American Potter

#90 Steven Branfman, Needleham Massachusetts. Raku bowl $250.00

2011-06-21T12:58:00.000-07:00

#1 Ken Matsuzaki - Chawan, Shino, boxed

2011-06-12T11:49:00.000-07:00

To order send personal check, cashiers check, or money order (preferred) to: Eric Hansen, 108 N. Donelson St., Alexandria, Virginia 22304. Remember to include item number # and description of the item you are purchasing. Include $25 for shipping, handling, insurance, priority mail. Also include 5% sales tax. This item is green tagged for a 100% contribution of sale price forwarded directly to Mashiko Potters Fund, and therefore is not a 501(c)(3) charity. View more images at: picasa site link (upper left)

Ken Matsuzaki, Mashiko, Japan 1. Boxed Chawan $2,475.00 Shino glaze

2011-06-12T11:34:00.001-07:00

#4. John Neely, Logan, Utah - Unofu glazed stoneware tea bowl - $240.00

2011-06-08T13:15:00.000-07:00

To order send personal check, cashiers check, or money order (preferred) to: Eric Hansen, 108 N. Donelson St., Alexandria, Virginia 22304. Remember to include item number # and description of the item you are purchasing. Include $15 for shipping, handling, insurance, priority mail. Also include 5% sales tax. This item is green tagged for a 100% contribution of sale price forwarded directly to Mashiko Potters Fund, and therefore is not a 501(c)(3) charity. View more images at: https://picasaweb.google.com/109207349461293327020/TsunamiBenefitTeaBowlShowAndSale#5615942780531597922

Tsunami Tea Show

2011-05-15T16:46:00.000-07:00

We did well, $1123 for Mashiko Potters Fund! Thanks potters, thanks Lab School!!

Sunday, May 15, 2011

Dear Friends of Tsunami Relief Tea Bowl Show:

The event at Lab School of Washington, D.C., raised a total amount of $1,123.00 which includes applicable tax factored into each donation. 90 items as individual pieces or sets were featured.

I want to thank all the potters who donated work, as the combined effect of the entire show was responsible for motivating donations for the Mashiko Potters’ Fund. I also want to extend a special thank to those who volunteered their time: Christa Hansen, Jon Singer, Loren Scherbak, Brenda Llewellyn, Missy Cochrane, and Elke Seefeldt.

And I wish to gratefully acknowledge that the event was only made possible through the gracious hosting of the venue at Lab School of Washington, D.C. thanking all those, seen and unseen, whose efforts made a contribution. Those who I am aware of are: Katherine Schantz, Head of Lab School, Peter N. Braun, Sr., Director of Operations, Peter N Braun, Jr., Greg Schlossberg, Special Events Coordinator, as well as Emilio, and Albino.

Complete list of potters who made donations: Ken Matsuzaki, Hank Murrow, Rick Mahaffrey, John Neely, Steven Branfman, Craig Miron, Patricia Cassone, Louis Katz, May Luk, Paul Herman, Loren Scherbak, Jon Singer, Charles D. Hansen, Eric A. Hansen, Denise Joyal, Mandy Stigant, Elke Seefeldt, Veena Raghavan, Mary Del Bianco, Heidi Schramm, Carolyn Dutky Romano, Marc Harper, Karen Abromaitis, Kanika Sircar, Schreiber, Luke Nealey, Mike Gordon, David McBeth, Toshiyo Uno, Kikuko Kinashi, Barbara Silver, Brenda Llewellyn, Carol Hurwich, Cindy Dietz, Marsha Slater, Missy Cochrane, Elizabeth Adamowitz, and Yang-ja Lee.

And a very special thanks to Ken Matsuzaki for organizing the Mashiko Potters Fund, and for sharing the perfect example of a shino-yaki matcha chawan!

Sincerely Yours,

Eric Hansen

Tsunami Teabowl Show

2011-04-05T04:14:00.000-07:00

Tsunami Teabowl Show - Call for Entries

Tsunami Benefit Teabowl Show
May 14, 2011
The Lab School of Washington
4759 Reservoir Road
Washington D.C.

Help survivors of Japan’s earthquake, tsunami, and radiation by donating a teabowl to:

c/o Stonehouse Studio
Eric Hansen
108 N. Donelson ST.
Alexandria, VA
22304

There is no entry fee. When submit works by mail or parcel, please pay adequate postage. All proceeds 100% go to charitable non-profits. You will receive a receipt upon sale for tax purposes. The artist and/or potter must set the price. Please recommend the normal price you expect to sell the work for. Please accompany with artwork and artist information for labeling:

Artist/potter name.
City or location of potter.
Name of pieces (or pieces) – state if to be sold as a set in the case of sets.
Title of work or description thereof. “Chawan”, “Yunomi”, “Tenmokku” etc.
Medium. Words like “raku” “porcelain” “stoneware” or “woodfired” go here.
Suggested price.

All works will be sold. Those which might remain in inventory will be sold eventually from the inventory. Expect to see future Tsunami Benefit Teabowl Shows. May 12 is deadline for mail or parcel delivery.

In order to receive tax receipt and contact for future events please supply as much contact information as possible:

Name
Full mailing address
Telephone
Cell
Social networking links

Works submitted will be used as publicity items to be photographed, recorded, etc., please understand that works and artist/potters names will be used to market the sale.

Further questions? Eric Hansen 703-370-3606.

teabowl

2010-07-29T15:20:00.000-07:00

t e a b o w l

2010-07-29T15:18:00.000-07:00

n e w w o r k s

2010-07-29T15:10:00.000-07:00

b o w l

2010-07-19T12:53:00.001-07:00

another

h a n s e n : b o w l s

2010-07-19T12:49:00.000-07:00

more...

pots by - - > h a n s e n

2010-07-19T12:14:00.000-07:00

Some of my work 2006-2010

New clay coming in

2010-07-09T02:25:00.000-07:00

this is reclaim + local clay + Kentucky Stone ball clay + grog + sand, it's got a nice golden glow, feels great to throw with

Text book foot wedging

2010-07-06T03:09:00.000-07:00

I bet this wasn't the first try -

After about 30 hours of this

2010-06-12T02:12:00.000-07:00

At about 55% humidity in the studio I had to bag up the clay. The necessary wedging to assure uniformity of the open body stoneware was minimal, each 1/3 of the original 30+ lbs. of clay has so far only been wedged 1-2 minutes, 3 times each.

Roseville Out of the Bag

2010-06-10T15:34:00.000-07:00

I mixed this up a few weeks ago see my previous posts - this is the same batch - mixing time by hand was about 15 minutes. It has been aging and the mixture in now about uniform; not as lumpy as it was going in the bag. It is still sloppy, but that is oakey-dokey as it is now drying back a little before wedging. Since I wedge all clay anyway this is not an additional step. Nothing is going to happen too fast with 100% humidity a few hours ago and 52% humidity currently.

Progress report. 12 hours later had to wedge for a few minutes. Formed 3 of the inverted "U". Still sticks to the stone surface. 60% humidity in studio.

Tea Bowl by h a n s e n

2010-05-16T11:36:00.000-07:00

glaze is half clay from my backyard and half wood ash from the grill and/or fireplace; & high temperature reduction wood-fired by Loren Scherbak.

Bagging the Clay

2010-05-13T13:40:00.000-07:00

The amount of time I'll let this set may be a few days minimum, what with no clay mixer or pugmill. It will need wedging and more drying back naturally. See my earlier posts on images of this. Mixing your own clay means you know what is in it, and having only one ingredient eliminates the likleyhood of formulation errors. If you plan on using body clay in your engobe and glaze formulation, you aren't working with an unknown.

Mixing Clay

2010-05-13T13:33:00.000-07:00

Basically I worked it up with the trowel for 10-15 minutes, slowly adding the water. I made it up as thick as I could stand, however this is still wetter than what it should be. This is intentional, because the first 24 hours of maturing, the water continues to wet dry clay particles in the mixture and it will stiffen considerably.

Hansen's Clay Mixer

2010-05-13T13:27:00.000-07:00

The single-component clay body is extensively researched by the manufacturer. This will be an open-bodied mid-fire stoneware cone 4-8. I added plenty of grog as this aids the process when using no machinery.

This is what I'm talking about!

2010-04-23T22:16:00.001-07:00

newer work - anxiety free

2010-04-15T02:35:00.000-07:00

here it is - more harmonious?

Throwing Season

2010-04-13T13:16:00.000-07:00

This year I am planning on throwing pots while the weather is nice outside. The winter is going to be mostly firing, culminating in a winter sale. Cherry Blossom festival is really the beginning of throwing season

Method for making hand formed bowls

2010-03-19T08:03:00.001-07:00

There are made very slowly, especially in the beginning stages. If kept fairly symmetrical, they can be thinned considerably.

by Hansen

2010-03-19T07:54:00.000-07:00

Some of the new. Ash glaze, cone 9

The definition of success

2010-03-19T07:51:00.000-07:00

"It was reported to me that when this bowl found a new home it became the most-used there"

Four Tea Bowls

2009-10-02T16:23:00.000-07:00

Kemp's 1-1-1 was used as the glaze. The cone six glaze recipe archives from which it originated ("Chit-Chat") were never allowed to be posted online at ClayArt listserve, so they were traded off-line and compiled by the users. At the time, posts about cone 6 were somehow considered to be disrespectful, but times have now changed. These bowls were fired to cone 8.

Future Studio

2009-07-29T02:43:00.000-07:00

Iron in the Fire

2009-07-15T14:15:00.001-07:00

Cone 8 electric, fast-fired. From left to right: wild clay red stoneware body, iron blue from "Bristol Nuka" glaze over red stoneware, and "Old Seto" glaze from the Leach book.

New work from Eric Hansen

2009-07-14T15:19:00.000-07:00

Here is the local clay which is decomposed mountain material, quartz, mica, feldspar, fired to cone 8. It began to self-glaze even in the electric kiln. Other examples below include two pieces of true rice hull ash nuka iron blue, a well used tea bowl, and a new bowl with a gloss glaze Hansen is beginning to now use.

2009-07-14T15:18:00.000-07:00

This piece is about the size of a shot glass.

2009-07-14T15:17:00.000-07:00

Small but heavy stoneware bowl.

2009-07-14T15:16:00.000-07:00

The glaze is called Hambone's 123.

2009-07-14T15:14:00.000-07:00

Somewhat underfired, it is excellent for very hot liquids since the clay body insulates. The bowl is also slightly pyramidical, for further retention of heat. Using this bowl is irresistable; the crazing pattern is natural stain from dark teas.

2009-07-14T15:13:00.000-07:00

Glaze is Kemp 111 from the infamous "Chit-Chat" archives.

New Eric Hansen Cone 8 Electric work

2009-07-06T12:15:00.000-07:00

Sometimes it seems like a hard sell trying to get appreciation for mid-fire electric. Hansen was told by a great master potter that if he could make good pots this way, he could make good pots in any other firing atmosphere. It is all in the making of good pots, not the finishes that go over them. And it sounded like a challenge.

Koetsu bowl at the Freer

2009-07-06T10:41:00.000-07:00

"Hank and I went to the storage room at the Freer to view our favorite pots, mine is this amazing tea bowl by Koetsu. The method for making is very similar to the Raku style, but the color of the glaze is a deep olive green."

Fansastic!

2009-04-11T12:52:00.000-07:00

Awesome video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4YSwPmB6Lk&feature=related

The pot pictured above was made without the wheel.

Please leave messages for Eric at his regular email address: kansaspotter(at)gmail

Hansen dark ware bowl

2009-04-07T15:39:00.000-07:00

Cone 10 reduction wood fired in noboragama. "Almost everything I have ever put into a wood kiln turns out great. I have fantastic intuition about what the fire is going to do with the materials."

First 3 bowls of cherry blossom time

2009-03-31T15:13:00.000-07:00

"The clay was mixed just prior to forming the bowls in the methods described"

Dry clay mixing method from the Southwest

2009-03-30T14:51:00.000-07:00

"I added about 10% grog, this method aids drying time of clay things made in the coil method. No aging or curing is necessary. You mix the amount of clay you need as you use it as it stiffens rapidly. Even wedging is unnecessary. It is not radically different from making clay in a clay mixer, except just one ingredient is used, and since this clay came from a bag, screening powderized clay as they do in the Southwest is unnecessary. Call me a control freak but I want to know exactly what is in my clay and glazes, and only buy off the shelf when I can't make my own."

Single ingredient dry mixing

2009-03-29T13:42:00.000-07:00

"The previous post shows a clay which was made in a very simple wet mix process. This example shows a single ingredient from a bag of dry clay that was simply mixed with ample water using a brick mason's mud pan and a shovel. Clay like this is about one third water, which makes a too wet and sloppy mixture, but it will stiffen over night. It came out a bit too soft so it is now curing up. This too is cost-effective. I'll get about 75 pounds of clay for $12."

Local stoneware from Alexandria

2009-03-29T13:25:00.000-07:00

"Earlier I posted the deep cut the bulldozer made to about 8 feet below the surface near here. I filled about half of a 55 gallon barrel with different grey stoneware clays. Here I cross sampled them all, crushed them and dried them in the oven, then blunged the mixture into 5 gallons of water. Then it was screened as a slip into yet another bucket where over 5-6 days most of the water settled out. Pouring that off, it's now out of the bucket and on to the bat for further airing and de-watering."

ash glazed pot at the Freer

2009-03-28T00:05:00.000-07:00

"okay, I posted this before, but just can't resist doing it again. I have actually replicated this glaze. I have to get back over to the Freer/Sackler to see what else I can do."

Masterpieces of Punch'ong Ware II

2009-03-27T23:12:00.000-07:00

"listening to miles davis & herbie hancock as I load this..."

"Christa brought this book home from her latest trip to Korea."

one of the world's great cities...

2009-03-27T20:46:00.000-07:00

go ahead, click on the image, I dare you...

Bird Watcher's Club, Limbe, Cameroon

2009-03-27T20:41:00.000-07:00

2009-03-27T20:39:00.000-07:00

Semme Beach Sunset

2009-03-27T15:52:00.000-07:00

Semme Beach & Little Mountain

2009-03-27T03:52:00.001-07:00

"You can't see big mountain behind - the simultaneous presence and absence of photogenic qualities intrigues me. The dark sand is from volcanic pumice stone."

Hut 3, Fako Mountain

2009-03-26T13:18:00.000-07:00

"The kids made the summit, Christa and I were worn out and stayed here at hut 3." See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Cameroon

Giving back, giving foward

2009-03-25T10:56:00.000-07:00

"There are always requests for alumni gifts - I get them from 2 schools. One of those schools gave me a pretty hard time with securing studio space, energy, and materials, even though I was a full-time matriculated, and tuition paying student, Still I did my thing, and reorganized the clay mixing room, fired the Alpine bisque kiln every Friday, and donated mixed glazes by the bucket. Over the years I have gifted the Kansas City Art Institute (fund-raiser auction), University of Kansas (cash, clay, glazes), Lawrence (KS) Art Center (glaze materials and chemicals), and Lane (OR) Community College (wheel). One of the interesting gifts was the 1000 pounds of local native stoneware that I gave Chris Obert when he and Professor Joe Zeller were building an anagama at KU. They were making salt fired brick for the insulating layer. You can see the finished kiln (maybe not the bricks) at http://www.lawrenceartscenter.com/ scroll down to "Wood Firing Slideshow." Normally I try to give the kinds of gifts that stoke the clay spirit in us all, rather than a general support of the arts which society at large (especially real estate developers) seems to benefit from. This in spite of the the fact that my interests are in sculpture, photography, the graphic arts, and music as well as ceramics. This year my work is in the KCAI auction. A karmic reciprocation has four of my pieces exhibited at Alexandria's Creative Clay. But, I was reminded of the importance of giving when Bill Schran gave me a tour of NOVA at Alexandria yesterday, explaining how grants and gifts were a large part of the programs success. Pictured is Vanderslice Hall, Kansas City Art Institute. I visited here for the 2008 alumni event which became the event at which ceramic sculptor Jim Leedy announced his retirement."

Roof in Douala, Cameroon

2009-03-23T11:21:00.000-07:00

"The lack of permanence in many of the living quarters doesn't seem to slow this city of 2,000,000 down."

shibui

2009-02-18T14:02:00.000-08:00

"It must have been 1989, when after years of feeling out of sorts with myself and my true calling that I decided art and craft was pivotal to my well being and prosperity. I enrolled in open clay studio at the Lawrence Art Center, then being run by Tinsley Wert. Tinsley and Perry Hartman in turn introduced me to Bill Bracker, who mentored me, or humored me, as I returned to clay. The first works I produced I brought to Steven Addiss, professor of art history, then, at the University of Kansas; he is the author of the book "The Art of Zen." He described my bowls as very 'shibui' "

"Shibui From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia" :
"Shibui (渋い?) (adjective), or shibumi (渋み?) (noun), is a Japanese word which refers to a particular aesthetic of simple, subtle, and unobtrusive beauty. Like other Japanese aesthetic terms, such as iki and wabi-sabi, shibui can apply to a wide variety of subjects, not just art or fashion. Originating in the Muromachi period (1333-1568) as shibushi, the term originally referred to a sour or astringent taste, such as that of an unripe persimmon. Shibui maintains that literal meaning still, and remains the antonym of amai (甘い?), meaning 'sweet'. However, by the beginnings of the Edo period (1603-1867), the term had gradually begun to be used to refer to a pleasing aesthetic. The people of Edo expressed their tastes in using this term to refer to anything from song to fashion to craftsmanship that was beautiful by being understated, or by being precisely what it was meant to be and not elaborated upon. Essentially, the aesthetic ideal of shibumi seeks out events, performances, people or objects that are beautiful in a direct and simple way, without being flashy."

the artist relaxing at home

2009-02-17T14:33:00.001-08:00

Charles Hansen Future Primitive

2009-02-14T20:42:00.000-08:00

"This lamp is perhaps the most striking piece in my home. My brother makes and sells these pieces; this one came to me as a gift. The new retrofit fluorescent bulbs generate almost no heat and provide evening background lighting." See his web page at: http://charleshansengallery.com/

Richard Bresnehan on the Cover of the Rolling Stone

2009-02-06T15:30:00.000-08:00

"Earth, Wind, and Fire" by Scott Carlson in the Chronicle Review, Chronicle of Higher Education, Feb 13, 2009. Sustainability, community, and the intercontectedness of life is posited as a new model for state-funded universities rather than the old model of being shown the door "and here's your alumni card.."

Koetsu bowl at the Freer

2009-02-06T15:14:00.001-08:00

"In the storage collection is the Koetsu bowl that was handed to me (casually) by the curator, in 2007. Remarkably small and light. I eventually responded to this experience by making hand-formed bowls. It is described as coil built, and the angularity and lack of rounded surfaces suggests it was formed using the paddle tool."

Good Read

2009-02-05T13:41:00.000-08:00

"More and more I find myself identifying with Stonehouse, a Fourteenth Century Chinese Hermit, not because I live alone (which I don't), but because I proclaim a certain restraint in life end eschew the excessive materialism of our time. He always kept his gate open but only late in life did a few monks move up the mountain with him, building a temple which remained until the Cultural Revolution. The stone house is still there on Hsiamushan. We all prefer to lead unexamined lives and practice unexamined art, I suppose. The Kansas photographer Pok Chi Lau taught me so much about visual observation as a means of exposing ambiguities and questions, discovering meanings as well as enigmas. The studio here in Alexandrria has come to be called Stone House to honor the old monk. The publisher is of the book Mercury House. Here is the cover of the copy I have."

Freer pot

2009-01-27T15:01:00.000-08:00

I've been posting about this collection for some time now - just wanted to touch bases with it again. Here is an excellent example of an ash glazed stoneware jar. My experience with ash glazes is that they work well in most kilns and especially well in wood kilns, even though it is not the currently popular trend in wood fire.

See the entire 800 item Southeast Asia collections of the Freer & Sackler now available at:

http://SEAsianCeramics.asia.si.edu

DIY potter, Free Glazer, Crazed Dripster, Wandering Poet

2008-06-02T09:10:00.000-07:00

Just the other day I came to the realization that I embraced a number of conflicting points of view about art and clay. Had it not been for my studies here in D.C. I don't think I could have sorted out the philosophical elements involved. Especially the multi-museum event on dada 2 years ago and the literature in museum book stores at that time. I think my thesis is pretty much complete as far as that goes. I have seen so many go on to advanced degrees without a clue as to what they say or believe or do, its shameful. I have always believed a background in the humanities and art history is a huge plus. The issues surrounding contemporary art can't be ignored, that is just a reaction. What is true in clay is also true in life; we may live with more skill or less. It is what is in our heart, or soul, that counts. You can meditate forever and not see this. More stuff in our world isn't going to help. More money, and living faster and faster; it won't help. You have to make this moment count for something. Pilot Baba calls samadhi "the great adventure." My pots are the creations of a contemplative practice, but "every pot has it's own soul"

Dug Earth

2008-05-25T05:17:00.000-07:00

Available to me is a cross section of earth about 6-10 feet in depth of the hill here. I have concluded that the clay undergoes a transformation due to organic growth - as minerals are drawn to the surface by plants. (More recently I have learned that the grey iron is due to FeO and the red iron Fe2O3 - so the surface action is oxidizing the iron) The red near the surface and grey under it are basically the same clay. They are cross bedded, so the stratigraphy does not reflect this coloration change; only proximity to the current surface. Ball clays in England and Kentucky are a product of this same phenomenon, they are bedded under coal and the plant growth has sapped all the minerals out of it. Thus it fires to around cone 10 rather than cone 6.

However, at 6 to 10 feet of depth, the bleaching of the clay stops, and a uniform brown stoneware clay is obtainable. It is much more compressed however and is beginning the process towards becoming a shale. It chips somewhat as I dig. I am mixing all the lighter-burning clays as though I were mining it. I have identified 8 different clays in this dig. This clay won't be available on a long term basis but the exercise is valuable educationally.

One of them is the light grey and red with marbling as they don't mix readily. Another is the light grey and gold marbled, which is what I have in my yard. I don't know why the clay dig comes up sometimes with gold clay, and sometimes with red, my guess is that it has to do with the original deposit from which the clay comes. The strata is cut diagonally, so from site to site there is variation.

The stoneware has a bit of sand as well as sand sized feldspar, so it has a "short" feel to it but works well. I have made several bowls from the more plastic varieties where the grey clay comes near to the present surface.

Koetsu style bowl by Hansen

2008-05-22T13:42:00.000-07:00

Tea Bowl, by Hansen

2008-05-12T13:52:00.000-07:00

This glaze is 50% my "Backyard Gold" which is a yellow pigmented fusible clay, high in what is probably mica particles, as it is a rapid "settle" mixture. The other %50 is mixed hardwood wood ash, unwashed, from charcoal burned until the ash is white. I added 3% Oregon bentonite which I also excavated and processed. Backyard Gold is only one of several clays I have found around the house. There is a strongly tinted red clay, and a clay that is halfway between the two. There is plenty of sandy soil available also. Loren Scherbak and her team fired the piece in her smokeless wood kiln in Rockville, MD. My design seems to work well in these types of kilns as the vertical sides seem to venturi the ash deposit into the bottom of the bowl, where it becomes trapped in the melt, and offers a ample visual element of it.

Bristol Nuka over Garth Clark Brown glaze, cone 8

2008-04-13T15:28:00.000-07:00

Recent Work: Eric Hansen Tea Bowls

2008-04-10T13:58:00.000-07:00

"I made these pots on the potter's wheel using porcelain and stoneware clays and limestone glazes: Takada Oribe and Rhodes Cornwall Stone Glaze. I happened to have some of the old bluish Cornish stone available. They're fired at around cone 10 in a noboragama type chamber of a wood fired kiln in Indiana. I'm not getting tired of the tea bowl form, most of my focused work has been in this design since moving to the metro area. When I was at KCAI I owned a green raku bowl that I used for everything, especially herb tea such as ginseng, rose hips, peppermint, and wintergreen. I really had not discovered green tea, or black tea for that matter, yet. So I am visualizing as life-style adjustment to living in a smaller space with fewer possessions, those of higher quality but serve multiple purposes. It's not for those who have to have everything. I would direct them to other work. It is a choice to live more lightly on the earth. My work is really a personal journal of sorts related to my life experience. A tea bowl is a kind of a form of haiku. This is what I call Santoka's axiom. Santoka was instrumental in developing the newer school of haiku, as a wandering monk/poet, short texts based on actual experience. The reference is Stephen Addiss' book on Zen Art, for me a necessary text. There is an expressionism which is really about my immediate narrative. In the Oribe pieces you can see a bit of the wild side coming out which I have to thank Ferguson, Voulkos, and Leedy, men I have studied with to a greater or lesser extent. And the demo Fergie gave on throwing from the hump technique I used here. I had this great basement studio in Georgetown with brick walls and a walk out end with windows and a door, so it was really easy to work down there. I developed a relaxed way to throw a bowl on the wheel, trimming the following day and repeating the process. So there was production everyday. By doing that I got a lot of feedback from the clay. There was a lot of give and take between KU and KCAI. KU was the primary source for the Academics faculty, and the Nelson was the primary collection to which KU's Art History Department addressed. Lawrence Sickman, Chu-tsing Li, Stephen Addiss, Fukushima Keido Roshi, all contributed to my understanding. It was Roshi who told us "Zazen in excellent for creativity!" Zazen is a direct influence on all my work. Also I have to add that during my time at KU, I informally mentored with Bill Bracker (as did most local potters) and used Kansas Geological Survey publications from Sheldon Carey. Carey's work was the beginning of an ongoing adventure in the geology of ceramics. Both men were KU Ceramics heads."

2008-04-10T13:50:00.000-07:00

2008-04-10T13:43:00.000-07:00

2008-04-10T13:35:00.000-07:00

2008-04-10T13:29:00.000-07:00

2008-04-10T13:24:00.000-07:00

2008-04-10T13:20:00.000-07:00

2008-04-10T13:11:00.000-07:00

The Ken Ferguson Teaching Collection

2008-04-07T14:40:00.000-07:00

Ken gave demos in his office, surrounded by finished and unfinished works collected form workshops and donated by artists and his students. The works were used as examples of different aspects of ceramic technique and ideas in his talks. He also assembled a fine collection in his home of more functional works. And he curated the old Asian ceramic works in the on-going exhibition displayed throughout the Nelson-Atkins Museum. Such was the quality of his eye. This particular shot came out good for me. I'm trying to improve the quality of photos in the blog.

Golden Rules of the KCAI Sculpture Dept.

2008-04-07T14:19:00.000-07:00

I attended the 2008 Alumni Weekend with Sculpture Symposium at the Kansas City Art Institute featuring Valerie Eickmeier, Ming Fay, Shawn Brixley, and Jim Leedy. This wall goes back to the old days, even before the time when the Whole Earth Catalog was first published. In some weird way they are connected in my mind via necessary injunctions of any DYI culture. Art schools are always ahead of the curve of even alternative culture. Work ethic, entrepreneurial focus, team work, and open critique processes, were stressed by participants from the Sculpture Department.

Cherry Blossom Festival

2008-04-07T14:07:00.000-07:00

How about a tea ceramics event during Cherry Blossom Festival in coming years? View of Jefferson Memorial and Yoshino cherry trees.

Burnin' Shoe Leather on da AT

2008-04-07T13:55:00.000-07:00

A south facing view of the Blue Ridge on the Appalachian Trail from North Marshall in the Shenandoah National Park, which Christa and I hiked just prior to the Cherry Blossom Festival.

If...

2008-02-27T02:57:00.000-08:00

If I had a wood kiln maybe it would look like this beauty at Hagi. I'm guessing now that this is a standard noboragama firebox.

We don't know what this says but this pottery book is great.

2008-02-24T10:11:00.000-08:00

Christa gave me this book she found in Tokyo. Maybe someone of you who reads a little Japanese can leave a translation of the title in the comments section. At EMU I found a similarly formatted and printed book on Rosanjin that I went through every time I was there, along with the Hal Riegger book. When I was at KU there was a special room at the Spencer Library with books written in foreign language. I made lots of xeroxes of clay processes, kilns, and pots.

Okazaki Teabowl

2008-02-22T14:15:00.000-08:00

Above, top, is an example of what Takao Okazaki refers to as his setoguro or black Oribe, done in the hiki dashi style right out of the front firemouth of the kiln. You can view kiln pics at his web site by googling his name or Kristin Muller's site. I met him at NCECA and took this portrait at the gallery opening at Thrown Together Clay in Louisville. The show was 2 person with his large sculptural work and Mullers pots.

Christa emailed me this week from Japan and said the view of Fuji covered in snow was astounding. She has taken numerous business trips to Tokyo over the years but Fuji is normally obscured by cloud cover. While she was away I spent this time developing the premise "Wandering Poets, Crazed Dripsters, and Free Glazers". John Britt thought this sounded pretty good. A few more examples of dripping, pouring, crawling, and crazed glazes will follow in future posts.

Free Glazers, Wandering Poets, and Crazed Dripsters

2008-02-16T20:45:00.000-08:00

Christa, Mary Helen and I had a long talk about pop art and abstract expressionism at Chef Michael Richard's Citronelle. There was some disparaging remarks about Jackson Pollock's drip paintings. We all ordered the Sablefish marinated 72 hours in sake and served with miso sauce - and here is the gimmick - when it came time to drip on the miso sauce it was easier imagined than done. All of the sudden the organic fluidity of the action painter became vividly illustrated by the task at hand. Some comment about "dripsters" and a whole new reality sprang to life. The illustration is from Freer/Sackler Southeast Asia exhibit.

Trees, Mountains, Sun, Sky

2008-02-13T15:26:00.000-08:00

Got this from my Dad today. It reminds me of the composition I am still working on. When we went from Kansas to Oregon the I Ching read "Fire at the foot of the Mountain" - isn't that the truth?

"Dear ones:

Somewhere around the time that we bought the house in San Mateo and moved in there, I was pretty active in the San Francisco Art Directors Club, which I thought was something of a pinnacle of my career (never imagining that membership in any group is only that -- dues being up to date and all).

Someone decided that it was time for the kids of the art directors to show their stuff and have an exhibition. So, it came to pass that the three Hansen kids old enough to hold pencil, crayon, brush or whatever, did their thing. Dad got their finished works dry-mounted to cardboard and dutifully entered.

At the next meeting I was extremely pleased to find that each of you had won in your age categories. Mom and I were more than anxious to preserve the moment for later indulgence since about that same time, Laura Jane joined the family and other considerations began to take precedence.

So, some half-century later as I got deeper into the "downsizing" efforts in the basement, I found the treasure trove of collected drawings and paintings from the mid-forties and fifties safely ensconced in a large portfolio.

In each case, the paper had aged considerably and some of the edges were less than tidy, but the essence still comes through. We hope each of you enjoys a moment or two of reflection and find a little pleasure in these classics as we do. Consider this your Valentine!

Sending love -- Mom and Dad"

Doves in the Clay Pit

2008-02-11T14:47:00.000-08:00

A pair of Turtle Doves sun themselves in the new clay pit whose first purpose is to remove the earth that is caving in my studio/garage wall. Click on the image for a closer view.

A hand formed piece made with my backyard clay has mica specs that reflect light - looks like glitter in the clay. Taos pueblo has this in their clay too, and you can see the mountain their clay has come from. I have been reading up in Michael Cardew’s Pioneer Pottery trying to get a better picture about clay. One thing in his discussion is about feldspar altering into kaolin, well with a couple of significant by products, anyway. What Cardew doesn't mention is that 80% of the earths rock is felspathic by definition, which just from the normal process of "kaolinization" might create a wide variety of possible or theoretical primary clays. Naturally that also creates many secondary clays. But possibly as different feldspars become more or less the same kaolin, these many rocks become clay, and clay may be more similar to other clays than the different rocks the come from. Page 24 has the usual system of classification of hydrated sheet structure minerals; the same system is followed in my Field Guide to Rocks and Mineral by Frederick H. Pough, though in greater detail. Cardew states that "granites" produce white feldspars and the whitest kaolins, diorite a pinkish or red kaolin, then discusses bauxitization and the process leading to high alumina fire clays. Moving on to "secondary clays" he mentions clays derived chiefly from micas, and suggests that biotite mica is the source of much of the worlds red clay. The origin of ball clay is skipped over, there is not much discussion of how under clays are derived, but it is the same in England as it is in Kentucky. There is coal over it, so tropical forests grew in the clay, extracting many of the minerals, regardless of whether the clay is kaolinite or illite in origin: once the minerals are stripped away it becomes a ball clay. Clays of volcanic origin are discuused: aeolian clays/montmorillonite (bentonite). No mention of primary clays/micas which are weathered or hydrothermally altered extrusives, e.g. lavas. Hank Murrow and David Stannard were able to shed light on this mystery. Cardew has discussion here of slip clays, marls, or ochres either but maybe elsewhere in the book. Ryoji Koie in his travels always attempts to find local clays of this type. One of the things that has me stumped right now is that the light-orange colored mudstones of Georgetown are compressed mica of which type seems to be the source of clays with same minerals, & what I am looking at here in Alexandria is weathering of this same mineral, ranging from mica sand all the way to a fine plastic clay. Unless I am missing some important point here. This region is mostly metmorphic rock and one of those metamorphic rocks is clay and mica schist. This rock is a possible origin of these clays. Maybe(?)

The hill is called "Strawberry Hill" in the 1946 plat. So "Strawberry Hill Gold" could be a nice descriptive name. The usual classification system:
kaolins  fireclays  ball clays  stoneware clays  earthenware clays  slip clays
- ought to be applied for further description. My guess is that it will max out in the stoneware or earthenware range.

Hansen's Clay Mine

2008-02-08T15:23:00.000-08:00

Okay, it is more of a small hole in the ground. But anyway, I scooped up a clean piece and molded it into a hand formed bowl. In Kansas, we had marine clay about 300 million years old. This stuff here in Alexandria is the various decompositions of mountains that were once as grand as the Himalayas. The clay is toothy, still full of mica. There is an extremely plastic component as well. You could say it has everything between basketballs and golf balls, to use potter Hank Murrow's analogy. Naturally, I will process this clay properly and it can be used for clay body, engobes, or slips, what ever it seems fit for. Recently I have become aware of Alexandria's long ceramics history via seeing Eddie Wilder's book on colonial era stoneware potters in the heart of what is now Old Town. At:

http://www.alexandriavapottery.com/index.html

Pinch Pot Tea Bowl

2008-02-05T15:16:00.000-08:00

Lately I have been trying to remember how to make pinch pots. Rather than adding a coil for a foot i just formed the whole piece at once. I wouldn't be ashamed to use a pot like this. The photo makes it look smaller than it is because the piece is heavy.

Cone 6 Wood Ash Glaze

2008-02-05T15:01:00.000-08:00

This is the AG-19 recipe /AKA/ Mark Issenburg /AKA/ "Ashpot" 50/50 Red Art & Wood Ash with added 5% red iron fired to cone 6 electric and "bumped" in the cooling process; when it cooled to low dull red it was spiked back up to orange heat. I think that I want to substitute Alberta for the Red Art and see if it moves a little more. That and add maybe 1% copper and 1/2% cobalt (?). Originally the AG 19 is a clearish green glaze fired in reduction cone 10, or so I am told. There is a similarity to the recipe of Leach's Tea Dust (from his Potter's book) which is 50 raw ochre (a clay rich in the yellow iron-bearing mineral limonite) and 50 wood ash. I think the basic skeleton of these glazes is 50% ash and 50% fusible (as opposed to vitreous) clay. Naturally squirrely since it has no feldspar to broaden the firing range.

Cone 6 Wood Ash Glaze

2008-02-05T14:50:00.000-08:00

This example shows layered glazes, the ash glaze is Leach Old Seto, the boron glaze we won't talk about as I don't use it anymore, there are better formulations out there of cone 6 boron types.

Kiln room up and running

2008-01-20T11:29:00.000-08:00

I bisqued on Friday, glazed Saturday AM & fired the glaze load Saturday PM. I had the kiln turned up for a total of about 8 hours.I tested 3 glazes. Of the 3, this one works. It's called Schweiger's Liner and it comes from Louis Katz files. I used Laguna borate and PV Clay. On this piece it was applied thick but it worked out okay. The recipe calls it a cone 4-14 reduction glaze, but here I fired it to cone 6 (fast) in an electric kiln. The milky white is just from the calcium borate and the PV clay. That is the Campbell's GT stoneware body. I have been loading recipes into HyperGlaze as of late. Cone 6 in an electric kiln requires well-fluxed glazes, and the boron glaze works well to cover the variability of temperatures both in the kiln and from firing to firing.

Southeast Asia show at Freer/Sackler

2007-06-01T13:21:00.000-07:00

Some 800 ceramic works were given by the Hague brothers, the Freer/Sackler plans on soon listing them all online. The exhibit is the best clay show to have happened since we moved here to D.C. 2 years ago.

Hansen's Old Seto cup

2007-04-16T14:06:00.000-07:00

This small cup has seen lots of use - sometimes daily for over 10 years now. Everything goes in the dishwasher so I can safely say that this glaze is fairly resilient - if you can make it work. It has a narrow window of about cone 8 oxidation, and needs a little help controling the ash glaze flow. The clay body is an Flint Hills iron free porcelain from Bracker's Good Earth Clays, Inc. Visit them at:

http://www.brackers.com/

Old Seto Yellow #2, cone 8-10 /Leach
Feldspar 25 (I used Custer)
Medium ash 50 (grill, fireplace, unwashed)
Ochre 25 (yellow ochre, calcined, I think)

Eric Hansen jar, natural ash deposit

2007-04-13T13:52:00.000-07:00

Eric Hansen Kiseto tokkuri

2007-04-13T13:34:00.000-07:00

The Leach book lists 2 recipes for 'Old Seto' - this is the simpler of the two. The glaze picks up darker color from the clay body but would be vibrant yellow over a no-iron white body. The wood ash content here is nice - we burned a lot of wood in the fireplace.

Eric Hansen 7" stoneware bowl

2007-04-13T13:00:00.000-07:00

Kansas shale clay from the Pennsylvanian period - about 300 million years ago provided a metallic sheen over which kaolin and feldspar engode was added with a house painting brush for a hakeme effect. The glaze is colored with iron and copper, fluxed with barium and boron. The gloss surface of this glaze is basically the same whether fired to cone 2 or 10. Wood-fired and reduction gas fired.

1999 Kanzaki piece

2007-04-11T06:20:00.000-07:00

In 1999 I drove up to Iowa City to interview with Bunny McBride while considering attending the MFA program at Univeristy of Iowa. Although I did not apply, I did check out the exhibit "Different Strokes" an international wood fire event. This exhibit actually catalyzed my disdain for wood fire, and only now am I beginning to reconsider. I've always done some wood fire down through the years, but never really considered it the nuts and bolts of ceramics. Then there was this Shiho Kanzaki piece (photo taken from the catalog). Not only was the fire color unusual, but it strongly exhibited "quiet simplicity", so much so, I kept coming back to it for further understanding. And then there is the signature unique beaded texture of the ash deposit. I pride myself in an observational power I call "sweating the details" but only now am I realizing that encountering this work, because it stood out as an unique and genuine expression, has catalyzed my renewed attraction to wood fire ceramics. Its not just the wood, but also the long firings that produce the surfaces I enjoy seeing. This pot seems to be something more than the commercialistic virtuosity so common today.

Charles Hansen vase, wood-fired

2007-04-04T10:14:00.000-07:00

This magnificient form has strong zone and register orientation as the archeologists call it & impressed design using car parts.The glaze is the Pleydell-Bouverie Standard Ash from 'A Potters Book' by Bernard Leach. About 20", it came out of the Corydon Pre-NCECA workshop

Eric Hansen wood fired tea bowl

2007-04-02T14:42:00.000-07:00

I'm somewhat obsessed with the idea of memory, reaching into the possibility of a past I could have lived. My work tends to be reconstructions of what I could have done with my studio experience in Kansas City if I hadn't been in such a hurry to get on with "life". And although Kansas City Art Institute, Ken Ferguson's and Victor Babu's studio classes, offered a kind of "ideal" environment, later enrolling at University of Kansas involved me in the research, experience, and memories of others, the tenures of Sheldon Carey, and Bill Bracker, Dave Vertacnik, Joe Zeller, and Vernon Brejka. Hence I view the pot as kind of an archeological metaphor for an imaginary hypothesis, as well as a totality of geological, botanical, functional, sculptural, gestural, visceral, ornamental, decorative, culinary and formal qualities. It is in going across several disciplines where integration with the real world takes place. It is in getting something of worth from the ivory tower and putting it out there where it can be used, touched, and felt. It is in thinking about clay in this way that keeps it interesting.

Wood Fire Workshop pics

2007-03-27T12:59:00.000-07:00

Rand Heazlitt giving his "thumbs up" critique of the work from the big kiln. Even though the kiln was not completed, still requiring a layer of insulation, it reached high fire temperatures in the alotted time frame for the workshop.

More pots from the Freer

2007-03-26T14:51:00.000-07:00

The gourd vase is Korean wood fired and is about 20" or 1/2 a meter in height. The other exmple is an old Chinese pot with Tortoise Shell

Gorgeous pots from the Freer

2007-03-26T14:35:00.000-07:00

Above: Old Chinese white tenmokku. Below: Nice tea bowl with pine seedling design

Field Trip to the Freer

2007-03-24T14:06:00.000-07:00

These are just some of the images I took. You can view the entire Freer collection at their web site.