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Matuei Kimiko
Born January 28, 1929, Matuei Kimiko first began making containers in 1973. She was self taught in the beginning of her career, and her early work is primarily pinch pots and sharply contrasts with...
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Patina, Part 1, Philosophy and Gallery
I once heard a well known American bonsai potter state that patina on bonsai pottery is just dirt, cracks, and chips. It isn’t. For starters, cracks and chips are not patina, they’re defects. Second,...
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Pots by Shigeru Zyubei 4
His real name is 濱田 重章(Shigeru Hamada) and his kiln/potter’s name is “Hin Zyubeiei” though his pots are commonly referred to simply as Zyubei. He was born in 1946 in Osaka and began creating shohin...
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Koto Chukan
Like so many other great bonsai potters Fukuda Tadahiro was originally just a serious bonsai enthusiast who began by making containers for his own trees and enjoyment. Eventually he assumed the potter...
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Retrospective:Where Has This Guy Been for 5 Years?
The title for this post is pretty self explanatory. Today I’ll answer the question of where I’ve been and what I’ve been up to since I stopped publishing articles and blogs here nearly 5 years ago. I...
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Modern Containers, Traditional Motifs Part 2
This is the 200th Post for the blog! I was just going to phone it in, and do a retrospective. Instead, I figured, why not a special post, why not a treat on a special day, with an additional treat of...
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Modern Containers, Traditional Motifs Part 1
Like bonsai itself, bonsai pottery is filled with classical designs and traditional motifs. Visual motifs like paintings and carvings on bonsai containers often come from famous paintings, poems, and...
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Joshu Katsuyama: Bang for your Buck Potters Part 3
He was born Ogiwara Katsuyoshi on December 8, 1937.At first, he went by the artist/kiln name Ogiwara Shouzan, then changed it to Joshu Shouzan. He finally settled on Joshu Katsuyama, which is great...
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The 15th Annual Contemporary Kobachi Artist Exhibition Part 2
There were many notable entries other than the winners this year, a couple of which would definitely have been in contention for gold had it not been for accidental breakage before judging. Roy...
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The 15th Annual Contemporary Kobachi Artist Exhibition Part 1
I look forward every January to the Gafu Ten exhibition and the results and images of the major pottery competition held there/ The Contemporary Kobachi. For articles on the previous exhibitions,...
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The 12th, 13th, and 14th Annual Contemporary Kobachi Artist Exhibition
I was away from writing for so long I missed 3 entire years of The Annual Kobachi Exhibition which I have written about since it’s 7th year. The reports from The All Japan Shohin Bonsai Association...
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A Quick Look at Really Bad Forgeries, or, Exposing The Man Behind the Curtain
It’s almost common knowledge these days that there are many forgeries of Japanese potters’ work. I’ve even heard some claim that there are more fake pieces than real containers when it comes to some...
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Getting Sexy with Pots(Part 1)
After a very long health related hiatus, I figured this first post should be something sexy….real sexy…..That’s right! We’re going to discuss “sexing” Bonsai containers today. Alas, we won’t be...
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New Beginnings and New Revisions
As many of you know, I’ve been faced with some major health issues over the last couple of years. After the coup de grace of those issues last week, I’ve decided to spend more time fixing some of the...
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For Sale Page Updated and other Sundries
It’s been a busy year, so I haven’t had time to update much of anything, or publish any articles. I’ve been traveling frequently lecturing around the country at clubs and events, and working on a book...
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Ogurayama, Part 2
Karahashi Homiyabi was born September 5, 1920, in Kyoto. Before bonsai pottery, he helped with the family business making traditional Kyo-yaki ware. He started his earnest apprenticeship as a...
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The 11th Annual Shohin Pottery Competition (2)
There were many other notable artists and favorites in this year’s exhibition who didn’t win awards. Let’s take a look at a few I found interesting. My friend Ruban Yu of Taiwan entered a nice...
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The 11th Annual Shohin Pottery Competition (1)
Every year I look forward to Gafu Ten and the results of the big pottery competition and exhibition that is held there each year. For articles on the previous exhibitions, click the over to the Table...
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Classical Glazes Part 1: The Many Faces of Namako
Dating to the Kowatari era, Namako(Nuh-mah-ko), or Sea Cucumber glaze, is one of many Classical Glazes still in use today. Along with Kinyo(baby blue), Ki(Yellow), Tenmoku, and various Canton glazes,...
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