Lee Love on thu 16 feb 06
On Wed, 15 Feb 2006 07:03:54 -0800, Elizabeth Priddy
wrote:
Re: wood kilns revisited (gorilla glue)
> I lead well, teach well, but am a poor
> follower and not a great "team player".
Both your posts struck a cord. I am a "team player", but I
certainly enjoy my solitude. I chose the kiln design I did, partially
because it is easy for one person to fire it. Actually, there are
many different designs that can be fired by one person. Steve Mill's
backyard kiln is one. For people who want to fire for many days,
Dick Lehman's step down grates is another way (for the first several
days of the firing, he puts in logs, every 6 hours. ) I also met a
Japanese-American potter from California last year, who in his 70s I
think, built his first woodkiln, an anagama made of softbrick and fiber
blanket. He fires for several days, closing it up and stopping at
night to sleep for 8 hours, but when he gets back to the kiln in the
morning, it is still over 1100*C, so he starts stoking again.
Today at moku hanga club (wood block printing), my hanga
teacher, Itoei Sensei, gave me a map to Wada-san's studio. I had been
asking him about Yoshimichi Goda Sensei's small wood kiln a couple
months back. When Jean asked him to make a Hamada and Leach print for
my apprenticeship graduation, Itoei decided to put Goda in the print
between them. Itoei Sensei wouldn't take money for the print, so it was
a gift from him and Jean both.
In my print, Goda stands between Hamada and Leach with a
lit cigarette in his hand. Wada-san is a deshi of the late Goda, who
was an important potter here in Mashiko, that is hardly known outside of
Mashiko, and not at all in America. But his work here was very
important, especially to the young arrivals new to Mashiko.
Goda fired a small updraft woodkiln, that had a door in the back to
introduce charcoal through at top temperature. Sometimes he fired
earthenware in this kiln. He live to around 90 and fired this small
kiln in his old age. Wada-san has a small woodkiln like Goda's
> I like the spiritual aspect of using fire to fuse wind and sea
> to earth. I think these will be beautiful pots, on many
> many levels. Hopefully, they will be attractive as well.
This is part of the reason I woodfire. But at moku hanga
class, one of my classmates (who is an engineer retired from the
petroleum industry and is now focusing on Western style oil painting)
was saying that it was fortunate I chose to fuel my kiln with wood.
Many potters are being put out of business because of the high cost of
LPG and fuel oil. As expensive as gas and oil is in America, it is
more expensive here.
> This is why I have always tried to encourage
> my students to work with what they have instead of moaning
> ther fate of having to fire electric instead of gas, or gas instead
> of wood, or wood instead of raku. Whatever you have as your
> limiting ingredient is the thing somebody else yearns for.
There is a saying, that you always start where you are.
Meaning: do what you can, how you can, with what you got. (Maybe Patton
said something like that?) One of the first lessons my zen teacher
gave me, in response to the first letter I wrote him in '83, when I
wrote to ask him about advice on finding a Zen monastary in Japan to
study at was: "Your life is in the midst of confusing. You are
trying to leap a vast ocean while ignoring the stepping stones at your
feet." I understood, so I flew out to meet him on Memorial day of that
year. Decided there was lots to learn from him and moved to Minnesota
that June to study with him until his death in '90. Started studying
pottery in the fall of '90. Visited Japan for month long stays in '93
and '98, and eventually came here to live in '99 for a pottery
apprenticeship, instead of a monastic one. But they have a lot in common.
--
Lee Love
in Mashiko, Japan http://mashiko.org
http://seisokuro.blogspot.com/ My Photo Logs
Elizabeth Priddy on thu 16 feb 06
Thanks for this, Lee. I have frequently seen a
lot of truth in what you say, and I think we are
both looking at life from a philosophers point
of view.
I don't couch my philosophy in asian jargon,
but they are the same concepts. And the only
reason I don't use the jargon is very simple,
I am not asian. But you are, and it is appropriate.
I think it is a bit sad that americans don't get
to express a lot of their thoughts because we
are taught not to discuss religion (for good reason)
and most seem to throw the philosophy out with
that bathwater.
But each of us has one, a personal philosophy.
It is not flakey, feminine, intellectually-elite, or
any of that. But people are shy about it anyhow.
And no wonder! You are really out there when
you describe the base from which you make
decisions. It's a little too naked for most people.
And americans just don't have a very good language
base to discuss it. Pan-asian philosophy is usually
passed on in the form of stories, koans, and
meditations.
A single owner/fireman small kiln is often called
a philosopher's kiln because there is a lot of solitary
thinkin' time necessary to fire one like that. There
isn't beer drinkin' and tellin' lies and comraderie.
Just you and the fire you are making for hours at
a time. And in America, the only time you usually
get like that is fishing. Or hunting. Or shopping.
Or driving. Or running. People find this time because
they need it.
I am getting older. I decided that when I "retired"
I would explore glazes and other things that just
take time. The baby made working as a potter
being the center of my life a non-option. But I
had a real good run of a public life, as a teacher,
a potter, a tv and video producer. My video has
extended my teaching life and allowed me to teach
hundreds of people how to throw better and more
systematicly.(and now on DVD!)
So I am on to pursuits that I had set aside for when
I am not doing it for money or fame or to build my
career. The only reason now is because I want to.
And it is a wild and great place to be where I have
professional quality skills, plenty of time, and a
network of friends and colleagues to rely on. Being
old is very cool. I would never give up what I have
now for youth. Youth is wildly over-rated.
Some of my friends say that I am lucky to be able
to stay home and work on my art and my child.
I just smile and leave it. But what I think is "luck
had very little to do with it: I made choices that
made it happen". I didn't marry any of the other
men that asked. I worked hard to build my studio
and my savings. I bought a house that doesn't own me.
I married a man that likes to work and takes pride
in providing for us. I keep it thrifty, so that he can.
Each step you take is another brick in your personal
house. And you create your own environment. I have
a good life with a lot of room for happiness. but it
wasn't luck. by way of luck, I have been hit with
so many life-hits that it is surprising how happy I am.
As I said in the part you quoted, I work with what I have.
I did not learn it from Koans, but from watching my
mother make do on her own for five kids. I learned as
much about what not to do in life as what to do. And
I have been judicious about remembering those lessons
as opportunities and crises came along. I inherited
nothing, and neither has my husband. So what we
have is truly ours, a reward for planning and hard work.
I know you like quotes, so here is one.
The most important quote I know of is this:
"The price of integrity is eternal vigilance.
The reward for eternal vigilance is integrity."
I can't remember who said it, but I always
remember what it says. And the few times I
threw it to the wind, I suffered.
"But that ain't me
no more, Boss, I got my mind right.."
-Cool Hand Luke
E
Lee Love wrote:
On Wed, 15 Feb 2006 07:03:54 -0800, Elizabeth Priddy
wrote:
Re: wood kilns revisited (gorilla glue)
> I lead well, teach well, but am a poor
> follower and not a great "team player".
Both your posts struck a cord. I am a "team player", but I
certainly enjoy my solitude. I chose the kiln design I did, partially
because it is easy for one person to fire it. Actually, there are
many different designs that can be fired by one person. Steve Mill's
backyard kiln is one. For people who want to fire for many days,
Dick Lehman's step down grates is another way (for the first several
days of the firing, he puts in logs, every 6 hours. ) I also met a
Japanese-American potter from California last year, who in his 70s I
think, built his first woodkiln, an anagama made of softbrick and fiber
blanket. He fires for several days, closing it up and stopping at
night to sleep for 8 hours, but when he gets back to the kiln in the
morning, it is still over 1100*C, so he starts stoking again.
...Goda fired a small updraft woodkiln, that had a door in the back to
introduce charcoal through at top temperature. Sometimes he fired
earthenware in this kiln. He live to around 90 and fired this small
kiln in his old age. Wada-san has a small woodkiln like Goda's
> I like the spiritual aspect of using fire to fuse wind and sea
> to earth. I think these will be beautiful pots, on many
> many levels. Hopefully, they will be attractive as well.
This is part of the reason I woodfire. But at moku hanga
class, one of my classmates (who is an engineer retired from the
petroleum industry and is now focusing on Western style oil painting)
was saying that it was fortunate I chose to fuel my kiln with wood.
Many potters are being put out of business because of the high cost of
LPG and fuel oil. As expensive as gas and oil is in America, it is
more expensive here.
> This is why I have always tried to encourage
> my students to work with what they have instead of moaning
> ther fate of having to fire electric instead of gas, or gas instead
> of wood, or wood instead of raku. Whatever you have as your
> limiting ingredient is the thing somebody else yearns for.
There is a saying, that you always start where you are.
Meaning: do what you can, how you can, with what you got. .
Elizabeth Priddy
Beaufort, NC - USA
http://www.elizabethpriddy.com
---------------------------------
Brings words and photos together (easily) with
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John Baymore on sun 19 feb 06
Wada-san is a deshi of the late Goda, who
was an important potter here in Mashiko, that is hardly known outside of
Mashiko, and not at all in America. But his work here was very
important, especially to the young arrivals new to Mashiko.
Goda fired a small updraft woodkiln, that had a door in the back to
introduce charcoal through at top temperature.
Lee,
".....not at all in America......" isn't quite right . I had the
pleasure of visitng with Goda-sensei at his studio when I was in Japan in
1996, not too long before he died. I have shared info about him a bit
when I have done slide talks on my experiences in Japan. So at least a
couple of folks in the states have heard of him . But not that
many......for sure.
He was an incredible man. At about 90 his work looked like the work of
some "cutting edge" young buck ..... but of course one who was a master of
his materials. He was pushing the envelope right up until he died. Not
too many people can say that.
best,
.......john
John Baymore
River Bend Pottery
Wilton, NH
JBaymore@compuserve.com
http://www.JohnBaymore.com
Gus McCloskey on mon 20 feb 06
>John,
>
>
Is there any publication available on the late Goda san?
I'm familiar with Wada san and his work but not that of
his teacher.
Gus McCloskey
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