Sunday fun day

Dane took a photo of the crow I made this past winter, which doesn’t look like a crow, really, but he’s my first stab at a crow. I’ve got another concept twirling around in my noggin, so more to come!

Speaking of concepts, I also started working on a new teapot – and then I saw one that a Japanese potter, Shinobu Hashimoto, demonstrated on his YouTube channel – so I already have a second version started and, dare I say, it’s looking pretty good. First, I’ll finish the one featured in my photo above, then I’ll move on to Hashimoto-san’s more refined version, once it’s leather-hard.

By the way, I highly recommend this potter’s YouTube channel. Check out his teapot concept at the links below – Part 1 demos how he throws his teapot; Part 2 is a trimming demo, which he just posted yesterday. He makes a couple of mistakes and says to himself, “Oh, be careful,” or “Hmm, I’m not sure what I should do now” and “I messed up and that’s not good,” which reminds us that, no matter how experienced we are at this art form, we all struggle on occasion. In Part 3, Hashimoto-san shows how he pulls a handle (a very unique method) and the making of a tea strainer. Finally, in Part 4, he demonstrates the assemblage and attachment of the strainer, spout and handle. [Note: I added the remaining two parts of the teapot tutorial Nov. 4, 2019.]

The videos are in Japanese, but that’s one very cool thing about the language of potters – it’s universal.