Mashiko Potter In Minnesota

Soda Fired Ki-Seto Chawan

2012-01-28T09:44:00.000-08:00

Made using modified Rob Fornell "inside expansion" technique.

Pinhole Shot

2012-01-22T21:07:00.000-08:00

I miss my old studio in Mashiko!

2012-01-20T07:44:00.000-08:00

Our First Trip To Japan. With The Monks.

2012-01-11T20:09:00.000-08:00

We visited Zuioji Monastary on Shikoku Island in 1993

Gas Upgrade For My Olympic Torchbearer Kiln.

2011-12-26T13:22:00.000-08:00

Just looking at the new rig, you understand why the plumber and gas company refer to "a meter upgrade" rather than a regulator upgrade. The meter required dwarfs the regulator.

(the regulator has the curvy vent pipe attached to it.)
There is a shut off to the house appliances and one to the kiln line.
I turn the line off in the house when I am not firing, to discourage vandals.

New meter from gas street source. 2psi

Meter to old household line/appliances. .25psi

Meter before Kiln with protective cap.

I will make a cover to protect the regulator from rain and freezing.

Regulator reduces pressure to 12 water col. inches.

Uncovered meter. Reduces pressure to below 12 column inches.

Outside shutoff valve.

Inside shutoff valve. Yellow valve to kiln.

Kiln in metal shed.

Lee and Taiko Under The Wisteria

2011-08-20T15:39:00.000-07:00

Shimaoka Shogotaba.

2011-08-20T06:20:00.000-07:00

The Crew (and Ken Matsuzaki), Shortly after I first arrived.

At the 20th Anniversery NCC Show.

2011-08-05T07:48:00.000-07:00

Blue Chawan

2011-07-29T22:45:00.000-07:00

Blue Chawan

2011-07-29T22:44:00.000-07:00

My Grandfather with Arquebus and Armor

2011-07-27T16:52:00.000-07:00

Inspired By Large Mashiko Sake Bottles.

2011-06-26T07:58:00.000-07:00

I Brought Visitors To See My Teacher, in 2007

2011-05-15T01:56:00.000-07:00

Michael Simon Opening At Northern Clay Center

2011-03-12T16:03:00.000-08:00

財団法人益子参考館 - MASHIKO SANKOKAN

2011-02-26T08:40:00.000-08:00

We took folks to Hamada's museum so often, that they stopped charging us admisson fees. To me, Hamada's collection was more interesting to me than the Mingeikan's. Unlike the Mingeikan, he collected with the eye of a maker.

Artist Statement

2011-02-24T21:44:00.000-08:00

“We can make our minds so like still water that beings gather about us that they may see, it may be, their own images, and so live for a moment with a clearer, perhaps even with a fiercer life because of our quiet.” --W.B. Yeats

I came to pottery from my studies in Zen and a life long interest in ecology, anthropology and archeology. I make functional pottery in an effort to preserve local culture in our modern hyper-active, information intense society. If we take a stand where we live, and attempt to understand that place, we can create something that preserves and maintains the nature of that place. My main goal is to inspire other people to make their own creative work.

Human beings have always worked with their hands. We are creators. We cannot survive by consuming only. We need both creativity and Nature to be healthy and whole human beings. Making and using handmade pottery is one way to bring Nature and culture together in our lives.
I intend my work to affect people who use it the way the green countryside affects someone who normally lives in the city: The fresh air & the green of the trees and grasses restores the soul & refreshes the spirit. If my work can do this, in a small way, it is successful.
I came to my personal understanding of Mingei and The Arts and Crafts Movement from working with my late teacher Tatsuzo Shimaoka and from observing the family farmers who were my neighbors in Mashiko, who lived according to the natural seasonal cycles. Distilled, it comes down to four basic principles:
1.Humans are naturally creative.
We are informed by Nature about creativity and beauty.

2.Objects should be judged by how they fulfill the human need for creativity.
Our tools are enablers.

3.We best function when we know the people whose products
we depend upon and the people who likewise depend upon us.

4.When human creative needs are met,
it is also beneficial to the ecology of the environment.

In addition, as a maker, it is important to use materials of the place where you work and live or materials that are relevant to them. It is also important to listen to the materials and be informed by their strengths and weaknesses. Being true to the materials, rather than trying to hide what they are.

The Shaker craftsmen gave us these principles:

Industry:

"Do all your work as if you had a thousand years to live
and as if you were to die tomorrow."

Honesty:

"Be what we seem to be; and seem to be what we really are;
don't carry two faces."

Functionalism:

"That which in itself has the highest use possesses the greatest beauty."

Kiln Prayer: Clay, Water, Fire

As we become a post-industrial society, people who work with their hands are finding themselves being displaced by automation. In all advanced civilizations, artists and artisans and their work has been supported by society. If our culture chooses to do so, displaced farmers, autoworkers, and other factory workers can become artisans and artists. This was a realization of William Morris and Soetsu Yanagi and influenced their humanistic approach to making things. Philosophers Hannah Arendt and Max Scheler called man Homo Faber, “Man the Maker.” It is all about switching our mindset from one of being “consumers” to one of being Makers. We are all makers at heart.

Sue and Yayoi Inspired Ritual Pottery

2011-02-07T08:52:00.000-08:00

This vase was inspired by a Yayoi vase owned by Shimaoka. We would have to cut a bamboo liner for it when he put it in the Tokonoma.

The pedestaled serving bowls I donated to the Zen Monastery my friend
founded near Decorah, Ryumonji:

One Of My First Pots

2011-01-31T07:47:00.000-08:00

I made this during my first pottery classes at the UofMn I took from Curt Hoard. 19" tall, coil and paddle construction, iron oxide rubbed in, scraffito decoration.

Ink Bottle circa 1860

2011-01-27T15:57:00.000-08:00

Jean found this old Ink bottle for me at the Salvation Army.

Joki

2011-01-25T09:04:00.001-08:00

Joki, originally uploaded by togeika.

I made these at Shimaoka's workshop during my apprentieship there. These were at the opening show at Yanagi's house. It was restored and turned into a contemporary gallery

Jizo Bottle

2011-01-18T07:34:00.000-08:00

During the first war with Iraq, I made 108 of these in honor of the war dead.

VC Blue/Green under VC with Cobalt

2010-12-23T07:55:00.000-08:00

Energy Efficency For Minnesota Winter

2010-12-13T10:16:00.000-08:00

The low was -15*F, but the little electric radiator heater kept the temp above 32*F in the enclosure. Exactly what I hoped it would do!

I got the nylon reinforced plastic from someone who set it out as garbage and MacKenzie gave me the "Farm" plastic. It was too heavy for covering pots but I told Warren I could use it in my studio.

Art At Ramsey. Thanks For Stopping By!

2010-12-06T12:17:00.000-08:00

Thanks For Stopping By!
Was nice to see old friends and meet new ones!
We fit everything in the '97 Civic Hatchback,
except the racks went on the roof.
We had the smallest vehicle at the show.

Studio In Progress...

2010-11-18T15:00:00.000-08:00

Testing Live Writer!

2010-10-31T14:19:00.001-07:00

Buddha Pumpkin!

"You Betcha" Ko-shigaraki type clay. (Crushed Custer Feldspar Inclusions)

2010-10-24T21:22:00.000-07:00

First Two Fired in NCC "Single Chamber" Climbing Kiln.

Next Two, Anagama Fired in New London, MN

Nino Caruso (2004), Val Cushing (2005), William Daley (1998), Warren MacKenzie (1997),, John Mason (2005), James Melchert (1998), Ron Meyers (2008),and Patti Warashina (2009).

2010-10-17T20:08:00.000-07:00

2010-10-17T20:06:00.001-07:00

Clay Keeps You Sharp

2010-10-17T20:06:00.000-07:00

These Folks Are Proof That Clay Is The Fountain Of Youth

2010-10-17T20:01:00.000-07:00

7junipers.com » Tatsuzo Shimaoka, 1919-2007

2010-09-30T06:39:00.000-07:00

I found an article about y Sensei at Seven Junipers .

Tatsuzo Shimaoka, 1919-2007: "

Japanese ceramics artist Tatsuzo Shimaoka was a proponent of utilitarian pieces, or mingei (a term derived from minshuteki kogei, “craft of the people”). He was designated a “living national treasure” by the Japanese government in 1996."

In an article in Clay Times (November 2001), Richard Busch reports Shimaoka’s recollections of his developing interest in mingei and the apprenticeship process.

One day, at the age of 19 and a freshman at the Tokyo Industrial College, he wandered into the Nihon Mingeikan (Japanese Folk Crafts Museum), which had been started by Soetsu Yanagi and several friends, including potters Kanjiro Kawai, and Shoji Hamada, and was struck by the simple, unpretentious pots and other historical items that had been made by anonymous craftspeople for everyday use. It was a turning point in his life.
“Yanagi called these items the people’s craft or Mingei,” explains Shimaoka, “and he believed that they represent what is truly beautiful — not the highly refined work made by top artisans only for the wealthy few. He claimed that good craft must be convenient and comfortable to use because they are necessary every day. Mingei works must be durable, made in quantity, and affordable. Materials used must be natural and indigenous. At the basis of the Mingei philosophy lies the supposition that the craftsperson lives a healthy life, has a healthy mind, and is always sincere in the pursuit of utility.”
The philosophy hit the young Shimaoka hard. “When I was lost at what to do in the future,” he recalls, “Yanagi’s theory was like fertile rain on barren soil. With my mind decided, I went to Mashiko to visit Hamada, an alumnus of my college, and he agreed to accept me as an apprentice after I graduated. He told me that the basis of ceramics is the wheel, and advised me to learn how to throw pots on the wheel while in school. I did as I was told.”
After graduating from college, and following a stint in the Army during World War II (during which he spent time as a prisoner of war), he apprenticed with Hamada for three years. “In retrospect, those years studying under a great teacher were the basis for my career as a potter,” he says. “He would tell us apprentices to leave aside all that we had studied — as he had done when he left school — and to start with a new slate. Handmade work, he explained, is not to be learned by intellect, but with the body. Technique is not to be taught, but to ambitiously acquire.
“This is the traditional way master artisans always treated their apprentices, and how apprentices gained good craftmanship. I now understand that that was the most effective method for acquiring potting techniques. Today I always have a few apprentices in my house, including students from abroad. I teach them just the way Hamada tought me.”

The image is the main page from one of the artist’s exhibitions at Galerie Besson in London’s West End.

See full article here: In Search of Ceramic Beauty (published in the Washington Times, 9/23/00) By Richard Busch

Left: Pot, 2005, stoneware with rope-inlay pattern 22.7 cm (h) x 18 cm x 13.9 cm
Right: Pot, 2005, stoneware with rope-inlay pattern, 26.4 (h) x 23.3 x 22.5 cm

Kintaro With New Friends At the Gate.

2010-07-16T05:51:00.000-07:00

Art At Saint Kate's!

2010-07-16T05:47:00.000-07:00

My main display, Jean busy in the background...

Mike Norman Vase, With Lilly.

2010-07-15T07:52:00.000-07:00

Jean got to Mike's booth before I did and she told me about this vase. I tried to buy it and Mike wanted to give it to me. I talked him into a trade. He got two kaki guinomi in return that he was interested in when he visited my booth earlier.

Mugs!

2010-07-13T08:34:00.000-07:00

Casserole

2010-06-27T07:51:00.000-07:00

I didn't make them in Japan. Just started making them again.

How To Tie A Box.

2010-06-01T08:32:00.000-07:00

Chicago on the Bean

2010-05-31T14:53:00.001-07:00

Chicago on the Bean, originally uploaded by mbasile.

Jean saw The Bean when she visited Chicago last week.

Photos From Opening Of "Midwest" Show At Togei Messe In Mashiko

2010-05-29T21:50:00.000-07:00

Korean Ido Teabowl

2010-05-25T14:27:00.000-07:00

Kizaemon

McKnight 55 Tea Bowls

2010-05-15T05:59:00.000-07:00

Here they are when I was making selections for the show.

Me and Mom In Front Of Osaka Takashimaya

2010-05-12T20:40:00.000-07:00

Me and Mom In Front Of Osaka Takashimaya

Raymond Ave Gallery 2010

2010-05-10T07:55:00.000-07:00

Raymond Ave Gallery 2010

2010-05-10T07:52:00.000-07:00

Raymond Ave Gallery 2010

2010-05-10T07:50:00.000-07:00

Raymond Ave Gallery 2010

2010-05-10T07:48:00.000-07:00

Raymond Ave Gallery 2010

2010-05-10T07:47:00.000-07:00

Raymond Ave Gallery 2010

2010-05-10T07:45:00.000-07:00

Raymond Ave Gallery 2010

2010-05-10T07:42:00.000-07:00

Raymond Ave Gallery 2010

2010-05-10T07:40:00.000-07:00

2010-05-10T07:37:00.000-07:00

Boxes For Raymond Show Arrived Today!

2010-05-01T10:11:00.000-07:00

They Came Fast!

Guinomi Boxes Were Inside Chawan Boxes.

Happy Crab Apple Blossom Time!

2010-04-29T17:24:00.000-07:00

From New London Anagama

2010-04-27T11:23:00.000-07:00

This was in a dry place in Craig's anagama in New London, MN
The surface was dry, you could flake glaze off.
I refired in reduction and it turned out pretty good.
Still has marks from the kiln on it.

Chawan, Interior and Foot Shot

2010-04-27T11:15:00.000-07:00

Setting Up At Raymond Ave. Gallery

2010-04-23T15:15:00.000-07:00

Didn't have the camera set right for halogen lighting.

Centaur and Saggitarian

2010-04-21T06:57:00.000-07:00

National Muesum, London

From Mashiko To Minnesota, Two

2010-03-05T20:17:00.000-08:00

Porcelain Tsubo Fired in New London Anagama

2010-02-17T06:44:00.000-08:00

I finally got up to Craig and Lynn's and
picked up some of my pots from the last firing.

Happy New Year 2010!

2009-12-31T16:48:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year 2010!

Love,
Jean and Lee

Platter, Nuka and Seiji Nuka.

2009-12-22T12:42:00.000-08:00

VETERANS OF WAR & PEACE

2009-12-22T08:46:00.001-08:00

2010 EpicUrns.com Juried Urn Art Competition

in reference to:

"VETERANS OF WAR & PEACE2010 EpicUrns.com Juried Urn Art Competition"
- Call for Veteran-Centered Cremation Urns, EpicUrns.com (view on Google Sidewiki)

Nice Photos!

2009-12-22T08:38:00.001-08:00

Photos of Mashiko.

in reference to: Pixeltopia's Photostream (view on Google Sidewiki)

The Year Of The Urn

2009-12-22T08:03:00.001-08:00

Last year, I focused on matcha jawan. This year, the focus will be on urns. Here is an interesting local site and gallery dedicated to urns.

Helpful information about "EpicUrns.com".

in reference to: EpicUrns.com (view on Google Sidewiki)

Kokubin and Thrown and Altered Squared Bottle

2009-12-10T06:25:00.000-08:00

This is a neriage mold made bottle. Made by the retired foreman Fukuyan, who I sat next to during my 3 year apprenticeship. It is an example of using the right tool for the right pot. The slabs, pushed into the mold, help keep the squares of clay together, to form a good bond. The bottle below was thrown as a cylinder and then was paddled and ribbed. Coils were added to the corners to help make them sharp. It was fired in Craig Edward's anagama.

Jars

2009-09-13T18:44:00.000-07:00

On the way to the studio. I need to put in more windows before winter gets here.

I cleaned up the ears after shooting them. I find when you take a photograph, you look at the pots more carefully.

The cut foot in the cylindrical jar is so you can see that the foot is high and the container space ends above the whole.

One More Jar.

2009-09-13T18:40:00.000-07:00

The ears on all the jars are so the lid can be tied down with cord.

Covered Jar

2009-09-13T16:21:00.000-07:00

Making some jars for the top of the small soda kiln.
This lid sat too low. I built up the lid lip to ride higher. See in later photo.

2009-07-30T07:32:00.000-07:00

I think maybe Bob was talking about this blog last night: ClayCraft

It is the blog that compliments my Claycraft email list.

--Lee

55 Chawan

2009-05-11T07:46:00.001-07:00

I am 55 this year. I put together 55 Chawan for my 55 year as my contribution to the Northern Clay Center McKnight Show.

My Helper

2009-03-26T15:12:00.000-07:00

Kintaro stayed up until 4:30am Last night helping me get a bisque going.

Tamba Runny Ash

2009-02-11T10:13:00.001-08:00

This is dipped on the top where there is texture. The bottom had the
same ash glaze brushed on.

Raymond Avenue Gallery Show

2008-11-25T17:45:00.000-08:00

Tamba Ash and Briscoe Ash Glaze Tsubo

Raymond Avenue Gallery Show

2008-11-23T11:54:00.000-08:00

Raymond Avenue Gallery Show

2008-11-23T11:52:00.000-08:00

Raymond Avenue Gallery Show

2008-11-23T11:45:00.000-08:00

2008-11-22T09:38:00.000-08:00

Raymond Avenue Show

2008-11-18T04:37:00.001-08:00

NCC Woodkiln Firing

2008-09-03T19:19:00.000-07:00

My "Morning Coffee" Tea Bowl

2008-06-07T04:15:00.000-07:00

Fire!

2008-05-22T09:10:00.001-07:00

Northern Clay Writeup

2008-04-28T05:46:00.000-07:00

Gmail - image2.jpg

Centuar and Saggitarian

2007-07-27T21:03:00.000-07:00

NCC Show

2007-07-13T21:40:00.000-07:00

NCC Show

2007-07-13T21:38:00.000-07:00

2007-07-13T21:34:00.000-07:00

NCC Show

2007-07-13T21:33:00.000-07:00

NCC Show

2007-07-13T21:29:00.000-07:00

NCC Show

2007-07-13T21:28:00.000-07:00

"Beauty Goes Beyond Borders."

2007-07-06T19:31:00.000-07:00

Saturday, July 7, 2007

PERSONALITY PROFILE

Kyoko Mimura

By VIVIENNE KENRICK

"Recognizing some kind of beauty goes beyond all borders," Kyoko Mimura said.

Kyoko Mimura

She speaks from her own experience of dealing with borders and recognizing beauty beyond them. She gives credit to Soetsu Yanagi, born at the end of the 19th century, for ideas that she learned from his aesthetics, thoughts, and activities.

He was, she said, the initiator of not only the mingei, folk crafts, movement in Japan but also of the philosophy behind it. In the mid-1930s he founded the Japan Mingeikan, of which Mimura is now adviser for international programs.

She was born in Illinois and, as a child, was secure in her English until, she said, "my parents decided I should be more Japanese." Her family returned to live in Japan, where she and her brothers struggled to raise their grasp of their native language to meet high expectations. In her first employment, Mimura worked as a translator and simultaneous interpreter for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

With language her forte, Mimura entered Tokyo's Sophia University and received her first degree in 1987. "I majored in political science," she said. "Because of my mixed background and acknowledging the differences, I was very much interested in how to connect the world."

In Tokyo, she worked in the creative department of an international advertising company and as an art columnist for a newspaper. Married, she returned with her husband to America, where she studied for her master's degree. She chose to major in editorial journalism.

"After I received my graduate degree, I applied and was accepted for discussion shows at the Washington D.C., bureau of CNN," Mimura said. At the same time she was doing volunteer work for the Japan Mingeikan, and that became her path "back to culture."

Mimura assisted the Mingeikan tour of Scotland in 1991. As part of the Japan Festival, in Edinburgh she conducted small groups that introduced the arts and crafts of the Edo Period.

During successive tours, she included the small village of St. Ives, where the English potter Bernard Leach had his kiln.

The story of the friendship and collaboration between Soetsu Yanagi and Bernard Leach is well known. Yanagi was a Gakushuin student and acquired an interest in philosophy from his English teacher, the renowned Dr. Daisetz Suzuki.

Leach, born in 1887 in Hong Kong and two years younger than Yanagi, spent some childhood years in Kyoto.

The two met in Japan in 1909, at a time when Yanagi was discovering "the human spirit in physical material." Leach, beginning as an artist and teacher, decided to turn to pottery. Yanagi and Leach met the potter Shoji Hamada, whom Leach took to England with him. Leach set up his home and kiln on a hillside above the sea in St. Ives.

Mimura immersed herself in the history of the development of the mingei folk craft concept in Japan, and of the personalities concerned with it. She said, "Yanagi believed that mingei were works of art made by people for daily use. The beauty of mingei was that of natural liveliness."

She began working in the International Programs Department of Mingeikan in 1992, becoming director of the programs 10 years later. During this period she bore two sons, both of whom are now violinists.

Mimura writes articles that appear in journals, newspapers and museum catalogs. She is an accomplished lecturer, who keeps meticulous records of her contacts. She maintained her connection with Leach and his son David during their lifetimes. Her work and her memories have made her stay close to the coteries of the founders of the mingei movement.

Mimura agrees that production of pots, not as ornaments but for daily use, was "like a process of mediation." Pots did not require the signatures of the potters, while the "warmth of hand" in the potting came through as an aesthetic truth."

The movement applies to more than pots, Mimura claims. She sees music and textiles from Japan interesting people in other countries. "Showing traditional methods in innovative and useful ways, encouraging youth everywhere is exciting and urgent," she said. True to her precepts, Mimura is arranging a presentation at Mingeikan from this autumn on textiles from India.

Mingeikan: tel: (03) 3467-4527

2007-06-15T10:56:00.001-07:00

This message was sent from a T-Mobile wireless phone.

Mashiko Potter In Minnesota

Soda Fired Ki-Seto Chawan

Pinhole Shot

I miss my old studio in Mashiko!

Our First Trip To Japan. With The Monks.

Gas Upgrade For My Olympic Torchbearer Kiln.

Lee and Taiko Under The Wisteria

Shimaoka Shogotaba.

At the 20th Anniversery NCC Show.

Blue Chawan

Blue Chawan

My Grandfather with Arquebus and Armor

Inspired By Large Mashiko Sake Bottles.

I Brought Visitors To See My Teacher, in 2007

Michael Simon Opening At Northern Clay Center

財団法人 益子参考館 - MASHIKO SANKOKAN

Artist Statement

Sue and Yayoi Inspired Ritual Pottery

One Of My First Pots

Ink Bottle circa 1860

Joki

Jizo Bottle

VC Blue/Green under VC with Cobalt

Energy Efficency For Minnesota Winter

Art At Ramsey. Thanks For Stopping By!

Studio In Progress...

Testing Live Writer!

Buddha Pumpkin!

"You Betcha" Ko-shigaraki type clay. (Crushed Custer Feldspar Inclusions)

Nino Caruso (2004), Val Cushing (2005), William Daley (1998), Warren MacKenzie (1997),, John Mason (2005), James Melchert (1998), Ron Meyers (2008),and Patti Warashina (2009).

Clay Keeps You Sharp

These Folks Are Proof That Clay Is The Fountain Of Youth

7junipers.com » Tatsuzo Shimaoka, 1919-2007

Kintaro With New Friends At the Gate.

Art At Saint Kate's!

Mike Norman Vase, With Lilly.

Mugs!

Casserole

How To Tie A Box.

Chicago on the Bean

Photos From Opening Of "Midwest" Show At Togei Messe In Mashiko

Korean Ido Teabowl

McKnight 55 Tea Bowls

Me and Mom In Front Of Osaka Takashimaya

Raymond Ave Gallery 2010

Raymond Ave Gallery 2010

Raymond Ave Gallery 2010

Raymond Ave Gallery 2010

Raymond Ave Gallery 2010

Raymond Ave Gallery 2010

Raymond Ave Gallery 2010

Raymond Ave Gallery 2010

Boxes For Raymond Show Arrived Today!

Happy Crab Apple Blossom Time!

From New London Anagama

Chawan, Interior and Foot Shot

Setting Up At Raymond Ave. Gallery

Centaur and Saggitarian

From Mashiko To Minnesota, Two

Porcelain Tsubo Fired in New London Anagama

Happy New Year 2010!

Platter, Nuka and Seiji Nuka.

VETERANS OF WAR & PEACE

Nice Photos!

The Year Of The Urn

Kokubin and Thrown and Altered Squared Bottle

Jars

One More Jar.

Covered Jar

55 Chawan

My Helper

Tamba Runny Ash

Raymond Avenue Gallery Show

Raymond Avenue Gallery Show

Raymond Avenue Gallery Show

Raymond Avenue Gallery Show

Raymond Avenue Show

NCC Woodkiln Firing

My "Morning Coffee" Tea Bowl

Fire!

財団法人益子参考館 - MASHIKO SANKOKAN