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T H E T R A D I T I O N A L D I S P L A Y
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L I G H T B L U E
Traditional Glazed JOHN SWANSON
NORTH BRANCH BONSAI Illinois, USA 2025 3.38 x 11.25 x 11.25 inches Laguna Long Beach Blend Stoneware Wheel Thrown and Trimmed, Double Glazed Electric Bisque Fired, Gas Reduction, Cone 10 (~2345ºF) "A blue pot that won't overpower its inhabitant. Blue is a very popular color in bonsai pottery but can be overly glossy or very bright. After testing many glazes and glaze combinations, I found this two glaze combination that provides a subtle, matte blue that break brown across edges and textures and allows the iron in the clay body to lightly speckle the surface. The process involves a thin layer of Malcolm Davis shino as a base and a cobalt engobe glaze on top. MD shino provides a dynamic base glaze to animate the blue engobe, helping it move during firing and generating more range of color - very light to medium blue with hints of green and yellow. The glaze combination is particularly effective on this vessel shape because it breaks brown across outward texture, like the pot rim, and gathers color in the inward crevices which adds visual interest and presents as wear and age in the brown portions versus oxidation in the nooks and crannies.
This piece is made of Laguna Long Beach Blend Stoneware, a versatile red/tan stoneware with a relatively high grog and sand content. The clay body is 1% water absorption at cone 10. Sand and grog and low absorptivity produces a durable pot that can stand up to wear and weather. The vessel was wheel thrown and trimmed including the feet and drain hole using standard pottery tools. No formers or profile-forming ribs were used to generate the shape. Glaze combination of Malcolm Davis Shino and a soft blue matte engobe style glaze with elemental cobalt. A detailed discussion of the glazing is provided in the artist statement. The glaze was applied by a pour-over method that creates unique options and various fronts to this container." - John Swanson |
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A B O U T J O H N S W A N S O N
John Swanson, founder and artist behind North Branch Bonsai in Chicago, is an environmental engineer by day and a potter by night/weekend/every chance he gets. John began his ceramics journey in January 2023 with a beginner wheel class at a studio in his neighborhood and bonsai pots quickly became the focus. At first, it was a way to save money and enable his bonsai addiction, but developing skills and encouragement from his studio family and supportive husband began to expand his thinking related to his ceramics future. In January of 2024, North Branch Bonsai was born.
John’s passion is creating one of a kind, handmade, high-fired bonsai ceramics that blend masculine and feminine design elements that evoke the complexity of great bonsai trees and the humans who create them. Follow John Swanson on these platforms: Instagram: www.instagram.com/northbranchbonsai/?hl=en Facebook: www.facebook.com/john.swanson.922958 |
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T H A N K Y O U T O O U R S P O N S O R S
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D I S C O V E R P O T T E R S I S P R O U D T O S P O N S O R T H E 2 0 2 5 N O R T H A M E R I C A N B O N S A I P O T T E R Y C O M P E T I T I O N
