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Sake bottle, 15 cm (6 in.) in height, thrown stoneware (a blend of local Kanayama clay and Shigaraki clay), unglazed, wood fired, by Matsumiya Ryoji.
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March 31, 2007
Hai Kaburi: Creating Consistent Crusty Wood-Fire
by Ceramic Arts Daily | Read Comments (3)
Creating Consistent .In 1997, I was an adjunct instructor at a local community college and was given the opportunity to teach a sculpture class. One project in the curriculum involved welding, which I had never done. I learned by creating a couple of sculpture bases with a rod welded to the center. Working with steel for that short period of time opened up many new opportunities for my work, and I became increasingly interested in the notion of balance.
At the same time, I was starting to make organic ceramic forms—dozens of them. They just kept on coming. I had grouped them on the floor, on tables and shelves. What else could I do with them? Stacking them on a steel rod was one of the most intriguing ideas…
I have the bases made very inexpensively by a local welding shop. I have them weld an 8-inch-long piece of ½-inch-diameter threaded rod into a hole in the center of a ¼-inch-thick steel plate. Then I attach additional lengths of 1/2-inch-thick threaded steel rod using three 1-1/2-inch-long coupling nuts. The 1/2-inch-thick rod was not thick enough for the 6-1/2-foot-tall pieces—they swayed and leaned too much—but I was determined not to have to carry around 6-1/2-foot-tall bases! I am now using 3/4-inch-thick threaded rod for the pieces over 4 feet tall, and ½--inch-thick rod for pieces under 4 feet tall.