grounding, which was where he began training to be a potter.

The result of Sam’s journey to his roots is a set of refreshingly original work that is born from the deep experience and wide perspectives that Sam has acquired over many years of being a potter. His forms have a taste of Karatsu but they ‘feel’ very different because they are more robust. Maybe they carry the spirit of the vast Red River Valley where Sam grew up, well known even in Japan with the familiar tune of original Japanese lyrics about its nature. The restrained drawings of grass and flowers speak of the essence and power of regeneration, and the intentions behind the brushwork are very moving.

Apple crumble on Samuel Johnson’s small side dish. This is a traditional shape I have often seen in Japan, but its generous lip and size feels very American, which inspired me to bake an apple crumble. Sam says that pottery feels most meaningful to him when it can be used in daily life.

Sam explained that what came to the fore when he returned to these forms were not the pots of his apprenticeship but pots born from even earlier experiences. These were experiences of enjoying to throw dishes off the hump and altering them when wet, or loving the feeling of painting on them in a way that felt meaningful to him. “I loved the adaptation of these forms and the way they seemed to come to life through the process. It felt like rebirth. It felt like renewal,” Sam said.

Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)
ceramics karatsu Minnesota Samuel Johnson Richard Bresnahan studio pottery handmade ceramics handmade tableware

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

  • About
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy & Security
  • Terms & Conditions
  • ✉️ Entoten Newsletter Archive
  • えんとてんJapan

Subscribe To Our Newsletter

Entoten provides professional English to Japanese translation services. Contact us for more details 

Our Mailing Address is
1804 Garnet Ave #558
San Diego CA, 92109

E-mail: hello@entoten.com

Copyright © 2019 ENTOTEN LLC

Studio Kotokoto is now closed. Thank you for your support over the years!
You have been redirected to Entoten, an online blog and shop that was created by one of Studio Kotokoto’s founders.
loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.