This will be the third installment of posts on the great contemporary potter and painter Shunka Seizan, who has recently won several awards and continues to amaze me with his diverse talents. From post 1:
“His real name is “河村 政春” “Kawamura Seishun”. A veteran of more than 40 years as a bonsai grower, enthusiast, and lover, he is especially known for his maples. Shozan began making pots as a hobby 6 years ago. The works are all single block carved, and feature some of the best glazes I’ve seen from any modern potter, both in kiln change type glazes and clean, pure colors. Most of his glazes are kiln change type, in the best Japanese tradition of Tofukuji.”
To see more on this potter, check out these previous articles:
Shunka Seizan 1
Pots in Process
Shunka Seizan Painted Pots
Now…..on to the pots!
A Really complex Takatori Yu style glaze on a mokko pot. Shunka Seizan’s Takatori Yu is the best Ive seen from any contemporary potter, the only that perhaps come close to Tofukuji.
An interesting dark Tenmokuu with a lighter secondary glaze. Real depth in the darkness.
Multiple views of a green mokko with several different color accents. Really nice crackle to the glaze also.
Man…..that is PINK!
Another pink pot with a splash of orange. Russell?
Brilliant yellow Footed and flared oval. Seizan’s yellows are some of the best and cleanest.
Two tone cream rectangle with bottom belt and lip. Really nice depth for a single color glaze can be achieved with more than one firing.
Remember that pink? Wow….that’s RED! Seizan’s reds are some of the cleanest and brightest I have seen. 
A flambé glaze square from my collection. Really nice two tone red and cream.
A really great light green glazed six sided pot. A little darker than celadon, I haven’t seen this color from any other artist. Ikkou’s greens come close, but it’s a hair darker.
Painted Pots
Seizan has been painting containers for a very short amount of time. That makes it all the more impressive that these are so nice. You’ll note that all the paintings are homages: like most Japanese artists, of any form, Seizan is learning to paint by copying great and famous works from history and scrolls. 
A scene from the anthropomorphic Chojugiga scrolls. 
More Chojugiga. These are classical and whimsical subjects for bonsai containers.
And Then there are These…..these are available if anyone is interested, feel free to drop me a line. The full 55 container set is available piecemeal….hurry though I doubt they’ll be available for long!
This is a small selection of the full set of Ando Hiroshige’s famous “53 Stations of the Tokaido Road”, with the corresponding woodblock prints of the original. All of the greatest painters and carvers have done versions of the “Stations”, including Sano Daisuke, Bigei, Chazan, Tosui, Shousen, and Tsukinowa Yusen.
Seizan’s versions are incredibly detailed for such small Shohin containers, and stand up well to the originals. The yellow glaze and nicely done inset panels really set them off. Really excellent work. Hurry!
Hope you’ve enjoyed another look at Shunka Seizan! Thanks for reading!
