For 3 days I participated in The 10th World Art Educators’ Workshop featuring IKUZO FUJIWARA and coordinated by Steve Tootell, ceramic art and performance art director from the International School of The Sacred Heart in Tokyo and facilitated by Euan Craig, a Mashiko woodfire potter for 20 years. Please, see the following LINK.


Fijiwara-san sculpting on his “Jaki”.

It was such an interesting workshop. Seldom did I meet such a nice and interesting man. He is wonderfully creative and artistic in so many ways. He is a ceramic mural artist and the only one left in Japan in these difficult economic times. He also is a landscape artist and sculptor. Please, also see his website: www.ikuzo.com

His reputation is established with more than 500 installations in major buildings throughout Japan. They can be as high as 4 stories, colorful and creative and incredibly complicated in design. At a school he installed a multi-dimensional mural, which students can view from left, right and head-on. Each view presents a different picture.




Fujiwara-san overcame the challenge of creating landscape-scale ceramic artwork with scientifically developed techniques and clays that allow for exceptional strength, durability, and massive size. He has revolutionized the large art form with precision engineered plans and modern electric kilns. He has a great, big, well organized, clean, workshop and design studio. All is very impressive.




He uses a Japanese convection kiln, the ancient oven from the Nara period from 1500 years ago, stoked with wood, to fire his gargoyles or “Jakis”: spirits from the natural world, objects of fear and respect.








Fujiwara-san and a very big “Jaki”.

He lives in Mashiko, the pottery and ceramics town that was the focal point for the renaissance of Japanese folk art under the guidance and leadership of Hamada Shoji, one of Japan’s greatest ceramic artists.

So, it was great to be back in Mashiko and to stay at the Mashiko Ceramic Art Center of Furuki-san.

Please, watch the following movie made by Steve Tootell of the 3-day workshop!

Keeping track of the temperature.

No smoke at all from the biggest chimney! Smokeless!!!!

Finally, we add wood through the stoke holes for ash build-up and effects.
Unfortunately, I can not be there when they open the kiln, but I will post results as soon as I get some pictures.

We put straw on and around the
plate in the back. Straw has a
high silica content which will give a glassy line on the plate.

If you look close you will see the wads underneath the pots.

The closing of the kiln.

The door is pasted with paper clay and the fire starts in the ash box.

I drove up to the Solano College from my home. There was quite some traffic, especially on the Bay Bridge and around Berkeley, but I got there just in time for the opening speeches and the Taiko drums, which have this wonderful rhythmical deep sound.

The filling of the kiln before the celebration. Also, the firing started before, so that during the celebration the temperature was already around 1800 F. First, it was quite hot, but in the evening it became nice cozy and warm.

Drawing by Kusakabe-san: Angels protecting the Dancing Fire kiln.

The Kiln is closed: “Your redness is me, my yellowness to you”.

And the firing can start! First in the firebox down in front and slowly deeper in the kiln.

The firebox is closed now and the firing through the front door can start.

Marc opens the celebration with Kusakabe-san.

Kusakabe-san talks about the kiln.

A friend reads some poems, especially the Japanese kiln poem.

Then the Taiko drums sound with their celebration songs!

The Lion dances his celebration dance!

Then there was a delicious banquet with all kind of foods and in the Gallery a wonderful exposition with all wood fired art work!

Some pots from Euan’s Anagama, actually, down draft wood kiln. Read his essay about his kiln firing; website given underneath.

The inside of this vase is covered with a Tenmoku glaze.
On the outside, you see the flashing and the lines from rice straw full from an old tatami mat marking the vase.
“The glaze making minerals that enter a kiln with the wood flame in the form of ash and gasses can turn the simplest of pots into expressions of natural beauty by simple virtue of the process itself. The fly ash will cause a coating of glass where it settles on the pots, and the gaseous salts etc will cause the silica in the surface of the clay to vitrify causing orange and red flashing”. From Euan’s Essays:
http://www.d1.dion.ne.jp/~euan/sub5-2.htm

This vase was partial glazed with a Tenmoku glaze. It was at the fire face so the ash built up on the front of the vase and started to form little runnels down the vertical surface.

This little vase was put on its side on shells from which you see the marks and the flashing around the shells. The fly ash deposited on the top/right side of the vase.

Beautiful vase decorated with a Celadon glaze. The fly ash makes the glaze matt and you see the markings of the rice straw with the flashing.

Small Celadon glazed vase from the anagama firing.

Little chalice with the Celadon glaze, some Tenmoku glaze spatters and rice straw markings.

This wonderful vase was fired in the Flying kiln from Wali Hawes and was covered with the seaweed and scrub pads in a former blog. A lot of other chemicals were thrown in the kiln. Some beautiful colors developed. The white smog layer is salts coming out of the vase. The vase also got a lot of smoke from the charcoal put in the kiln.
(Please, click on it for enlargement).

Building the flues.

Steve built the floor on which the wood and ashes will fall through the holes. Air will pass through the flues and the holes to give full combustion.

Explaining his plan to local potters. They are amazed as we build kiln which fire very fast compared to their kilns with about the same fire effects.

Bars in the fire box for the wood to fall criss-cross to get full combustion.

Closing the fire box.

Building of the second level: the pot chamber and the chimney.

Inside of the chamber.

On Saturday morning, we filled up the kiln.

Steve and Rob fitting and putting the pots in with the help of Kate, Steve’s wife.

The kiln is filled and covered with insulation and extra protection for the rain.

Finishing the chimney.

Euan, Steve and Kusakabe-san.

All this is happening while the other 2 kilns are cooling off. Euan’s kiln finished firing at 1.30am and Kusakabe-san’s kiln at 8am in the morning. Wali’s flying kiln is being build at this moment too (in the next blog).

Starting the fire!

The fire starts well!

Protecting the watch/check holes.

Flames shooting out of the chimney! The firing was done around 8pm Saturday night, and had taken around 6 hours!

His website: http://www.mudslinger.me.uk/

Some assistants, who help you and everybody with anything all day long: Kenji-san and Unno-san and Kim-san.

x

This is Rob and Swanica at the wheel at the International Tougei Club from Furuki-san (tag Mashiko) where the workshop will be held.

The kiln of Kusakabe-san and Euan Craig, I saw being built when I had my show at the Toko Gallery last September, you can look for at the blogs from September about building a wood kiln.
Steve Mills will build his salt kiln when he arrives this Thursday as well as Wali Hawes his flying kiln.

This is the motor with the flu. Here you can adjust the amount of oxygen, so the oil will burn well and to its fullest. When you see black smoke coming out of the chimney, you increase the air/oxygen.

You also control the increase of temperature by partially closing the chimney.

The oil drum, the fuel.

The pyrometer shows the temperature.

The kiln is filled so that you can easily take the pieces out of the kiln.

Taking a little peek.

Taking a piece out.

A tissue outside and inside burning for smoke effects.

Putting the horsehair on.

Spraying the ferric chloride.

The end result. It takes some days for the colors to develop.