Gems number nineteen and twenty

Some of you maybe already know, we had two firings in a row this month. Turn of October/November was busy with glazing, concentrated on the right finish of almost two months job. We like autumnal firings. Yes, everything around get grey, wet and colder. But also calmer. And suddenly, lighting the kiln feels somehow right. Here is one shot, taken at that night when the first of those two kilns was light up...

Gems number nineteen and twenty. It means that we already make one round. There are no pots in my collection from The First Ten. Gems nine and ten are going to meet their new (patient) owners. The Straw in the Grass chawan is already with my dear Norman tea friend. And The Blue Jasper teapot is ready to fly to sunny California (with first snow behind my window, I wish to fly with it...). Say goodbye to those pieces, I love them both.

  Gem number nineteen is (again) teapot. Stoneware, unglazed inside, with few splashes of shino glaze on outside. I usually try to define why I choose a particular piece for my collection. Here is was not just because it is nice. There is more. When you hold in your hands it feels right. You really want to put some leafs in and make some tea. To use it. And that is first sign of the good teapot, isn't it?
   Gem number twenty is small shiboridashi set. I like the magic blue of this ash glaze. We use this glaze all the time (you can also see it on Blue Jasper above). The clay makes the trick. I used here one of the natural clays I was talking about here. Yes, the black one. This set stays with me also as reminder of this wonderful clay and of my pledge to work with it much more in the future.

For more pictures of those new pieces please visit this page. If The Ten Gems of Ten Kilns project is new for you, then please read this post first. 

Gem number nineteen:  Desert night, mountain morning

Gem number twenty: Summer swim

Thank you for reading!