At the end of the day, many
times I take a block of time, wedge up some set amount of clay and throw some
v-bowls and teabowls off the hump. In a way, this is a reward, personal time in
which I can either fill some orders or just wing it and hopefully come up with
some new shape that I find interesting. The illustrated teabowl came about as
the fifth piece off the hump, though related to other bowls that I make, I
altered an existing shape I work with and came up with this form with the
majority of the foot finished as it is thrown. I realize there is nothing
radical about this bowl shape but as it has a different surface geometry than
others, now I also have to figure out what is the best way to decorate or glaze
the piece, again nothing extreme but I do like this type of problem solving. I
think I may go with four to six impressed stamp designs around the piece which
will also alter the pristine thrown nature of the form and break it up a bit
and I am thinking temmoku, temmoku and ash or some Oribe variant for a glaze. I
thought about some application of black over white slip but I think I have
decided that I want to keep the lines sharp. I like the end of the day
throwing, after a day working, thinking at least with the box open is a great
way to finish and get ready for tomorrow.
.JPG)