Sultry Summer

It's been a slow summer at Sara Yama Studio. There's no air conditioning in the studio, only ceiling fans that help circulate the already sultry air. Since the kiln is in the next room, when anything gets fired the entire building is like a sauna. So during this season most of the students (including myself) relax a bit and do things at a slower pace. (Some even take then entire month of August off!) It is a super quiet time which can be nice since occasionally I'm the only one in the studio with Arai Sensei. But the less people means the less pieces there are to be fired so I was unlucky enough to miss the RF and OF firings last week, which means the 6 white plates and 11 black plates I have made won't get fired until the end of August...too bad. I have also made 8 new red stone plates (post to come soon) that also won't be finished till the end of August as well. Good news is, for September I'll have plenty of plates to give the Seifusou Hotel as samples.

*Right picture is one of the lights; a spider made his web and ended up stealing the light's string in the process. It was a pretty funny sight since it's not unreachable without a ladder now haha.

やっと夏休みが始まりました。今、教室は結構暑くって、仕事しにくいです。エアコンがなくて天井ファンしかありません。そして今の季節は生徒はあんまりいないし、残ってる人はマイペースで作品を作る。つまり、生徒が少ないと焼く作品も少ないから前の紹介した白粘土６枚の皿がまだ焼いていない。８月の全部作る作品は月末に焼く予定です。６枚共に来る粘土１１枚と赤信楽１０４番８枚も作った。

*右上の写真は居室の電気です。電気の紐が蜘蛛の巣にかかっている。面白いと思って写真撮った。今は手に入れないからはしごしか使わない　笑

So the11 black plates are all about the same size and have my signature etchings carved on the surface. I have glazed them all in a similar fashion, one base color and R Kohagi drops near the etchings. (Picture below)　黒の１１枚はいつも通りに自分のデザインに作ってる。全部同じ風に色もつけった。ベース色とこはぎのドロップス（写真は下）







I chose 3 color palettes. 三つのカラーパレットにした。

Kirabo (B) as base, which is one of the most matte glazes there are. On the black clay it has a blue hue to it and has a very cool texture, I think the light blue from the Kohagi accents could produce an interesting combination. (Fingers crossed!) I chose this combo for the uniqueness it could bring and for the subtle color. I did 5/11 plates in this combo. OF firing　ベースはきらぼ、選んだ理由はきらぼは一番マットな色とこのコンボは面白いそうと思ってった。（上手くいくように願う！）　５枚このコンボにした、OF焼き

Next was Mangan (W) This glaze with the black clay has a nice rich dark brown color with lighter brown wash mixed in. Mangan and kohagi are a popular pair at Sara Yama so I thought I would go with the trend and see how they would fare up together on black clay. (Most of the students use Bizen or white Shigaraki) I chose Mangan since the brown looks nice with food. I hope the Kohagi blends well...again fingers crossed! 5/11 in this color combo. OF firing　次はマンガンのコンボだった。マンガンと黒粘土を使うと結構いい茶色が出来るし、こはぎと面白い色が出来るかも。皿山で人気なコンボですけど、大体皆さんは備前や白信楽に使うコンボです。選んだ理由は茶色は食べ物と似合う色です。。また上手くいくように願う！５枚にした、OF焼き
Last but not least. Soba (M) has great metallic hue specs blended into the deep brown color. (It is usually a brighter rusty red color but the black clay makes it brown) I took a chance and also tried the Kohagi accents on it as well, here's hoping for the best! 1/11 plates, RF firing. 最後はそばのコンボ。そばはいい金属色の小さいスポットがあるし、深い茶色もある。（そぼのもっともっと色は大体赤いですけど、黒粘土と茶色になる）これもチャンスのコンボです、うまくいけばいいけどね！

After glazing my 11 plates I had extra time so I made 3 pieces on the wheel. Here they are! I used the last of my red #104 Shigaraki clay. (I found out recently there's over a hundred different kinds of Shigaraki clay! wow! maybe a post on that in the future!) 色つけるあとはちょっと時間あったから最後持ってる赤信楽１０４番を使って三つの作品作った。（最近信楽種類は１００以外あると知った！びっくりした！未来のポストに書こうかな！）













Small bowl, this turned out well. Nice thin trim.　小さいワン　いい感じ線が細い














First of a set of two small shallow bowls.　２枚皿セットの一枚です　浅いワン














Last bowl.　最後の浅いワン

I plan to do the Kirabo and Tenmoku combo again for these pieces (metallic and black) since I love the look so much! この三つはてんもくときらぼを使うはずです、（金属色の色）このコンボ大好きだから！

***I'll be on vacation for the next 10 days, so more to come once I return!***

今からの１０日間は休みです！また今度！いい夏休みを！

今回急いで日本語書いたから間違えが多いので申し訳ない！