Sketches Explained

Ms. G left a comment on my latest blog post, about my sketches, and urged me to further my thinking and explanation of my designs for my tea set. To be honest, I chose that design because I love the way it looks. My eye was drawn to this particular design because of the contrast of white and red. Red is my favorite color and the flowers represent a Japanese cherry blossom.

After doing some research, I learned that the cherry blossom is a prominent symbol in Japanese culture. The cherry blossom represents many things, one being the "transient nature of life." It also represents the Japanese purity and simplicity. 

I think my project has shifted more to ceramics than the Japanese tea ceremony. I have become more immersed in actually making my tea set rather than researching about the tea ceremony. I'm not really sure how to connect my research and my hands-on work. That's a problem that I will talk to Ms. Lutter about tomorrow. 

Ms. G also wanted us to blog about how we have gotten out of our comfort zone during this project. I think for me, talking to random people in the community was something outside of my comfort zone. I met with Suzanne from the EAP at Cornell, Mizue Kido (Japanese tea ceremony expert), and sat in on a pottery class in Trumansburg. 

桜の花

Sakura no hana

Cherry Blossom