Front of chawan. Two characteristics of Raku bowls I love are the "waist " and the slightly turned-in rim. The rim isn't actually turned in much, it is just left thick and beveled. Leaving the rim thick helps with balance also.

Interior of the chawan. Really good citrus skin texture on this one.

Foot of the chawan. A spiral in the kodai is traditional, but I opted for a backwards yin-yang. The choice was unconscious, but appropriate. I formed this bowl while experiencing a huge disruption to my personal life.

I taught a Raku-style teabowl workshop these last two weekends. The result of a lot of clay testing, glaze formulation and learning the best way to fire our kiln. Much to my relief, the work paid off and each of the students' bowls came out great.

#raku #kuroraku #rakujawan #chawan #teaceremony #茶碗

Front of the chawan. There's a surprising amount of variation in the glaze, and a scar on the rim from contact with another bowl in the kiln. Both help to define the front of the bowl.

Interior of the chawan showing the chadamari.

Foot of the teabowl. The bowl was fired on nichrome stilts, allowing the entire foot to be glazed.

Kuroraku-style bowl. Fired to 1100C, removed hot, and water quenched. Basalt glaze.

The body remains light and insulating. Quenching the bowl results in the desired "thuck" when tapped with a tea scoop.

#chawan #kuroraku #teabowl #chanoyu #teaceremony #sadō #pottersofbluesky #茶碗 #茶道 #茶の湯