Out of the fire

Last night we had a very special workshop with potter Richard Brandt  firing black raku style teabowls. Richard is a long time Portland ceramic artist who also has studied chado.  He understands the form and functionality of the teabowl because he has used them in the tea ceremony.  His generous offer to hold a workshop for the students of Issoan Tea School was exhilarating and inspiring.

We began the evening choosing teabowls that Richard had already formed.  To make it fair, ecah student chose a number and we got to choose from in the order of our drawn number.

 Next the glaze was applied

 

While the glaze was drying, Richard gave a lecture and slide show of the history of Raku style bowls.  He emphasized the Raku is not a process, but a family name.  He also covered the differences in Japanese style rakuware  and American style rakuware where heavy metals are used to achieve iridescent colors.

The teabowls were then placed in the kiln and fired to more than 1800 degreees.

By looking at the bowls in the kiln, Richard could tell when it was time to pull them out. At the proper time, the kiln was opened and the teabowls were sitting there glowing white and orange.

It was quite dramatic as he pulled each teabowl from the kiln while it was still glowing hot and plunged it into a bucket of water.

 The teabowls heated the water to boiling temperatures but then were set on the bricks to cool further.  You can see the steam coming from the bowls as they are cooling.

And there is nothing like that first taste of tea in a brand new teabowl.

 

Then the bowls were carefully wrapped in presentation boxes and presented to students.  I will be naming each bowl an will calligraphy the name on the boxes for each student.

Born in Fire

Last Friday we had an incredible opportunity to attend a raku pottery lecture and demonstration by my friend Richard Brandt.  Richard is a tea student and teaches pottery so he invited tea students to attend his summer raku pottery class.  He put together a lecture about the history of raku firing and as a special treat, fired teabowls for us. Through his own experimentation, and his special glaze, he was able to make black raku teabowls for us.  Below are photos of the process.

 

Loading the kiln

Fire 'er up

 

About 30 minutes later check the glaze

 

Safety first

 

Pulling the pot from the fire

   

Don't drop it

 

On the cooling rack.  The coffee cans are used to slow the cooling down so the bowls don't crack. 

 

Transformation through magic of the fire

 

From the inside

 

And best of all, tea tastes so good

 

Other students in the class used newspapers and garbage cans after they pulled their pots from the kiln.

 

 Here you see the iridescence typical with American raku

 

Silver, gold, copper and a rainbow of sparkly colors

Raku pottery demo

I have scheduled an opportunity for students who are interested in pottery.  Specifically, Raku pottery.   My good friend Richard Brandt will be giving a lecture on the history of Raku and giving a demo of firing a black rakku style teabowl.  Very exciting.

Students, please don't miss this opportunity. July 1 at 7:30-9:30 and PCC SE Center.  Please sign up via email to me or let me know at class next week.

Update:  The lecture will be at 6:00 pm with the demo at 7:30.  Please let me know if you are coming.

Imperfect beauty

Trying to understand the wabi aesthetic of the tea ceremony is very difficult because it is difficult to quantify.  One of the principles of wabi is "fukanzen no bi"  or imperfect beauty. 

Most people thnnk that there is a universal kind of beauty, but each person has a different sense of beauty -- depending on our culture, education, country and upbringing.  Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.  For example, the line from the ocean to Mt. Fuji is beautiful, but a cloud obscuring part of the line is more interesting and beautiful to some people.

The usual concept of beauty is close to perfect. Bronzes and celedon ceramics from China were of perfectly symmetrical beauty where each side matched.  The tea masters in Japan thought that it was boring.  They looked to Korean rice bowls -- asymmetrical, earth toned, rough textured and thought them beautiful.   These bowls, with their imperfections were more human. That led Rikyu to create raku.   Raku bowls, because they are not turned on the wheel, are made to fit in the hand and it doesn't conduct heat well so the hot tea in it will not burn your hand. Raku means enjoyment, ease, pleasure or happiness.

Oribe and shino ware are very popular with tea students and potters.  But these are not my personal favorites because there is so much bad oribe and shino copies out there.  Oribe knew just how far to push the boundaries, while copies of his work often go beyond.  Students think that just because it is distorted, or rough it must be wabi and therefore beautiful. Purposeful distortions of the form, sloppy craftsmanship, or just plain ugly pieces abound.  Wabi is not slobby.

Tea students must be able to differentiate between forgiving imperfection, and celebrating imperfection. Celebrating imperfection leads to weird stuff for its own sake rather than looking at the individual strength of the piece and forgiving its imperfections because of its strengths.

Anagama kiln and preivew of the Holiday Sale

Despite bitter cold and a horrendous East wind blowing last Sunday, my husband and I were invited to the opening of the anagama firing by Richard Brandt and crew.  I have attended a firing before, but I had to leave before the kiln was opened.  This time though, the previous week the kiln was fired for 5 days -- that is they fed it more than four cords of wood, then sealed it up to cool and Sunday was the opening.  This was very exciting as the fire is unpredictable and what went into the kiln may or may not resemble what comes out, depending on the fire, the flames and the placement in the kiln.  That is the magic of an anagama firing.

 Last Sunday we unloaded the anagama kiln and I must say that it's the best firing I've ever taken part in. The frozen wind and numb hands were not even a bother because the work was so fantastic. The colors are outstanding. The carnage low. Plenty of startling surprises. Everything seemed to fall into place. A labor of love it remains. I am very excited to share this work with you.  ~ Richard Brandt

We got there as they were taking the bricks down from the front of the kiln.  I was surprised at how orderly it was and the crew was very careful to stack each brick as it came from the door in order for the next people to seal up the front more easily.  Then the ash was swept away from the firebox and everything cleaned out before any pieces were taken out.    One of the first pieces to be taken out was a little figurine.It was found standing among the ashes in the firebox. It was on the lower front shelf and it had fallen off but remained standing as if it had jumped into the fire.

Here are a couple of photos as the first pieces were unloaded from the kiln:


While everything looks monochrome in these photos, there was plenty of drama and color when the pieces were unloaded.  There were so many spectacular vases, bowls, tea pots and sculptures:



I just wanted to preview a few pieces that Richard will be showing at the sale and (modestly) show some of the handbags I made from kimono material that will also be featured at the show.

Nishiura Ryokusuido
3826 NE Glisan St.
Portland Oregon 97229
Friday evening opening reception 7-9 pm

Saturday and Sunday 12-5 pm

I hope you will come out to see Richard's work.  Here's a few handbags made from kimono and obi that will be featured.