Category: Ceramics

People often ask how I select makers for Entoten, and the short answer is that those chosen make work that I react to emotionally. To put it another way, ‘what they make me feel’ is more important than ‘how they look.’

For Kutani potter Horihata Ran, I fell in love with her whimsical work after coming across it at a department store in Tokyo in 2019. Her work was shown in a section featuring young and upcoming makers, and I was extremely moved by her soulful brush strokes.

Homemade Japanese sweets on iroe square plates by Horihata Ran. Tea practitioners often make their own sweets to serve to guests at a tea gathering. It is another way to infuse the host’s hospitality into the occasion and the offerings are enhanced by handmade plates like Ran’s Kutaniyaki.

Kutani Iroe square plates with diamond decoration by Horihata Ran. Uneven pattern edges resemble a torn brocade.

After Ran’s work was introduced for the first time by Entoten in the U.S. last December, many people inquired about her one of a kind pieces. So this time, I requested mostly one-off pieces because I was also intrigued by what she would come up with.

“When I saw that my larger pieces were quickly chosen by people in America, I thought, wow American people are so dynamic,” Ran said excitedly, “so for this batch, I wanted to create pieces that I’ve always dreamed of making.” And with that enthusiasm, Ran worked on her pieces and sent a trove of lovely work this summer.

Ran wanted to make a jar inspired by the celebrated Korean jars from the Joseon era, but realized she needed much more skill and research to even remotely resemble them. So she took her brush and put everything she had into painting lively flowers. “I think in that sense, I’ve created something that I can only create once in my lifetime,” Ran said.

Lidded Kutani akae jar. Ran excels and loves to make lidded jars even though it entails many steps in the making. “The lid and body are thrown separately and trimmed to fit together. When the lid fits perfectly after firing, I feel great satisfaction,” Ran said.

Figs on a Sometsuke pedestal plate by Horihata Ran. She wanted to create pedestal plates that she visualized on American dining tables alongside candles and flowers.

Unpacking Ran’s work was especially poignant for me because it has been many months since I received a ceramics shipment from Japan because the pandemic had curtailed freight services. I hope that Ran’s cheerful work will remind you to play often and to keep your downtrodden souls in check, just like they did for me.

The Intrinsic Value of Crafts: New Ceramics by Kazu Oba

August 16, 2020Ceramics Kazu Oba

Ceramics by Kazu Oba in our shop ->

When Colorado potter Kazu Oba and his wife Yuka visited San Diego to install his show at the Japanese Friendship Garden in November 2017, I invited them to stay at my house. For a few nights, we shared simple meals using some good pots and talked about pots. It was great fun. One night, he told a story that stuck with me that I would like to share.

Kazu Oba throwing pots on a portable wheel at La Jolla Shores, November 2017

Kazu belonged to a potter’s group in Colorado several years earlier, and one night he attended one of its gatherings. “When I arrived, there were drinks served in plastic cups and paper plates for the food. I was so shocked and I said, come on, we’re potters!” Kazu said. Several people explained that they used these disposable wares because they didn’t want to create a burden for someone to wash up afterwards. So Kazu offered to be the dishwasher. They further responded that there was nowhere to store the plates and cups. “I said, if we can’t even bother to use what we make, then who would?” So Kazu left the group.

Komatsuna salad in a small shinogi celadon bowl by Kazu Oba

Kazu became a potter because he worked in a restaurant as a cook for many years but wasn’t satisfied with the vessels that were commercially available. So apart from making pots to sell, he creates vessels for restaurants, such as Ramen Star in Denver. The owner of Ramen Star, Takashi Tamai, is equally passionate about the quality of the Ramen he serves. If you are an ardent chef considering handmade pots for use at your restaurant, Kazu would be perfect for you.

Saiko Star Ramen by Ramen Star in Colorado
Photo Courtesy of Ramen Star-in Denver Colorado

I focus on finding well-made handcrafted items for use at Entoten, because when people understand the intrinsic value of crafts, a distinctive taste is developed that will strengthen the Crafts Culture. This culture is about being thoughtful of a lot of things: our history, traditions, quality of life, environment, sustainability, and spirituality to name a few. But Crafts Culture is not built by crafts people alone. We the users also bring our passion, knowledge, and experience to infuse into their values.

Sweet Kanto style rolled egg omelet (tamagoyaki) on Karake plate by Kazu Oba. Kazu created kawarake plates to represent simple ceramic plates created in great numbers during the Middle Ages as offerings to the gods.

When I think about Kazu’s infamous plastic cups and paper plates episode, I chuckle because it must have created quite a stir among the potters. Kazu said a few agreed with him. But I also feel lucky to be able to work with Kazu who is so passionate about making and using handmade pots. By doing so, he is playing an invaluable part in nurturing the culture of caring.

Kazu Oba is having a Summer Sale by appointment from August 30-Sept 6, 2020 at his studio in Lafayette, Colorado.

Tea is Always a Good Idea: New Kyusu by Yamada Yutaro

August 2, 2020Ceramics Tokoname Yamada Yutaro

Tokoname Kyusu by Yamada Yutaro in Our Shop August 3rd->

I am far from alone in wrongly anticipating that the Covid pandemic by now would be under control and I would be planning a summer trip somewhere. But with all the indices here in the U.S. going in the wrong direction, we are stuck at home for the foreseeable future.

One good piece of news arrived recently in the form of a box from Japan that I had shipped months ago early in the pandemic but that got stuck in the Japanese postal system. In the box were Kyusu tea pots by Yamada Yutaro that I had hoped to release in my online shop before the arrival of this year’s new Japanese tea crop in June.

Tokoname flat Kyusu by Yamada Yutaro with mogake markings

The seaweed used for creating the mogake markings on the Kyusu is collected along the coast of Tokoname.

That June date has long past and I read in the news that the long rainy season that tormented Japan this year is also finally over. The humid hot summer has officially started and this is also the beginning of the toughest work environment for many craftspeople in Japan. I remember Yutaro san telling me that in the summer, he sleeps during the day and works at night because the heat in his studio reaches over 100 degrees every day. He is constantly battling with mosquitoes because he has many containers of standing water for making clays lying around in the studio.

Kyusu maker Yamada Yutaro’s studio in Tokoname, Japan

Tokoname Kyusu before firing. Yamada san makes his own clay.

Tubs carrying clay and water around Yutaro’s studio -a mosquito’s paradise.

When I reported the good news of his pots’ delivery, Yutaro san said, “I’m glad they arrived safely. I hope that we can encourage people to have tea and enjoy using tea wares even more often since we’re all staying at home.” I chuckled because I’ve never heard of anyone as young as him (only 28 years old) talk about making tea at home.

In a stressful time, tea is always a good idea, and I’m happy to be able to share Yutaro san’s passion and thoughtful work during this time. I drink more tea now than ever, because tea time has become an important ritual for both my husband and I to take a break from work at home. So put on the kettle and join me and Yutaro san for tea.

Tokoname Kyusu and Yunomi by Yamada Yutaro

New Wood-Fired Porcelain by Shumpei Yamaki for Your Summer Evenings

June 17, 2020Ceramics Food and Craft Shumpei Yamaki

New work by Shumpei Yamaki in our shop->

I will never forget the first time I went berry picking with my host family in British Columbia in the summer as a high school exchange student. Back then in the late 1980s, I was only familiar with strawberries, which to me was a winter fruit as they are grown in greenhouses in Japan. But that Canadian summer, there were so many different kinds of berries to pick and eat. There was plenty of time for these berry escapades as daylight stretched way past 9 o’clock in the evening. I remember that I was very happy then, and ever since, berries lift my spirits up.

Homemade blueberry ice cream in wood-fired porcelain sake cups by Shumpei Yamaki. Wood-fired porcelain has subtle and beautiful colors of gray, light green and peach.

As the weather warms and my favorite summer fruits and vegetables start appearing on the dining table, my eyes seek refuge from the heat in the cool of porcelain ceramics, woven bamboo, and hues of blue, green, and purple.

In hot weather, my eyes seek refuge in cool colored tableware

Tea master Sen no Rikyu’s Seven Precepts, which is basically a code on organizing lovely and memorable gatherings, includes this piece of advice: “In the summer, provide a sense of coolness.” For example, in summer tea preparations, a water jar may be covered in freshly washed leaf with dews remaining on top, or a tea bowl may be brought in filled with water to convey a feeling of coolness. Even in our currently stress-filled pandemic world, I have found that taking the time to select utensils and set a seasonal table for my husband and myself provided a sense of calm and place.

Featuring water creates a sense of coolness on the table.

Shumpei Yamaki’s kiln after firing in Spring 2020. As with last time, Shumpei omitted the use of pyrometric cones and thermometer to create an environment for flow state
(Photo Courtesy of Shumpei Yamaki)

And because I love the combination of Shumpei Yamaki’s clean forms in white clay, gray, green, blue, and peach colors created by the fire and ash, I specifically asked him for some porcelain work this summer, in addition to his usual stoneware work. I’m delighted to share these glacial works by Shumpei with you, and hope that you’ll take the time to look at photos of them taken at different angles so that you can discover the subtle and amazing complexities that the wood-firing process can give to a porcelain’s surface.

New Work by Mike Martino: The Sun and the Moon Shine Eternally Inside a Jar

April 29, 2020Ceramics Karatsu Mike Martino

Ceramics by Mike Martino in our shop ->

As April comes to an end in San Diego, the parks and beaches have begun to gradually reopen. This marks the beginning of what will be a very long and uncertain journey to ending our physical distancing that began what seems a lifetime ago in mid-March. But the start of Phase One is an opportune reason to celebrate, and I’m delighted to be able to do this with new ceramic work by Mike Martino from Karatsu, Japan.

In this latest batch, I requested mostly pieces with brushwork that include lovely shrimps, which over the years have become Mike’s signature symbol. I find his lovely rhythmical brush strokes very comforting and meditative to follow with my eyes and I hope you do too.

Large Shino Bowl by Mike Martino with his signature shrimp drawings.

I would like in particular to introduce one of Mike’s pieces that seem to capture our current state of being quite nicely. It is a ekaratsu (painted karatsu) bowl that has the calligraphy letters “kochu nichi getsu nagashi (壺中日月長)” written on it. The literal translation of this Zen word is “the sun and the moon shine eternally inside a jar.”

This phrase was derived from an old Chinese anecdote of an elderly medicine vendor who always disappeared into a jar hanging in the front of his shop after the day’s work. Curious about where the old man was going every night, a local official befriended him and was able to get invited into the pot with him. Inside, the official found a vast palace with a large garden where the old man entertained the official with food and drink. After what seemed to be a whole day, the official returned to the real world to find out that decades had passed. The old medicine vender was an immortal ascetic.

Karatsu bowl with the calligraphy words “kochu nichigetsu nagashi” by Mike Martino

In Buddhist-speak, this may be interpreted as “the realm of enlightenment transcends time.” But I simply interpret this as “time is what you make of it” and unfortunately I fell out of making anything of it for a while during the seemingly unending lockdown. This was a sharp reminder that I was spending way too much time endlessly reading the dark news concerning the pandemic on my phone screen and feeling anxious. But I’m now finally crawling back into the jar.

Lastly, I’d like to add that a lot of time was squandered while I stared at Mike’s bowl trying to figure out which part of the calligraphy referred to the jar (壺), inside (中), sun (日), moon(月), and long (長), only to find that Mike wrote the whole Zen phrase in romanized Japanese. So now you can pronounce a sophisticated Zen saying in Japanese, and isn’t this a highly productive way of using your time?

Mike Martino is currently having an online sale of his work on his website in Japan 4/29-5/6/2020
(click here to visit his website).

The Master in the Redwoods: Pond Farm Pottery and the Legacy of Marguerite Wildenhain

March 20, 2020Ceramics Sonoma County Research

This past February, potter Bill Geisinger drove me to the rustic and eclectic town of Guerneville along the Russian river in Sonoma County in Northern California. During our car ride there, Bill related to me the logging history of Guerneville, the Bohemian Club, and its controversial grove retreat nearby, and soon, I found myself surrounded by the tall magnificent trees inside the Armstrong Redwoods State Natural Reserve.

The majestic Redwood trees of Armstrong Redwoods State Natural Reserve

As a transplant generation Xer, I had not heard of Pond Farm and Marguerite Wildenhain until Bill sent me a Wikipedia link about the farm prior to my visit. Upon reading it, I was excited to find out about this post-Second World War Californian colony for artists and to discover more about Marguerite, who was its resident artist and a Bauhaus-trained master potter.

Marguerite Wildenhain (1896-1985) was an American ceramic artist and educator. She was born in Lyon, France to a father of German descent and an English mother. Marguerite trained at the legendary Bauhaus school in Weimar, Germany from 1919 for 6 years under master potter Max Krehan and sculptor Gerhard Marcks. She emigrated to the U.S. to escape the Nazis with the help of American architect Gordon Herr and his wife Jane who wanted to establish an artist community in California.
(Click here to watch footage of Marguerite Wildenhain by Rollie Younger on YouTube)

Bill and I arrived early to stroll in the splendid redwood forest. As we walked, Bill said that he had wanted to bring me here because he thought Pond Farm would be a source of inspiration. He shared the story about his visit with Marguerite in the 1970s at the urging of his teacher James Lovera to learn how to make handles from her. Bill always surprises me with never-heard-of-before episodes like this in his life. After hearing Bill’s story, I complained that he rarely makes pots with handles these days, to which he laughed and agreed with my observation.

Entrance toThe Pond Farm Pottery in Guerneville, CA

Following our stroll, we visited Pond Farm with Michele Luna, the Executive Director of Stewards of the Coast and Redwoods, who kindly took the time to show us the compound. The Stewards are the managing member of a partnership for the preservation and revitalization of Pond Farm.

“The barn workshop was where Marguerite taught her two-month summer classes every year, and the rest of the year she worked and lived alone in that small cabin,” Michele explained, as she pointed to a house that was closed for viewing due to its dilapidated state. There was also a guesthouse on the compound that Marguerite had built for her teacher from her Bauhaus days, Gerhard Marcks, for his visit to the farm in the 1950s. The guesthouse was recently renovated and is used to host resident artists in the summer.

As I stepped into Marguerite’s barn pottery workshop, I immediately felt I was in a familiar place: a studio built upon the artist’s complete devotion to the craft. Inside the barn, I observed the design of the studio and contemplated the system that Marguerite had developed for teaching to countless students each summer from 1949 to 1980.

Pottery studio of Marguerite Wildenhain at Pond Farm

In the now empty workshop, models of the pottery forms that students learned from Marguerite were still in place. I wondered how closely the classroom was designed to the legendary Bauhaus school where Marguerite had trained under master potters for up to 9 hours each day, 6 days a week, year after year.

After returning from Northern California, I borrowed “The Invisible Core: A Potter’s Life and Thoughts,” written by Marguerite from my local library. She states in the book that many of the students that came to her summer school were college and high school teachers. She writes perceptively that at Pond Farm, “we take great pains in teaching the basic and fundamental elements that go into making a good piece of pottery […] More than that: We have a stimulating exchange of ideas and often really excellent and exciting discussions about art, integrity, human values, life, pots, what it all means, and how they are related, how all these have to fuse in you to one total concept and to form.”

The forms that students practiced in stages during summer class at Pond Farm. Marguerite conducted systematic learning in a traditional master-to-apprentice training environment

The Bauhaus-style kick wheel at Pond Farm

At Pond Farm, I only saw a small kiln inside the barn. So I asked Michele where all of the pots were fired because Marguerite accepted up to 25 students at a time for her summer workshops. Michele explained that none of the work by the students were fired. I was very surprised to hear this because I could not believe that the students were content just to learn how to make pots and not finish making them.

The kiln used by Marguerite Wildenhain at Pond Farm. None of the work by the students that attended summer school were fired.

But after reading Marguerite’s book, I realized that what she taught, and what the students came from all over the country to learn, was not just about how to make pots but also what Marguerite called “the essential requirements that all valuable work need.” These essential requirements consisted of “work, time, patience, effort, and intense devotion and faith in the validity of this purpose.” She called it the “discipline not to betray the requirements of art.”

I told Bill that I found Marguerite’s words compelling and insightful. He agreed and said that “her book was my bible in the 70s.” Over the years, I’ve met and studied many highly regarded artists, and while they all excelled at their craft, most could only teach a very small number of apprentices in their lifetime, if at all. And even with the best of these artists, master-to-apprentice training can be disorganized and mystifying.

The simple cabin where Marguerite Wildenhain resided. The inside cannot be viewed at this time because of its dilapidated state.

Marguerite’s achievements stand out because she was committed to teaching generations of aspiring artists the essential way of life as an artist, and honing of the necessary skills through relentless training like that of apprenticeships. Her teaching took place in a systematic and enlightening environment. If this method originated from the Bauhaus school, it only existed for a handful of years, but Marguerite kept Pond Farm going single-handedly for over 30 years, so her impact cannot be overstated. Her former students, called Pond Farmers, include the likes of Dean Schwarz of South Bear School, and Professor Dorothy Bearnson of University of Utah.

I hope that this blog post will inspire you to learn more about the work of this extraordinary but largely forgotten American master potter and teacher. Marguerite sums up her life’s work in a short statement in her book:

A Marguerite Wildenhain bowl made in the mid-1970s at Pond Farm, Guerneville, California. This stoneware with colored slip, glaze and sgraffito design was acquired by Barbara Brown and kept on display in her home until 2018. At that time Barbara asked Bill Geisinger to take custody of the bowl until it can be displayed to the public at a museum. Barbara is a potter and the international ambassador for the Association of Clay and Glass Artists of California

“My life as a potter has taught me to know the short-lived values of mode and fashion trends, of prizes and “success.” As fleeting as clouds are publicity, fame and limelight, but the good pot will endure through the centuries because of its integrity, its sound and pure purpose, its original beauty, and especially because it is the indivisible, incorruptible, and complete expression of a human being.”

I am not a potter, but wished that I could have met Marguerite to ask about her thoughts on fostering an enduring culture of crafts. In this uncertain time of social distancing with the coronavirus crisis, I found her words comforting and reassuring about my work at Entoten.

Finally, if you can, please help preserve Pond Farm, an important historic site of California’s Armstrong Redwood State Natural Reserve, by visiting the redwood forest, becoming a member, and/or donating to the Stewards of the Coast and Redwoods.

Browse more images of pots made by Marguerite Wildenhain in the Forrest L. Merrill collection

Forrest L. Merrill Collection Website: A History of Pond Farm in Pictures

Kagamimochi on Ontayaki Pedestal Plate

December 20, 2019Ceramics Onta Ontayaki

Ontayaki in our shop ->

The final addition to the Entoten gallery in 2019 is Ontayaki, which is produced in the small village of Onta, in northern Oita prefecture, by 10 families that are the descendants of its founders dating back to 1705.

For this batch of work, I asked a good friend that I have known for over 30 years who is an expert on Japanese craft to curate the work. I was very excited because I had never seen an Ontayaki pedestal plate until he chose to include it in this collection.

Pedestal plates are not often made in Onta because these vessels warp easily with the application of slip. But they are perfect for serving food for the new year, so I decided to make my own kagamimochi, a traditional Japanese New Year’s decoration made of rice cakes, to present on this special plate. You can find out more about the process in story highlights on Instagram.

Thank you for visiting my website and supporting Entoten for this past year! My best wishes for a happy and healthy New Year to you all.

Kagamimochi New Year decoration on Ontayaki pedestal plate.

Horihata Ran: Kutaniyaki to the Dining Tables Around the World

December 12, 2019Ceramics Horihata Ran

Kutaniyaki by Horihata Ran in our shop ->

Horihata Ran is an up and coming Japanese Kutaniyaki (Kutani ware) potter who is worldly-wise and talented beyond her years.

Born in Kanazawa surrounded by the rich ceramics culture of Kutaniyaki, Ran’s beginning as a potter was earlier than most of her contemporaries. She attended a vocational high school where she started learning pottery and went on to study at the Ishikawa Prefectural Institute for Kutani Pottery for three years. At 25, she already boasts 8 years of experience in working with clay. For the last three years, Ran has been working as a production potter at Kutani Seiyo Kiln, a studio comprised of multiple potters in Nomi City in Ishikawa where she is based.

Large peony Kutani sometsuke bowl by Horihata Ran

Ran initially wanted to make sculptures and art objects out of clay. “I thought it would be great to express myself in sculptures in the beginning,” she said. “Then after about four years, I started thinking that I wanted to create something that wasn’t just about me. I became interested in tableware because I was interested in a lot more than just myself. I’m curious about the people who cook food and use my ware, and also about the people who eat from them. Tableware is about relationships and I’m very interested in that.”

Kutaniyaki iroe tableware by Horihata Ran

Kutaniyaki is colorful painted porcelain ware of underglaze cobalt and overglaze enamel that is made in Ishikawa prefecture. Kutaniyaki’s roots go back 350 years to the very prestigious Ko-Kutani (old Kutani), which are of strong colors and luxurious designs, often seen in museums around the world. There is evidence suggesting that Ko-Kutani may have been made in Arita, in Saga, but Kutaniyaki refers to the painted porcelain ware of Ishikawa where a large kaolin deposit was discovered in the Nomi region around 200 years ago.

Since I visited Ishikawa to follow in the footsteps of the famous Rosanjin in 2014, I have been wanting to bring Kutaniyaki to the US. I think this overlooked region deserves much more attention in the ceramic world because there are some exciting potters coming out of here, due in part to the Ishikawa Prefectural Institute for Kutani Pottery that was established in 1984 to promote Kutaniyaki. Ran is a prime example of the new talent coming out of this investment.

Horihata Ran at Kutani Seiyo Kiln in Nomi City, Ishikawa
Photo courtesy of Horihata Ran

I came across Ran’s beautiful work at a major department store in Tokyo this past spring. Her work immediately caught my attention because it was fresh and bold, unlike many painted Kutaniyaki porcelain that I had seen. Most Kutani is too busy or too traditional looking for my taste but Ran’s brushwork carried a sense of deliverance from convention, and I was curious to find out why.

Kutaniyaki potter Horihata Ran applying overglaze enamel on porcelain.
Photo courtesy of Horihata Ran

“I restrain myself from drawing too much because I love drawing and I get carried away easily,” Ran chuckled as she explained her style. “I think that drawing with restraint balances well with food.” She also added that some heavily drawn-in pots work well with food, but they are much more difficult to design and perfect.

Wild chrysanthemum rice bowl by Horihata Ran. Ran restrains herself from drawing too much on the pottery so that the food is enhanced in the vessel.

I was very impressed to find out that she had spent 4 months in Denmark’s Krogerup Folk High School’s ceramics program after graduating from the Ishikawa Prefectural Institute for Kutani Pottery. Young Japanese of Ran’s generation are very inward looking and happy just to stay at home, and few willingly leave Japan to travel the world. Ran said she worried that she did not speak enough English, but because the students at the Danish school were from all over the world she felt comfortable going there.

“When I went to Denmark, I was surprised that young people were not shy to express their opinions in front of older people,” she said. “And I learned that the Danes put serious effort into creating comfortable space and time for hygge. I thought that was wonderful. I fondly remember building a little movie theatre in the basement with other students so that we could watch DVDs in comfort.”

Danish Bornholm themed Kutani sometsuke shallow bowl by Horihata Ran. Ran thought it was wonderful that the Danes put a lot of effort into creating hygge, a mood of coziness and comfort.

At first, Ran felt that there were too many breaks during class in Denmark because she tends to get completely absorbed into her work and does not like interruptions. But she later learned the importance of taking breaks and to connect with other students. The softness and freedom in Ran’s work most likely stems from the experience of living with students from different backgrounds and seeing the outside world.

Ran is beginning to establish her own studio in Nomi, and Entoten is delighted to have received the first batch of work that Ran has made in her new workspace. By spring 2020, she is hoping to work independently full-time. “It’s like a dream that someone living in America will be holding my work in their hands and using them. I wish that someday Kutaniyaki will be known around the world as tableware that people use in their daily life, not as pots in museums” she said.

New Kohiki Pots by Inoue Shigeru

December 6, 2019Ceramics Inoue Shigeru Tokoname

Ceramics by Inoue Shigeru in our shop December 7th, 2019->

The beauty of the kohiki pots made by Japanese potter Inoue Shigeru are striking because he puts so much effort into acquiring and mixing two types of native clays for the dark base before the white slip is applied. The depth of the white is enhanced by the underlying dark clay.

To me, the negative aspects of common kohiki pots are that they are often thick and clunky because the layer of white slip is applied to the surface of the pots. They also chip more easily because of that extra layer. Inoue-san’s kohiki are very different though. They are light with lovely crisp rims and do not chip easily because of the fine nature of the base clay.

Petal-edged small bowls by Inoue Shigeru

Small petal-edged kohiki plates are my absolute favorite pots by Inoue Shigeru

I would like to warn first time kohiki owners though that because kohiki have an extra layer of white clay between the glaze and base, they are vulnerable to spotting and staining, especially when you first start using the ware. A Chanoyu practitioner called this spotting of kohiki as “blossoming”, which I thought was a poetic way to describe what was happening. Over time with use, the spotting will stop and the ware will season. So if you are looking for a pristine white pot, kohiki pots are not for you. But if you are willing to nurture a pot, do give them a try.

A set of four kohiki choko by Inoue Shigeru

As a thank you for all your support during 2019, I will offer sets of beautiful kohiki pots by Inoue Shigeru with free shipping within the U.S. for sale this Saturday. I hope that you will use this opportunity to grow your own kohiki.

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.