Mike Gordon on sat 8 oct 05
Pat wrote-- He goes on to photograph Sakuma, a potter/farmer who he
says was number 2 to Hamada ??????????
> discuss?
> http://library.osu.edu/sites/rarebooks/japan/2_8_photos.html
>
Pat,
I couldn't say if Totaro Sakuma was considered to be #2 after Hamada or
not. But I remember seeing in one of my books a photo of the two
together in Japan so I know they at least knew each other. His son
Takao Sakuma came to America in '66 0r '67, he was a guest potter at
the California College of Arts And Crafts, in Oakland, Ca. back when
they still recognized (crafts ) in their name. We had a painting
teacher that was fluent in Japanese to interpret for us. Viola Frey was
teaching there at the time, I was a grad student / T.A. and Vernon
Coykendall was the head of the dept. Viola was throwing her large 25lb.
pots and Takao was sitting across from her throwing off the mound all
these wonderful 2" tall jars and 4" vases & bottles. I was amazed at
the ease with which he threw them, cut them with a string and removed
them without the wheel stopping. He had one (longer) finger nail on his
little finger, right hand, that he used as a tool to under cut his pot
before cutting it with a piece of string. A trait I adopted and use
today. I have several of his pots and one of his father's plates that
Corky bought for me as a graduation present and a " starter " for my
future pottery collection . The plate is about 11" wide with a off
white center and a temoku rim that has been dipped just slightly in the
white glaze, several times around the edge. In the center is a black
branch with iron cobalt leaves and a silver dollar size persimmon
colored plum. Beautiful! Amazingly, it survived a huge fire that
completely destroyed the warehouse I was living in at the time in West
Oakland, Ca. The fire was so hot that the fire truck that was stationed
in front of the building had its headlights melted out. I lost
everything I owned, at the time, including an extensive collection of
Tapa cloths and war clubs from Fiji and Samoa. But in the aftermath as
I was sifting through the rubble I found the plate. It was charred but
not cracked, the foot now is black like it had been raku'd. I also lost
a nice rice bowl that Takao had made, white with a black temoku rim.
Fond memories brought back by the website you listed, thanks, Mike
Gordon
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