Illustrated
is a rather simple sandy surface on a teabowl made using my white stoneware with
subtle facets created around the bowl. As you can see, once the foot is tooled
the last part of the process involves the rasp and creating simple, not overly
obvious facets around the form while the important step is to open up the
texture of the clay and let much of the sand show creating a visual and
textural surface. Though a simple bowl, simple technique and simple approach in
the end usually they are not as simple as each constituent part would leave you
to believe. As you can imagine the
next step beside the bisque is using a transparent or translucent glaze
surface over the piece and I doubt it would come as any shock if I said I was
thinking about using either Oribe or Kuro-oribe for the job. Though many of my
choices may be predictable with the right application of the secondary and
tertiary and all that sandy texture, the outcome is usually a bit up in the air
allowing for a group of teabowls to emerge, each one with its own distinct
voice and appearance. Simple, right, though simple does go a long way.
