Chris Sora’s Crash Course in Japanese Aesthetics
By Jeanne Yardley

Chris introduced his talk by stating that it would not be about his pots, but about where his inspiration comes from, the aesthetic principles underlying his designs and ideas. For him, these influences are the understanding of Japanese art and design that he has learned over the years.

Three generations away from Japan, he felt that his upbringing was not in touch with his heritage language and culture. So he began collecting Japanese artifacts including wood block prints, scrolls, furniture, swords, and armour. As a collector, he soon concluded that the monetary value of a piece often reflected the value of its aesthetic. He also studied swordsmanship and archery, learning much of the philosophy of Japanese martial arts and competing against himself to improve. After a time, he became interested in Japanese pottery and decided to try making it.

As background, Chris told us a bit about the historical influences on aesthetics in Japan. Much art had a religious inspiration from both Shinto, an animistic, nature-based belief system, and Buddhism. The Japanese were also affected by the Chinese. The two cultures share the concept of dualities which is called Yin Yang in Chinese and In Yo in Japanese.

Chris presented a slide show of photographs of architecture, furniture, paintings, and pottery to demonstrate the aesthetic principles he was teaching us. And, yes – there was a quiz at the end!

First he pointed out that in Japanese pottery, some designs are quite ornate, while others are simple and quiet. He demonstrated this with photos of tea bowls. An interesting point was that cracks in Raku bowls are seen as character, a part of the process and life, rather than flaws. Bowls repaired with lacquer are still highly valued.

He then introduced us to a series of Japanese terms, defining each in words and then illustrating it with photographs

• Wabi is austere, imperfect, uncontrived, subdued. This is evident in irregular patterns and textures, such as in sand and rock faces.
• Sabi is worn, experienced, enhanced with time, such as tarnishing of metals and weathering of unfinished wood.
• Shibui is simple elegance and unobtrusive beauty, seen in clean lines.
• Yugen is an extreme depth of beauty created through elusiveness, such as in a misty scene.
• Ma concerns the use of space, especially negative space, demonstrated in the emptiness at the centre of certain prints or screens.
• Suki includes both refinement and eccentricity. It is controlled imperfection and delight in the unusual.
• Zaguri describes the slight roughness of unglazed clay, which is considered agreeable, as are crazing and porosity.

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Chris’s conclusion from his study of Japanese aesthetics is that there are no limits to what potters can try and what people can appreciate. Even an electric kiln can be used to create great artistic effects.
For inspiration, he suggested looking at the illustrations in Japanese cookbooks where the dishes and the food complement each other in colour, texture, and design (unlike Western food photography in which plates are always plain white). Beyond that, he reminded us to look carefully around us for the design concepts in everyday things, such as piles of fruit at the market.

It was very interesting and useful to have a talk that brought purely intellectual concepts to bear upon the everyday practice of making pottery. Chris’s brief introduction of these ideas sent us away with much food for further thought and study.

She began her demo by trimming a pot on the wheel using a Griffin grip and chuck. She then burnished it, beginning with a plastic rib. A metal rib would not be as good, she told us, because it could stain the clay, as would a polished stone. She uses those tools only on parts of the pot that will be black in the end. A piece of plastic bag can also be used. The purpose of burnishing is to push grog back into the clay; she needs the surface to be very smooth so that the slip will come off as she desires. The process is finicky and not for people who like to throw loose pots ñ ìit will drive you crazy,î Catherine advises.

She put on white cloth gloves to handle the pot so that no fingerprints would be transferred onto the burnished surface. Turning the pot right side up, she used a polished stone to mark lines where the neck would be black. She says she can spend well over an hour burnishing a single pot, but it is possible to overdo it and make the slip come off too soon.

She then handed out a series of glaze and slip recipes (which should appear with this write-up). Catherine uses the one called ìShadow Crackle Slip.î The variables affecting final results include the thicknesses of the pot, slip and glaze and the temperature and degree of reduction of the firing. She prefers to make her pots quite thin and uses a mirror when throwing.

Catherine decorates using a variety of techniques. She does tape resist before glazing, using artistís tape, ìFBSî from Curryís. To make evenly spaced vertical lines with the thin tape, she marks where the tape will go from a decorator wheel template.

She also uses green painterís tape for the bottom of bisqued pots instead of waxing, to ensure a sharp line and no residue. She tapers the top edge of rims to ensure that the glazed (interior) and slip areas donít touch.

The surface of the pot can be treated with terra sig, ground with a small polishing tool, sanded or etched, or treated with any of the following resist techniques: slip, paper clay, latex resist, PVA size, or tape.

The slip she demonstrated with was thick like pudding, mixed with a minimal amount of water, blended, and allowed to sit for two days before use. Usually she glazes the inside of the pot first or else wets the inside, so that the slip wonít dry immediately and fall off. She brushes on about four coats of slip, applying it carefully, and then lets it sit until dry.

The crackle glaze is formulated to come off. Catherine has found that a thinner layer allows better control during the scratch-through phase. She applies crackle glaze by brush.

The next stage is scratching through. Using the decorating disk again, she applies a toothpick to make vertical lines. You can transfer a design from newsprint or tracing paper first if desired. On the initial pass, she makes light lines, then scratches repeatedly through to the clay body. It takes careful work to keep to the lines. After the design is complete, she removes the resist tape.

Catherine fires to 950 degrees, because she also decorates with gold luster, and soaks for five minutes in her front load kiln. She will see the glaze start to bubble and can take the pot out at that point, put it on a banding wheel and blow on it (your own breath is better than air from a blow dryer) to create bigger crackle effects.

For combustibles, she uses sawdust and shredded newspaper. Sometimes the pots are too cool from having been blown on, and the newspaper helps them to ignite. She does only one to three pieces at a time. When cool, she treats the pot by rubbing Minwax paste wax all over and buffing it.

Catherineís informative demonstration showed us everything but the actual firing and certainly raised interest in Raku and shadow crackle for guild members who have never tried these techniques before.

take stock regularly (be hard on yourself),

ask for help (pay for a critique, get a mentor, break out of the isolation),

"play nice" with other potters,

stop and regroup frequently (don't be afraid to pitch things)

nurture good relationships,

accept that you'll never know it all -- and keep learning!