Wednesday, November 25, 2015

ONE AT A TIME

I made a short video of an Oribe teabowl I made and fired recently. I usually throw a group of four or five teabowls that I then alter and manipulate to create the forms I am after and that feel comfortable in the hand, though working in a short series, they are crafted one at a time with each piece adding to the next. This particular bowl is stoneware with a thick porcelain slip surface which brightens the rich Oribe surface which coveres the piece. I enjoy making these thrown and manipulated bowl which are finished with hand cut feet using a simple, sharpened piece of bamboo. Though these teabowls are inspired by several modern Japanes potters, I think that I have hit upon several forms that are my own, unique to how I work and in a scale that interests me beyond being tied to the traditional chawan. I know I have quite a few of the 10,000 hours left to get where I want to go but one piece at a time the pots get closer and closer to what it is I see in my mind's eye.