YouTube Videos

One of the people I emailed a couple weeks ago was Mark George, who was referred to me by Suzanne. He's an art teacher in Geneva and Suzanne told me that he built a tea set with his class last year. I reached out to him to ask if he could give me any advice and/or tips before I started and he just got back to me!

He sent me a bunch of really helpful YouTube videos that give a clear explanation of how to make each item of the tea set. Needless to say I just spent about an hour and a half watching YouTube videos.....

Please watch this video. It's so amazing/ unbelievable/ inspirational/ I'm jealous/ why can't I do that

鼓舞する
Kobu suru
Inspirational

Ceramics Observation Reflection

So I just got back from my ceramics class observation (Mary Ellen Salmon in Trumansburg) and am so happy that I got to sit in on her class! The class was full of people from all different levels and it made me feel better about myself because I am beginner at wheel throwing too. There is so much that I don't know about ceramics and being in a different environment than our classroom at school was helpful. She recommended that I read "The Book of Tea" which is all about the Japanese tea ceremony, so I definitely need to stop by Barnes and Noble and get that this weekend.

I took some pictures of the artwork in her gallery (some is Mary Ellen's and some is made by other local potters) and will use them for creative inspiration also.

I love love LOVE the gradient here and definitely want to incorporate that in my tea set somehow.

 I think the flowers are a nice, classic touch to these cups and it would look good on my tea set.

The brown color here makes it look very authentic and traditional and that would look good for the tea set I have in mind. 

ホイールは投げる

Hoīru wa nageru

Wheel Throw

Post-Mentor Meeting

I met with Ms. Lutter today and we talked about when I would start my teacups. We worked out that Tuesdays after school would work and since I have 8th period free I can just come in and start working then. I'm really excited to get started and need to do some design research before then!

I've got a couple images so far that I will build off from.

I really like the classic white color of this and the contrasting red/black cherry blossoms.

I like the Japanese characters on this set and I definitely want to incorporate that somehow.

I love the gradient here and the shape of the tray.

写真
Shashin
Pictures

Barnsong Response and Other Shenanigans

Today in class we watched a WISE project about a WISE project.. very inception-like.
I thoroughly enjoyed the movie and was extremely impressed by the kid that built the barn. It made me realize that I need to start to do more hands-on work on my project (maybe like actually start my tea set....) Barn boy (I don't know his name) was really dedicated to his project and kept working until it was fully completed, regardless of the fact that that was in August. It made me happy to see how invested and committed he was!

Tonight I'm meeting with Mizue Kido, who grew up in Japan and practiced the tea ceremony under her mother. I'm going to interview her about her life and her experience with tea ceremonies/living in Japan altogether. I will post either later tonight (after yoga!) about my meeting or tomorrow morning, promise!

Tomorrow I also have my mentor meeting with Ms. Lutter. I'm going to talk to her about starting my project and work out a time where I can come in and start my tea cups.

This week I'm also going to do some sketches of what I want my tea set to look like. Ms. G asked me whether I want my tea set to be traditional or if I want to add my own spin on it and I decided that I'd like it to be traditional and authentic. I sent an email to a Johnson Musuem of Art employee but they haven't gotten back to me so I think I'm going to call them tomorrow and ask if they have any Japanese art collections that I can look at for inspiration. I'm going to NYC at the end of March with +Molly Pritz (Taylor Swift concert!!!!!!) and we're going to stop by the MET and look at some Japanese collections there as well. I just realized this is the first that Molly is hearing about this so I hope that's okay with you! XD

Wow, this was a really long post I apologize. I just had a lot to say!

茶
Cha
Tea

First Mentor Meeting

I had my first mentor meeting with Ms. Lutter today. She gave me some good contact information and suggested that I contact local potters and ask if I could "shadow" them or just observe their studio. I think this is a great idea as it would help me gain some more knowledge about pottery outside of the classroom.

I also set a time frame for when I will be making my tea set. My goal is to start the teacups before Spring Break (March 29th). That way, I will have plenty of time to focus on the teapot, which I've heard is the hardest part.

Well, I'm off to go send emails!

陶器
Tōki
Pottery