COMMISSIONING POTS
Posted: July 9th, 2012, 10:21 pm
COMMISSIONING POTS
What do you do when you get a tree that simply does not look good in a conventional pot? What do you do when you have a special tree and you want something out of the ordinary to showcase it?
There are a great many trees that look fine in a commercial pot and because these are readily available this is the easiest option. But they don’t always work. This olive simply does not gel with a standard pot. The rugged nature of the tree and its small stature but heavily weighted base completely overwhelm conventional pots. This bonsai gives ‘rugged’ a serious meaning and a smooth, even rimmed pot did it no justice at all regardless of how suitable the glaze was. I had purchased a pot from Pat Kennedy several years earlier for a very odd olive and I commissioned him to create a similar feeling pot in the necessary size.
The pot gives a rough country feel, the freeform adds to the tree’s credibility and the visual weight of the pot harmonises with the bonsai without ever over shadowing it. There is no way a conventional pot could duplicate this feeling.
To prove this point here’s another olive in a Japanese pot and in a Roger Hnatiuk pot. The Japanese pot is the right size and colour and a good shape to hold the tree but it doesn’t sing with the tree. It’s just there. The Roger Hnatiuk pot places the olive in the harsh, dry environs it would thrive in. The size of the pot anchors the tree and gives it great stability while the high rising textured trunk allows the olive to dominate and still co-ordinate beautifully and the two become a matching duo. Bi-coloured leaves are not favourites with bonsai enthusiasts tho you do see them now and again. When I found this coprosma I was taken with the tortured, twisted trunk and the colour of the foliage. I felt it was imperative that a pot did not contrast with the tree, it had to embody the same colouration and also had to convey a sense of harshness that the growth of the trunk dictated. The pot was going to have to be substantially larger than the trunk to visually support the foliage pads yet have a delicacy to match the tree’s airy structure. I contacted Janet Selby, showed her the tree and told her what I envisaged. This is the result and it is works. When my sandpaper fig started achieving its potential I wanted a quiet pot with a textured surface and a matt glaze. Luckily I had visited Penny Davis at her Mudlark Pottery studio in Newcastle and snapped up this pot because it was a size I like and it was ideal for natives with its rustic refined elegance. The Sandpaper slid in and embraced it and the two unify beautifully. The pot conveys the undergrowth riverbank area the sandpaper would frequent. The pot is noticeable for its quality and suitability but the tree has the main say. Again, this is a perfect paring that would be harder to achieve with the majority of conventional pots. Another Penny Davis/Mudlark pot was bought because it screamed ‘native’ to my eyes and my Melaleuca lineafolia loves it. The darker glaze colouration on the left of the pot mimics a shadow of the trunk on the water and the viewer can easily conjure up an Australian native by a billabong. I commissioned Pat Kennedy of Mirkwood to make a pot for another hard to situate bonsai. The pot had to be rough and refined, it had to mimic a cliff side and its strength had to empower the delicacy of the tree growing from a cleft in a rock, stretching to the light for survival. Although this Kunzea simply does not photograph well it is beautiful and one of my favourites. Yes, I take my visual images very seriously. If I am creating a bonsai the tree and the pot have to say the same thing, promote and strengthen the same image. I don’t just put a tree in a pot because I happen to have the pot. I have spent great lengths of time and love creating the artistry in a tree and the pot must enhance that. Otherwise where is the art? You can’t have ‘part art’. You can’t create a nice tree and leave it at that… the pot MUST compliment the tree and amplify the story the tree is telling. Australian natives in particular do better in handmade pots.
So how does one commission a pot?
Each potter has a distinct style and a preferred range of glazes so if you want a potter to make a pot in a particular colour you might be out of luck if it is not in their range. This is why it is good to have an idea of each potter’s style and output.
It does help if you can attend bonsai shows or seminars where bonsai potters exhibit their handmade pots. You can also attend bonsai exhibitions and study the pots and chat with the show organisers to get the potter’s contact details. This would necessitate their talking to the owner and then passing on the details as many owners prefer to remain anonymous. But it is worth the time and effort.
You can also read articles like this one and get a feel for potters and their pots.
You can ask a potter to duplicate a pot from a photograph but keep in mind that each potter has his own style and glazes and you won’t get an identical pot. You will get their interpretation. This is not wrong. This is artistic imperative and if a potter is creating original works asking for an identical copy is doing a disservice to the original potter and the artist you are liaising with. I have discovered the hard fact of handmade potting is that it is all but impossible to duplicate exactly a pot size or glaze. There will be a variation and all the potters I deal with will make several pots for a commission and the buyer choses the one closest to his preference. Every one is individual.
Sometimes it doesn’t happen but usually one of the pots is ideal. Sometimes there is an accident in the glazing and/or the kiln and the result is magic and never to be repeated and that’s one you latch onto and find a tree for it if it is unsuitable for the tree in question.
There is no problem asking a potter to make one of his pots in a different size or glaze.
Travel to a potter’s studio. Get some enthusiasts together, make an appointment with the potter and have a day out. You can end up with more pots than you planned on but what riches.
Back to commissioning… have a very good idea of the size you want. It is a good idea to put the tree in a pot the size you are considering to see how it suits. Silly? I commissioned three handmade pots for one tree over a year based on carefully taken measurements of what I thought the tree needed. In the end another tree is in one pot and I sold the other two. Despite the fact the measurements seemed correct each pot was too big. With the carved olive in the first photo I bought two of these pots convinced that the smaller was the right one but the larger one was better. It is tricky but again, worth the effort. And I sell the unwanted pots on ausbonai so it is a win/win.
If you have an awkward tree take it to the potter and discuss the tree’s needs. The potter will give you a price so you know where you stand. You must keep in mind that you are not buying off the shelf, it could take 6-8 weeks at least to get your pot made as the potter is reliant on weather conditions, drying times and filling a kiln as well as possible breakages and remaking. So don’t commission today for a show next week because it won’t happen.
I absolutely love bonsai and I have enlarged that love to include handmade pots. I’m a genuine certifiable Potoholic and every local potter knows it and they smile broadly when they see me heading towards their wares. My trees are better dressed than I am. Pots are very important to strengthen the quality of a good tree and a joy to work with. This side obsession might not be to everyone’s preference but even a couple handmade pots will enhance your collection. Go for it. And to that end:
åMirkwood Forest Bonsai Pots Potter: Pat Kennedy
Tumut NSW 6946 2956 0400 216 563
Mudlark Bonsai Pots Potter: Penny Davis
Blackalls Park, Newcastle NSW 4959 4492 mudlarkpottery@bigpond.com
Or Google Mudlark Pottery Blog
Janet Selby Pots Potter: Janet Selby
Canterbury NSW 9589 4636 0421 369 707 http://www.janetselby.com.au janetselby@bigpond.com
Roger Hnatiuk of Canberra is very elusive about pot making. If you have one of his then treasure it and keep a lookout on club sale tables for a rare possibility to get one.
What do you do when you get a tree that simply does not look good in a conventional pot? What do you do when you have a special tree and you want something out of the ordinary to showcase it?
There are a great many trees that look fine in a commercial pot and because these are readily available this is the easiest option. But they don’t always work. This olive simply does not gel with a standard pot. The rugged nature of the tree and its small stature but heavily weighted base completely overwhelm conventional pots. This bonsai gives ‘rugged’ a serious meaning and a smooth, even rimmed pot did it no justice at all regardless of how suitable the glaze was. I had purchased a pot from Pat Kennedy several years earlier for a very odd olive and I commissioned him to create a similar feeling pot in the necessary size.
The pot gives a rough country feel, the freeform adds to the tree’s credibility and the visual weight of the pot harmonises with the bonsai without ever over shadowing it. There is no way a conventional pot could duplicate this feeling.
To prove this point here’s another olive in a Japanese pot and in a Roger Hnatiuk pot. The Japanese pot is the right size and colour and a good shape to hold the tree but it doesn’t sing with the tree. It’s just there. The Roger Hnatiuk pot places the olive in the harsh, dry environs it would thrive in. The size of the pot anchors the tree and gives it great stability while the high rising textured trunk allows the olive to dominate and still co-ordinate beautifully and the two become a matching duo. Bi-coloured leaves are not favourites with bonsai enthusiasts tho you do see them now and again. When I found this coprosma I was taken with the tortured, twisted trunk and the colour of the foliage. I felt it was imperative that a pot did not contrast with the tree, it had to embody the same colouration and also had to convey a sense of harshness that the growth of the trunk dictated. The pot was going to have to be substantially larger than the trunk to visually support the foliage pads yet have a delicacy to match the tree’s airy structure. I contacted Janet Selby, showed her the tree and told her what I envisaged. This is the result and it is works. When my sandpaper fig started achieving its potential I wanted a quiet pot with a textured surface and a matt glaze. Luckily I had visited Penny Davis at her Mudlark Pottery studio in Newcastle and snapped up this pot because it was a size I like and it was ideal for natives with its rustic refined elegance. The Sandpaper slid in and embraced it and the two unify beautifully. The pot conveys the undergrowth riverbank area the sandpaper would frequent. The pot is noticeable for its quality and suitability but the tree has the main say. Again, this is a perfect paring that would be harder to achieve with the majority of conventional pots. Another Penny Davis/Mudlark pot was bought because it screamed ‘native’ to my eyes and my Melaleuca lineafolia loves it. The darker glaze colouration on the left of the pot mimics a shadow of the trunk on the water and the viewer can easily conjure up an Australian native by a billabong. I commissioned Pat Kennedy of Mirkwood to make a pot for another hard to situate bonsai. The pot had to be rough and refined, it had to mimic a cliff side and its strength had to empower the delicacy of the tree growing from a cleft in a rock, stretching to the light for survival. Although this Kunzea simply does not photograph well it is beautiful and one of my favourites. Yes, I take my visual images very seriously. If I am creating a bonsai the tree and the pot have to say the same thing, promote and strengthen the same image. I don’t just put a tree in a pot because I happen to have the pot. I have spent great lengths of time and love creating the artistry in a tree and the pot must enhance that. Otherwise where is the art? You can’t have ‘part art’. You can’t create a nice tree and leave it at that… the pot MUST compliment the tree and amplify the story the tree is telling. Australian natives in particular do better in handmade pots.
So how does one commission a pot?
Each potter has a distinct style and a preferred range of glazes so if you want a potter to make a pot in a particular colour you might be out of luck if it is not in their range. This is why it is good to have an idea of each potter’s style and output.
It does help if you can attend bonsai shows or seminars where bonsai potters exhibit their handmade pots. You can also attend bonsai exhibitions and study the pots and chat with the show organisers to get the potter’s contact details. This would necessitate their talking to the owner and then passing on the details as many owners prefer to remain anonymous. But it is worth the time and effort.
You can also read articles like this one and get a feel for potters and their pots.
You can ask a potter to duplicate a pot from a photograph but keep in mind that each potter has his own style and glazes and you won’t get an identical pot. You will get their interpretation. This is not wrong. This is artistic imperative and if a potter is creating original works asking for an identical copy is doing a disservice to the original potter and the artist you are liaising with. I have discovered the hard fact of handmade potting is that it is all but impossible to duplicate exactly a pot size or glaze. There will be a variation and all the potters I deal with will make several pots for a commission and the buyer choses the one closest to his preference. Every one is individual.
Sometimes it doesn’t happen but usually one of the pots is ideal. Sometimes there is an accident in the glazing and/or the kiln and the result is magic and never to be repeated and that’s one you latch onto and find a tree for it if it is unsuitable for the tree in question.
There is no problem asking a potter to make one of his pots in a different size or glaze.
Travel to a potter’s studio. Get some enthusiasts together, make an appointment with the potter and have a day out. You can end up with more pots than you planned on but what riches.
Back to commissioning… have a very good idea of the size you want. It is a good idea to put the tree in a pot the size you are considering to see how it suits. Silly? I commissioned three handmade pots for one tree over a year based on carefully taken measurements of what I thought the tree needed. In the end another tree is in one pot and I sold the other two. Despite the fact the measurements seemed correct each pot was too big. With the carved olive in the first photo I bought two of these pots convinced that the smaller was the right one but the larger one was better. It is tricky but again, worth the effort. And I sell the unwanted pots on ausbonai so it is a win/win.
If you have an awkward tree take it to the potter and discuss the tree’s needs. The potter will give you a price so you know where you stand. You must keep in mind that you are not buying off the shelf, it could take 6-8 weeks at least to get your pot made as the potter is reliant on weather conditions, drying times and filling a kiln as well as possible breakages and remaking. So don’t commission today for a show next week because it won’t happen.
I absolutely love bonsai and I have enlarged that love to include handmade pots. I’m a genuine certifiable Potoholic and every local potter knows it and they smile broadly when they see me heading towards their wares. My trees are better dressed than I am. Pots are very important to strengthen the quality of a good tree and a joy to work with. This side obsession might not be to everyone’s preference but even a couple handmade pots will enhance your collection. Go for it. And to that end:
åMirkwood Forest Bonsai Pots Potter: Pat Kennedy
Tumut NSW 6946 2956 0400 216 563
Mudlark Bonsai Pots Potter: Penny Davis
Blackalls Park, Newcastle NSW 4959 4492 mudlarkpottery@bigpond.com
Or Google Mudlark Pottery Blog
Janet Selby Pots Potter: Janet Selby
Canterbury NSW 9589 4636 0421 369 707 http://www.janetselby.com.au janetselby@bigpond.com
Roger Hnatiuk of Canberra is very elusive about pot making. If you have one of his then treasure it and keep a lookout on club sale tables for a rare possibility to get one.
It is easy to read your passion through the thread. I can relate to the "potaholic" and could easily become a collector of just pots. It seems that NSW has a monopoly on good Potters and i have yet to find a Potter in my area who is prolific. Some of your combinations are what i would call "daring" and you have a good eye for combining and that is why they work. Most pots are too "safe" and the Artist runs the risk of a mediocre presentation. Tree and pot combining is a skillful area and you do it well.
Pup