Japanese teabowls

I had the amazing opportunity to study abroad in Japan with a ceramics class as part of my grad school coursework. We learned traditional Japanese hand building methods, saw the sights, and took shifts firing the town's anagama kiln. Have you ever fired a wood kiln?? First, let me just tell you it is hot! There's a real fire in there folks! Next thing you should know is that you have to get the kiln to temperature and then maintain it. This required us putting wood in the little opening every 4-5 minutes. All day. And night. For days.

This trip only fueled my love for this second grade teabowl lesson that I have done many ways over the past 12 years. My favorite part is having a tea ceremony with our bowls at the end of the unit!

Here are a few of our bowls before I loaded them into the kiln this morning. This year I had students look for common themes in the designs of contemporary teabowl artists. They noticed most of the designs were either inspired by nature or geometry. Next they chose a limited color palette to represent the simple beauty that is part of the Japanese aesthetic and set to work with the glaze. Can't wait to open the kiln Monday morning and see how they turn out!

-- Mrs. A