tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-41362087047280180722011-07-08T00:56:47.195-07:00RakuRaku...it is about the ephemeral things (of great beauty) of this world...where money does not exchange hands...and is a joy forever...the Soul must be ready to ackowledge this strange world of truly Great Art...
Thank you Oh Lord
For the Sun...the Earth...the Rain...
And All Living Things
This Haiku sums up my feelings regarding Raku...Nature being the greatest Artist...Peter Hugopeterhugomcclurehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08147660674846500989noreply@blogger.comBlogger21100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4136208704728018072.post-14030703464879099932010-08-26T07:12:00.000-07:002010-08-26T07:53:59.666-07:00LIFE...POST RAKU<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_DRwLsm0a_hs/THZ8bN2TInI/AAAAAAAADyU/jdSDPrWKp7k/s1600/PeterMcClureA4+%5BDesktop+Resolution%5D.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 283px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_DRwLsm0a_hs/THZ8bN2TInI/AAAAAAAADyU/jdSDPrWKp7k/s400/PeterMcClureA4+%5BDesktop+Resolution%5D.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5509728001150100082" /></a><br />From the ashes of the RAKU of last summer...the Phoenix has arisen discovering new lands majestically it flies without ever looking back looking forward to every new day and the adventures it brings...sometimes resting & thanking the Lord for the earth's bounty...and just like this bird i have been busy ploughing a trough and planting the seeds of GEOMETRISM...it is indeed a new species that has laid dormant for too long but this has been rectified and culminates in an Exhibition of geometric Art entitled GEOMETRISM in that Art Colony St. Ives in Cornwall...<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4136208704728018072-1403070346487909993?l=peterhugomcclure-raku.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>peterhugomcclurehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08147660674846500989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4136208704728018072.post-73978775698275543562009-05-21T04:40:00.000-07:002010-08-29T04:41:33.019-07:00What is Raku?<div style="text-align: center;">What is Raku?</div><div style="text-align: center;">Is it possible to view...</div><div style="text-align: center;">Yes...just by the few</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">_________________</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">So for everybody else</div><div style="text-align: center;">Here are a few pictures</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_DRwLsm0a_hs/THpEEYjv_qI/AAAAAAAADyc/bzEwd3E5jgU/s1600/Sunset+Honolulu+6.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_DRwLsm0a_hs/THpEEYjv_qI/AAAAAAAADyc/bzEwd3E5jgU/s400/Sunset+Honolulu+6.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5510791936143785634" /></a><br /><div><div style="text-align: center;"> At the day's end</div><div style="text-align: center;"> Here on Honolulu...</div><div style="text-align: center;">Watching the setting sun</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_DRwLsm0a_hs/SkS9Qfg88NI/AAAAAAAACv0/tar3ri-LpWo/s1600-h/112.Heron+Taipa+2.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 329px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_DRwLsm0a_hs/SkS9Qfg88NI/AAAAAAAACv0/tar3ri-LpWo/s400/112.Heron+Taipa+2.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5351610348258259154" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Content After a </div><div style="text-align: center;">Morning of fishing...</div><div style="text-align: center;">The preening Heron</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_DRwLsm0a_hs/SkS7W4BXl7I/AAAAAAAACvs/BIF5Wh0MPhg/s1600-h/010.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_DRwLsm0a_hs/SkS7W4BXl7I/AAAAAAAACvs/BIF5Wh0MPhg/s400/010.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5351608258892634034" /></a><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Spartan though it be</div><div style="text-align: center;">Life can be found in the...</div><div style="text-align: center;">Dryist of deserts</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_DRwLsm0a_hs/SkS5W3ZkQgI/AAAAAAAACvk/5jfKcridDFM/s1600-h/042.S.I.T.+NZ.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_DRwLsm0a_hs/SkS5W3ZkQgI/AAAAAAAACvk/5jfKcridDFM/s400/042.S.I.T.+NZ.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5351606059702436354" /></a><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">This stone arrangement</div><div style="text-align: center;">Found while on the endless and...</div><div style="text-align: center;">Meandering path</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_DRwLsm0a_hs/SkS31iBlulI/AAAAAAAACvc/lDuPEKvhzWE/s1600-h/046.S.I.T.+NZ...Eidelweise.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_DRwLsm0a_hs/SkS31iBlulI/AAAAAAAACvc/lDuPEKvhzWE/s400/046.S.I.T.+NZ...Eidelweise.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5351604387517413970" /></a><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Stumble upon the</div><div style="text-align: center;">Eidelweise while trekking...</div><div style="text-align: center;">The mountain pass</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_DRwLsm0a_hs/SkS22JK0IOI/AAAAAAAACvU/HqGxJv9KTLk/s1600-h/050.S.I.T.+NZ...Excalibur.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_DRwLsm0a_hs/SkS22JK0IOI/AAAAAAAACvU/HqGxJv9KTLk/s400/050.S.I.T.+NZ...Excalibur.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5351603298513461474" /></a><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">The ephemeral </div><div style="text-align: center;">Ripples on a pond reach out...</div><div style="text-align: center;">To Infinity</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#0000EE;"><br /></span></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_DRwLsm0a_hs/SjoZGjTxBkI/AAAAAAAACh0/avXX6O4VX1s/s1600-h/Big+Island+Hawaii+2.jpg" style="text-decoration: none;"><br /></a><img style="text-decoration: underline;display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px; " src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_DRwLsm0a_hs/SjoZGjTxBkI/AAAAAAAACh0/avXX6O4VX1s/s400/Big+Island+Hawaii+2.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5348615107803940418" /><div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Every-Thing's Maya</div><div style="text-align: center;">A Shadow or Refexion...</div><div style="text-align: center;">Of reality</div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></div><div><div align="center">__________</div><span></span><div align="center"><br /></div><div align="center"><br /></div><div align="center"><span id="SPELLING_ERROR_2" class="blsp-spelling-error">RAKU</span>...is an extension of the Tea Ceremony...and a very sacred Japanese Art Form where the handling of money is anathema...a Monk living in the woods would invite somebody to partake in the drinking of tea "<span id="SPELLING_ERROR_3" class="blsp-spelling-error">Cha</span> Do" and would make drinking bowls for that one occasion...they were: quite crude and not "thrown", a single firing pulled out of the kiln still dipped into organic matter (leaves, saw-dust twigs etc), plus thrown into water causing a crackling of the glaze...so the finish would be quite unpredictable but it was the <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_4" class="blsp-spelling-error">serendipic</span> quality that gave its uniqueness and its beauty...the aesthetics of simplicity...in addition the bowls would be destroyed after being used just once and therefor ephemeral...the beauty of The Moment...never to be repeated!</div><br /><div>A Zen Master is deemed to be a master of every art-form (or "Do") which also includes Ken Do, <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_5" class="blsp-spelling-error">Aki</span> Do...they are all ways of self expression.</div><br /><div>This tradition is a bit like the Mandalas made with coloured sand in Buddhist <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_6" class="blsp-spelling-error">Monastries</span>...they are <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_7" class="blsp-spelling-error">equally</span> ephemeral and they a great antidote to a "culture" that cannot perceive Art that does not have a price tag (usually high) "created" by a celebrity with very little talent....This story will continue....</div><br /><div><span id="SPELLING_ERROR_8" class="blsp-spelling-error">Haikus</span> like <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_9" class="blsp-spelling-error">Raku</span> have a similar <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_10" class="blsp-spelling-error">origin</span>...they are very concise poems of 17 syllables in 3 lines of 5-7-5 syllables and traditionally express the different moods of the changing seasons but these days can be expressing the different moods and the changing world...</div><br /><div></div><br /><div align="center">Snowing pink blossom</div><div align="center">Ravens grubbing for worms...</div><div align="center">This wet May morning</div><div align="center"><br /></div><div align="center">_________</div><div align="center"><br /></div><div align="center"><br /></div><div align="center">Brushed by a bird's wing<br /></div><div align="center">A woman serenely sits...</div><div align="center">Beauty steals the Hour</div><div align="center"><br /></div><div align="center">___________</div><div align="center"> </div><div align="center"><br /></div><div align="center"><br /></div><div align="center">Bending with the wind</div><div align="center">The Taoist gathers water...</div><div align="center">In a straw hat</div><div align="center"><br /></div><div align="center">__________</div><div align="center"> </div><div align="center"><br /></div><div align="center"><br /></div><div align="center">Squawking family</div><div align="center">Feeding time for the Herons...</div><div align="center">High-up in the trees</div><div align="center"><br /></div><div align="center">________</div><div align="center"> </div><div align="center"><br /></div><div align="center"><br /></div><div align="center">An empty mirror</div><div align="center">Does not <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_11" class="blsp-spelling-error">discriminate...</span></div><div align="center"><span class="blsp-spelling-error">It Reflects all things</span></div><div align="center"><br /></div><div align="center">_________</div><div align="center"><span class="blsp-spelling-error"></span> </div><div align="center"><span class="blsp-spelling-error"></span> </div><div align="center"><br /></div><div align="center"><br /></div><div align="center"><span class="blsp-spelling-error">Raku originated in the late 16th C celebrating the beauty (Wabi) in simplicity by the great master of tea; Sen no Riku (1522-1599) whose patron was the War Lord Oda Nobunaya (1534-1591)...too be continued</span></div><div align="center"><br /></div><div align="center">___________</div><div align="center"><br /></div><div align="center"><br /></div><div align="center">Further into the world of Raku...in the Myriad of Art-Work that exists in the world maybe there is much that has been totally neglected...that for which money never exchanges hands...that which is only seen by the lucky few...that which evolves for which no individual can claim credit (Folk-Art)...that which is purely tharapeutic for the creator (out-sider/primitive/naieve) & the truly ephemeral/serendipic...so all this neglected art that is bereft of celebrities or house-hold-names and which do not "figure" in the commercial world because they are just too cheap & the fat-cats would rather buy one painting with their millions than buy thousands of works by "lesser-mortals"...we are in a serious recession and one would think the time is ripe for affordable work of merit to be sold in Community Art Centres all round the country where no hype will be needed where real quality would be recognised for what it is and where Satchi & Satchi "do-not-have-a-say"...Amen!</div><div align="center"><br /></div><div align="center">On Sunday 21st Jun at "Tea-Time" i shall be having a Mcclure's Raku...which will be a single firing of all images created by me that i have in stock in my studio in Trewellard, Cornwall...which will include paintings (framed & unframed), drawings, sketches, photographs so that i will be left with no images except a Navajo Rug and all other images by other artists i shall donate to a worthy cause...this will be nothing short of an "Iconclast" i will be purged of all points of reference and will give due diligence to where i go next...So i will be offering my work to the Gods of Fire...and will offer the ashes to a few worthy souls...this may sound a bit extreme but in these trying times i could not avoid getting a bit passionate with the Greed that has crept into every fibre of our fragile community...an example has be made of people who "give-their-best" always regardless of money and who do not not need bonuses or incentives...who's natural instinct is to serve the community in which they live...</div><div align="center"><br /></div><div align="center">Raku like Talismans, Mandalas, Kolams, Celtic Design is not about money...it is about True Culture...</div><div align="center"><span class="blsp-spelling-error"></span> </div><div align="center"><span class="blsp-spelling-error"></span> </div><div align="center"><span class="blsp-spelling-error"></span> </div><div align="center"><span class="blsp-spelling-error"></span> </div><br /><div></div><br /><div></div><br /><div></div><br /><div></div><br /><div></div><br /><div></div><br /><div></div><br /><div></div><br /><div></div><br /><div></div><br /><div></div><br /><div></div><br /><div></div><br /><div></div><br /><div></div></div></div></div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4136208704728018072-7397877569827554356?l=peterhugomcclure-raku.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>peterhugomcclurehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08147660674846500989noreply@blogger.com0