Aiko Ichimura on mon 24 apr 00
Last year in July, my Japanese potter friend, who had been living in
Rochester, New York
for a few years because of her husband's job, went back to Japan .
She had an idea for a pottery experiment. She wanted to take wood ash
from her fireplace back to Japan and divide that among some potters
of the Japanese pottery mailing list. So she asked me if I have some
ash that she can use for her experiment in Japan. I had some in my fire
place.
Although I was told that my fireplace wood was American oak,
by the man who sold them to me, I have burnt everything with it,
newspaper, computer paper, some cedar twigs and so on.
I mailed the ash to her and she gave it to other potters in Japan.
Her ash was from the pure American Oak logs.
I felt very sheepish to declare my ash to be the American Oak ash.
A few month after her departure from America, I read posts in the Japanese
pottery mailing list about the resulting pots with American wood ash glaze.
A potter who finished his experiment first sent his mugs to some people
who requested. He sent them two sets: one with my wood ash and another
with my friend's wood ash. The person who received reported her
impression of both glazes and they were interesting and perplexing.
She noted that my friend's ash glaze produced such smooth surface and
evoked
a gentle wild flower. On the other hand, my ahs graze effect was the feeling
of
old stubborn samurai( ganko na kobushi no youdearu). Heh?
I didn't know what make of this expression but took it as
rather an ugly sight. It is understandable because I burnt
so many junky stuff in the fire place.
So I apologized them for wasting their time and precious clay and fire.
They wrote me saying " On the contrary, it is very interesting and
asteful( aji ga aru)
it just that we have to learn the temperament of this American ash in order
to
create the best result" I hope they are not doing what Mel was talking
about----
saying "yes" meaning " no". Well I will find out when I finally get to see t
he image of
the mug with my American-Oak-with-other junk-ash-glaze.
Aiko Ichimura
NW DC 20036 USA
Jeff Campana on tue 25 apr 00
Aiko,
I have been working solely on ash glazes for a year now...the luxury of being a
student...and have found that in my opinion, there is no good or bad ash, just
as there is no right or wrong answer to an essay. That is to say, the point of
ash is that there are unknowns in it which give the glaze it's own spirit. In
this way, using ash from different sources and having the same recipes is one
of nature's ways of participating in our pottery.
I say, don't sweat the paper and dirt and all those other impurities, because
ash is so variant anyways. In my last batch of ash, the guy i get it from
burned the bones and entrails of this year's deer season. This i saw as a
welcome change, for the deer's spirit will join in the tree's and will change
the glaze(i have more on the spirit issue, if anyone is interested), for better
or worse, but it will be _different_ which is the most glorious part of ash.
Besides, if there is an ideal effect you are going for, simply suppliment the
glaze batch Witch's Brew style. Add a pinch of calcium(beads the glaze more)..
a dash of silica(wets or dries the glaze out, depending upon ash and/or
recipe)..until it suits you.(anyone know how to reduce/increase the size of the
strings?). I think ash glazers are a rare breed as ashes require constant
testing and alteration. However, some of us (including me) find the testing
and altering of glazes the absolute most exciting part of ceramics. The
erratic tendencies of ash only give more excitement to each opening of the
kiln.
Best wishes, and don't be ashamed of your beautiful oak ash, Aiko.
Jeff Campana
Univ. of Wisconsin - Whitewater
Aiko Ichimura wrote:
> ----------------------------Original message----------------------------
> Last year in July, my Japanese potter friend, who had been living in
> Rochester, New York
> for a few years because of her husband's job, went back to Japan .
>
> She had an idea for a pottery experiment. She wanted to take wood ash
> from her fireplace back to Japan and divide that among some potters
> of the Japanese pottery mailing list. So she asked me if I have some
> ash that she can use for her experiment in Japan. I had some in my fire
> place.
> Although I was told that my fireplace wood was American oak,
> by the man who sold them to me, I have burnt everything with it,
> newspaper, computer paper, some cedar twigs and so on.
> I mailed the ash to her and she gave it to other potters in Japan.
> Her ash was from the pure American Oak logs.
> I felt very sheepish to declare my ash to be the American Oak ash.
>
> A few month after her departure from America, I read posts in the Japanese
> pottery mailing list about the resulting pots with American wood ash glaze.
>
> A potter who finished his experiment first sent his mugs to some people
> who requested. He sent them two sets: one with my wood ash and another
> with my friend's wood ash. The person who received reported her
> impression of both glazes and they were interesting and perplexing.
>
> She noted that my friend's ash glaze produced such smooth surface and
> evoked
> a gentle wild flower. On the other hand, my ahs graze effect was the feeling
> of
> old stubborn samurai( ganko na kobushi no youdearu). Heh?
> I didn't know what make of this expression but took it as
> rather an ugly sight. It is understandable because I burnt
> so many junky stuff in the fire place.
>
> So I apologized them for wasting their time and precious clay and fire.
>
> They wrote me saying " On the contrary, it is very interesting and
> asteful( aji ga aru)
> it just that we have to learn the temperament of this American ash in order
> to
> create the best result" I hope they are not doing what Mel was talking
> about----
> saying "yes" meaning " no". Well I will find out when I finally get to see t
> he image of
> the mug with my American-Oak-with-other junk-ash-glaze.
>
> Aiko Ichimura
> NW DC 20036 USA
Joyce Lee on tue 25 apr 00
I loved your story, Aiko. Last year an American teaching in China (Dan,
are you still out there? If my details are mixed up, please correct me.)
read my post about forest fires burning in the Sierra Nevada mountains
very near our desert home. I related, without exaggeration, that the
fires were so close ash was covering our property. Dan, enterprising
claybud that he is, posted me to ask if he could purchase some of the
ash for his work as well as that of potter friends. I took Dan's request
as a joke...... and made some flippant response implying that sure I
could do that.....how many tons did he want? By the time I figured out
that he was serious, the Mojave winds had completed their cleanup tasks,
and I'd missed out on a chance to do a random act and, perhaps, have an
opportunity to see pics of the results. Drat. Still gripes me.
Joyce
In the Mojave where I rewrote my pottery info on a flyer for last week's
show (where I didn't offer my work for sale, only for display, since I
couldn't be in attendance) ...... wrote it much more personally as
suggested on Clayart... I've received calls almost daily from interested
people who may or may not want to buy my pottery, but who do want to
talk about my "statement"..........thanks, claybuds.
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