Ozark Wabi – オザークのワビ

This page will always be under construction

The Japanese concept of Wabi is something that has intrigued me for a long time. As a teacher I have attempted to steer students away from their work needing to be perfect in the western way of thinking. Often in the making of an object out of clay it is altered and changed by the way it is touched and during the transformation by the fire. Wabi conveys the concept of beauty found in asymmetric, irregular, and imperfect objects. I love many of these Japanese pots that are considered valued in that way. Many American potters try to find this in their own work by adopting the forms and surface of Japanese pots. We are all suspectable and I know I have adopted that in my own work. What I want is to find that sense of beauty in my own way and in order to liberate myself, I decided to give a name to my pursuit of the wabi-sabi aesthetic – Ozark Wabi. This page is for the pots that are helping me find that perfectly imperfect vessel. One of my mentors, Ron Meyers has certainly pushed me to question what a transcendent pot is in an imperfectly perfect way

This is one of my few attempts at Kentsugi. By repairing a crack or defect in a pot and filling it with gold you are creating a higher order of beauty in that vessel. A marvelous metaphor for humans as imperfect vessels. This jar came out of the firebox of Ron’s anagama and had been damaged by wood being thrown into during the kiln.

Here are two cups that I think have Ozark Wabi