John Baymore on wed 10 sep 97
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Claude,
Not sure if this is what you are after or not from the description, but
.............
Shimaoka Tatsuzo of Mashiko, Japan (Hamada Shoji's apprentice) uses short
(3-4=22 +/-) sections of various types of ropes (some are the ropes that are
used to hold the obi on kimonos) that are impressed in the clay to from a
pattern. Depending on the weave of the rope, the pattern is often
herringbone. Some are sections of rope wrapped around a bamboo core.
This texture is then often filled in with a contrasting slip, and when just
the right dryness, the slip is scraped off to reveal the patterning. This
is then covered with a transparent or semi-transparent glaze, or left
unglazed and then woodfired or salt fired.
He showed me how he does it while I had the great honor of visiting him
last fall, and I have fallen in love with the technique as a background
pattern for painting over with other slips. I have been experimenting with
it since last fall, and am just getiing a handle on some of the variables.
There are still some things I have seen on his pieces that are driving me
nuts though....... I can't get the rope to do that=21 =3Cg=3E
For a nice fine =22herringbone=22 pattern try mountain (technical) climbing
rope. The clay has to be very wet since the =22tooth=22 of this rope is =
light,
and the scraping of the slip is very difficult since the impression is so
thin. A lot of practice and you'll get it.
(The hardware store guy thought I was NUTS when I bought 4 inches of every
type of rope that they had =3Cg=3E.)
The rope is rolled with the fingers of one hand while supporting the inside
(or outside) of the piece with the fingers of the other hand. It takes
some practice to get the motion, but once you get it it is not so hard. At
first it seems VERY difficult. Try not to lift the rope off the pot on
each pass. Wet the rope with water before each pass. Bind the ends of the
rope section with fine string (whipping) to keep the ends from marring the
piece.
If you add the slip, timing is everything in the scraping process. Too wet
and it smears and too dry and it takes forever. Also you need a SHARP
trimming tool to scrape with. The Japanese kana I use, you could shave
with.
Hope this might be what you are looking for?
Best,
......................john
John Baymore
River Bend Pottery
22 Riverbend Way
Wilton, NH 03086 USA
603-654-2752
JBaymore=40Compuserve.com
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