In the last post on my Japanese Tea Ceremony experience (see the "Tea Ceremony" category to the lower right of this webpage), I mention a gift of a beautiful Japanese-style plate that I received from one of my tea ceremony teacher's students. My teacher mentioned that the student creates her works in her own home, so I took the liberty of contacting her, and asked if I could come by to check it out! She kindly agreed, so I'm happy to present the photo gallery of my short and sweet visit.
I also tried molding and painting a small cup with a bit of clay! As you can see, the attempt was quite flawed, but an attempt all the same. There are many ways in which to create a simple cup like this: you can take out a lump of clay and scoop it out to hollow it (apparently very difficult), you can roll it out flat like dough and shape it from there, or do what I was taught and take small chunks and roll them out into snake-like bits, connect the ends to make a circle , and stack one on top of another whilst using your fingers to blend the layers together.
While this was not an official lesson, these tidbits of information on the process I received from both the owner of the shed and her visiting friend were enlightening. As someone who has now practiced tea ceremony for a year, I was impressed to experience the creation of the tools I was using. Afterwards, I was lucky enough to receive a delicious meal, and was presented a clump of my very own clay to take home and practice! This clay was apparently good quality because of its ability to retain moisture, therefore making it easier to mold and fix. I may go play with it now!
Thank you for reading. :)
Until next time,
justajae
Until next time,
justajae