'Plum' Tuckered

These guys love a tree with chartreuse and yellowish leaves or blooms.

Last weekend's firing was exhausting. What with trying to get the timing right on the reduction process and getting my kiln to even out and not go all 'bipolar' on me. Firing copper reds should be a right of passage for bonsai potters!

Malphighias, black olives, maples, and even fukien tea would be a good fit.

Copper reds, plums, liver pinks, call them what you will, it is the thrill of the chase that fuels a potter's passion.  Potters carefully plot scenarios for timing the beginning of the reduction process. They may ask themselves questions like: 'If I reduce now, will I lose temperature climb?' or 'Why am I getting good reduction here, but not there?' 'If my instrumentation shows a reduced atmosphere reading what it should be, why do I not see the characteristic visual signs of a typical reduction process?'

When I fire, I take tons of notes as prescribed by many a master.  Hard fact is, every firing is different. Every kiln load is packed differently. The top portion may be tighter, the bottom looser, or vice versa. I may have different conditions in the primary air than last time which could also affect how my burners are functioning. All must be taken into consideration.

Well, since the results are still good with the color of this particular glaze, I will keep at it. I love the chase, the nuance, the learning. Potters that fire copper reds will definitely understand the patience AND the practice of using this glaze. My hope is there will be a bonsai enthusiast who can appreciate the glaze color too!

If you look carefully you may be able to see some subtle texturing under the glaze.

Thanks for viewing.

A Campeche, Ilex, and Peggy's Sleepy Raintree

At our monthly bonsai club meeting this past Friday, I had the opportunity to photograph a few of one of my favorite customer's trees. 

This first pic is a Campeche, also known as logwood or bloodwood; a name referring to its hard dark heartwood.  This is a tropical ornamental tree that grows in the Yucatan and northern south america. It was used for centuries by indigenous cultures for many medicinal purposes, as well as for its lumber. Peggy chose this oval with a pale cream glaze, which I think is great choice. The pot is quite well suited to enhance the color of the trunk and cool grey greens of the foliage.

At around 30 inches tall, this guy almost didn't fit in the photo setup! Great tree though!

If you prefer cool grey green hues in a bonsai composition then this next tree would be a good fit. 

This is an Ilex Shillings, or Yaupon, a type of Holly. I had to under expose the composition a full stop just so the colors of the pot came through. In my opinion, this pot matches the foliage and wood tones just superbly!

The Brazilian Raintree is popular tropical specimen for a bonsai.  It features bi-pinnately compound leaves and a creamy green wood.  An interesting feature of this tree is how the trunk grows. It can bulge and undulate, giving it a character all its own.

I want to thank Peggy for all of her support. She is a very active woman in our club and her attention to detail truly inspires me! Thanks again!

Mello Yellow

Here is a lovely fake ash glaze that works really nice with texture. It has a lovely orange yellow hue to it, very well suited to many species for bonsai.  It works great on masculine and feminine compositions, and it can be used to highlight form quite effectively.

Here you can see how the breaking of color from the texture enhances its form.

Here is a new technique I have been playing around with. I love the folds!!

Hibiscus for Bonsai

Here is one of my pots outfitted just perfectly for a customer's Hibiscus. It sports yellow flowers when in bloom which will really add a nice balance to the composition.

Its just kinda funny when things just work out, eh?  No, I didn't expect this pot to turn out the way it did, but I am happy with the accident!

Afterall, if the shoe fits...




Thanks for viewing!

Kusamono Time!

I would like to take time to thank Owen Reich, Kusamono and Bonsai artist for this lovely photograph. He chose this particular pot of mine for his planting of Viola and Acorus. The color of the pot has nice oranges and greys giving warmth and unity to the composition.

Great job!

Artistic symbiosis

Symbiosis is defined as the intertwining relationship of two different species. I admit to using this term metaphorically but I think it fits the bill in this bonsai. No doubt it is a rather untraditional combination, one that invites several second glances. Like a pair of faded blue jeans or an old rusty ford pickup, this guy has quite a bit of visual appeal.

A few things I like about this composition are the interplay of form with the lower trunk. Lots of movement. This helps to bring out the character of the tree and give it personality.

 The color works well too. When this photo was taken I had the luck of having new spring foliage. The chartreuse hue of the leaves balances nicely with the pot color. Even in the shadows of the folds of the pot, the color relationship is very harmonious.

I know that there will be critics who see this tree as too different, but I beg to differ. A close look at the artistic elements in the tree, trunk and container will reveal the caliber of bonsai artist Mike Rogers.  

Traditionally tempered, yet artistically assertive.

I look forward to working on more projects with this artist. As a potter, this is the epitome of 

opportunity, being able to see my work used in the most effective and artistic ways.

Odds and Ends

Midrange clay body with glazes from some of my favs: Bright sky blue,
Panicoli's Pale Blue Matt and Panicoli's Fake Ash to name a few.

Been back at it. This last round of pots gave me some unexpected extra room in my small 40+year old electric kiln for a few small accents.  The photo above is from the commissioned set of 24 accents that I made for a retailer in the northeast.  After looking at my kiln shelves before the bisque firing I noticed that I could get in a few fun extra kusamono and accent planters.  The dark brown clay I chose has a bit of iron and manganese in it. The clay really helps pop out a bit of extra contrast from under the glaze.

Here are some of those funky kiln space fillers:

The cracks are intentional, both on the rim and on the surface.

These guys are really rugged and fun to make.  I really enjoyed jigging with the texture.

Here are some smaller guys looking for a pinch of moss to brighten up a three point display. Perhaps a bright green color in the center could work nicely with the dark brown clay?

Each little 'rosette' has a rounded cavity and drainage holes.

 In this next set I added a bit of height to the moss rosette idea.  They will fit the same basic design purpose but perhaps with a different pot/tree style. 

Personally, I enjoy the wabi sabi character of these guys. They are a joy to make; imagining them in finished, planted up in a three point display is were my creativity lingers....

Cheers!

Recent Pairings

As a bonsai potter, I sometimes find myself more concerned with the way my pots look on my display, then I do with the way they look under my customer's trees.  Taking time to look at them in combination with a tree as the main subject can be a very humbling experience.

The first example, above, is a Malpighia, a shrublike tree also known as Barbados Cherry. Not a true cherry, it has small pink flowers that turn into green, then bright red pea sized fruit.  In a few months, with some careful leaf reduction, this composition will look even more effective. Some carefully planned shots with smaller, tighter foliage, and flowers/fruit, and we will be rockin'!

In the next photo, I have a Chinese plum, just at bud break...

This tree has personality! I love the ominous mood brought on by the trunk, looking ready to strike. The owner/designer of the tree has a great artistic sensibility!

And to finish this post, I wanted to include another tree from the same artist.  When I designed the pot, my focus was to make an expressive, primitive soft cornered rectangle.  I wanted to put some folds in the walls and show lots of texture. I was shell shocked when the artist bought the pot and used this tree. A Buckthorn, from south florida, fits the bill very well...

This tree, albeit a rather unconventional design, holds it own in terms of visual balance. To see it in my photo does it no justice. Making a fun expressionistic pot is one thing, but it takes a master bonsai artist to choose it for just the right subject!

Thanks for reading!

Getting it Just Right...for Now!

Thought I would post some pots of my last few batches. These pots represent the culmination of months of testing and retesting to get just the right color for an unglazed container.  

If you are someone steeped in the art of bonsai, it may come as no surprise to you that the best way to dress up a pine, juniper or other tree of the deciduous variety is to choose an unglazed container.  Unglazed bonsai pots imbue an addition of subtlety and character that the glazed pot can overstep.  Color in a glaze, even one somewhat matt and soft, will draw too much visual weight from the viewer, and away from the tree.  Since pines and juniper don't have any colorful displays such as blossoms to balance out a vivid glazed pot, it is just more visually balanced.

The Japanese potters of Tokoname have been making beautiful unglazed pots with the warm brown and sienna tones most gracious for trees of this variety. The color comes from the clay that they use to make their pots, and many a bonsai artist has chosen these pots to help achieve a well balanced composition. Rich earthy hues are well matched to the bark of a pine, or even the uncovered sinuous undulations in a jin. 

Recently I have made it one of my goals to attempt to match this color with oxides and washes, and it has worked pretty well, for now.  Matched with the right temperature in the firing process, and applied in the correct manner on the right clay body and it works. 

Thank you for taking time to look at my pottery. If you have any comments, bonsai related or otherwise, please drop me a line...

Cheers

Interesting Glaze Combos

The cobalt in the top glaze breaks out into shades of grey brown and light blue!

Being someone who is always looking for something different to cover my pots with has its ups and downs. I never seem to get there fast enough and when I do, I am still left with more questions than answers. 

Spending countless hours pouring over articles, recipes, and anecdotes, I find inspiration. Perhaps its the color of a glaze or the way it breaks so languidly over the surface that draws me to investigate further. I wonder what vessel would warrant such a provocative treatment. I consider a possible clay body. Iron rich? Porcelain based?

Then on to the cross referencing. I have the idea of what to try, but what about specifics?  Should I spray, dip, or pour?  How thick to mix for specific gravity?  I know that these are the details I must test myself, but the more questions answered now, the further I will get on with my own results.

I take many notes, copy recipes and revise where necessary. Sure, I get the scientific process. These present ups and downs of their own. But my biggest challenge is timeliness. There is just not enough time in the day!

These are three glazes with the new glaze underneath, the orange color.  The white body is a half porcelain body and the other a iron rich one, both from Highwater.  The underglaze has some unique qualities that flux out the overlying glaze.  It is this unique effect that entices me.

Under a matt glaze it holds firm, but there is some color variability that interesting too. I know that if there is too much visual interest then it can take away from the subject, so at the moment I am looking into using it with some accent pots. Here it is under a matt glaze attributed to Don Reitz. I look forward to trying this on my midrange manganese and iron clay.   Stay tuned....

This combination of glazes has some crystals at the top where it was thickest. 

Great Tree and Container Combination

 

Here is one my pots from 2009 that was potted up with an Escambron, a deciduous tropical tree. In my opinion,  this pot was a good choice in regards to its style, color, size and shape.

As a bonsai potter, it is always a thrill to open up your kiln and see your finished pieces. Sometimes you are happy with expected results, sometimes happy with unexpected results, but there is always a joy or element of surprise.

When I opened the BSF magazine this week I was met with another surprise, seeing such a beautiful subject in one of my old pots.  The owner is a great designer and his work is evident here.  The tree has a greyish cast in its trunk that I feel helps to unify the subject to its container.  The style of the tree, with its feminine curve is well matched to the pot: both are predominantly feminine, but the depth of the container and the girth of the trunk work very well also. After all, both feminine and masculine features usually are present together in bonsai compositions, but good compositions have a balance. They are usually predominantly feminine OR masculine, with smaller qualities of the other.

I am alway overjoyed when I see one of my pots under a beautiful tree especially when both tree and pot are paired so well.  This is no exception.  Go Mike!

Time out for Commissions

I have to say, as busy as last month was with making new stock and filling out orders, this month is going to be twice as busy.

This year's BSF show was a big success so I am not complaining. Sales were very well and I made some new contacts and took orders for many custom pots. Now that I am off for the summer my time is filling up fast however.  I am building a new storage/kiln shed twice the size as my old one. In it I will finally have enough room for all my dry storage of glaze materials and other regular stuff that is taking up too much room in my garagio. It is going to be a large project that I have procrastinating for a couple of years now,  so I will be doing various stages of construction during the day and making pots at night. Don't get me wrong. Being busy is good, so long as I get everything done before the fall!

Anyhoo, here are a few short shots from some of last month's commissions...

A large deep oval with VCAA green glaze and cracked texture....

Another large pot for the same gentleman shares the same base glaze as  the previous one above....

Here, same basic dimensions AND base glaze with cobalt for a different customer.

Well, thanks for letting me share.  I may do a few blog entries about the progress of my projects in a few weeks if I have any energy left!

Just for the taste of it...

For those of us who like to experiment in pottery, I can think of nothing more alluring than that which can be created by textural effects.  Gouges, cracks and crevices, filled with colored oxide washes, can really add a lot of character to a bonsai container. But it is not this alone that I am happy with, rather, the way in which it is done...

If you like the natural, unbridled use of the patterning in the example below, you may know what I am eluding to.

There is a lot of subtle color variation in this pot. Some repeated patterning, but nothing too fussy.  

Here is the other side:

I don't feel as if I have mastered this technique. Instead, I consider myself inspired to keep looking for nuances to exemplify, patterns to express.

This smaller example has a some intentional marks added on the right side of the pot that I placed to in increase the wabi sabi look...

There are several tree species that have this pot. For my taste, bucida spinosa (dwarf black olive), and Fukien Tea come to mind.

I would love to know what you think.  What's your particular taste??? 

Artifact Completed:' A Learning Experience'

At this year's Bonsai Society of Florida state convention my art concept pot will be sold at auction. This aesthetic design was a concept piece that was conceived with the idea of representing the growth that can be achieved through the learning of failure.

Our state convention entitled 'A Learning Experience', will feature many avenues for learning in this fine art of bonsai, with spectacular  headliners, world class exhibits, and awe inspiring presentations. So, knowing that I would be custom designing a pot for the auction, I decided to create a culminating represention  a culmination of what I have learned throughout these past few years as a 'noobie' bonsai potter to present.

If you look closely you will see intentional cracks, broken off pieces, and other faux surface features.  These were par for the course in the design, as I wanted something to represent that which has taught me and steered me in this craft.  Ask anyone who has been with me and they will tell you about the many times I have lost a pot in the kiln to these defects.  The thing is, if I had not failed, I would not have learned from these mistakes. Why did it crack?  Was it too dry? Why did it warp? Was it fired too hot?

These are the pitfalls that have been tempering my spirit and bringing about my hard fought victories as a potter. Sure I got plenty frustrated at these situations, but I now cherish them, for they have taught me well.

Here are some detailed shots...

The dark patches on the serpent represent popouts, a
problem from lime in the grog, an additive in the clay.

Here are the intentional break offs that i incorporated into
the design.  This can occur when the clay does not dry evenly.

Making this piece was a challenge in itself. It was the third attempt and I am quite glad it turned out as it did.  Plans are to encase this in a handmade curio box for safe keeping.

Stay tuned, more to come....

Rob

Make Mine Unglazed Please...

Rough belly with a stripe under the rim for balance,
 this 10 inch wide pot is well suited for a medium large pine.

Pines, Juniper, Cedars- these guys like the warm tones of an unglazed pot.  Here are a few examples of some from my last round that I have to enrich the bark of evergreens. 

This pot is a bit smaller, in the 6 inch range,
has a different rim treatment.

I use a copper and iron wash to bring out the texture with these unglazed pieces. I have to use a good deal of reduction (kiln atmosphere) get the dark brown just right. Here is another unglazed pot. I am using a buff clay with the same oxide wash.  A different looking pot, this one is about 4.5 inches across.

Being somewhat smaller, this could actually be used for shitakusa.

This pot was constructed by cutting apart a large oval ring and then reattaching it into a smaller one.  The seam, which you can see here in the photo, has been embellished with stamps to make a good seal.  I like the look of this as the front, but the other side is fairly plain.  The bonsai artist can decide which they prefer, depending on the style of the subject that they have.