Gems number twenty four, twenty five, twenty six...

Dear readers, followers, friends, it have been a while. We are in the middle of winter, snow was here, now is gone. But clouds are still full a water and cold is going to be back soon. Few friends recently asked me if I am closing my "Ten Gems Of Ten Kilns" project. No! I am still putting aside some interesting pieces from our firings. And there is so many things going on, with many "pots and tea stories". This blog is slow but not dead. My tea and tea ware path has grown deeper during the past year. And it keeps growing...

What I am going to present here today is piece of memory for me. Chawan from hot summer days kiln, Autumnal but still warming teapot and winter teapot, which was fired in last firing of the year. Maybe even from pictures here you can feel how seasons were changing...

Our garden during last firing...

I like when pots call out our imagination, telling mysterious stories. Storytellers who starts to talk, when you hold them in your hands. For my Gem Collection, I always try to select pieces from this category. I also believe that those are going to age well, becoming part of your live. When you make a connection with such pots, by using them for teas you like and sharing that tea with your loved ones, your live is getting richer. It is not about clinging on "stuff". It is about living here and now. Tea creates intimate moments in our daily live and pots become comrades who are with us there.

The chawan was painted with white kaolin clay, then covered in crust of ice crackle glaze. Its "ice over a landscape" feeling is one of the reasons why it was chosen as The Gem of summer kiln. Another reason is the white paint and how it is going out of the glaze, letting us to dream, to picture there "our things"

The teapot is even more fogged up. Its spruce forest near peat bog pool. Maybe I am getting too dreamy and wistful thanks to misty rain behind our windows. But if you would hold that pot in your hands you would know what I am talking about. It is not just about the green-khaki color, but as well about the velvet touch of the glaze and its "soft" shape.

The small winter teapot is from drawer you already know. We can call is "Bizenish" and I like this style more and more. Simple colors created by heavy reduction of charcoal, on high iron clay. We use several clays for this firing technique and for this teapot I used the most red and the finest clay we have. It is very subtle. There is not much to say, it is better use it...

Before taking look at new gems, say goodbye to gems number fourteen and fifteen. The small Cockerel is already in Shanghai, the Charm and The End of The Winter teapots are going to be on the road soon. I know that all three customers love tea. Those pots are in good hands.

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

Gem number twenty four- The Summer Ice

Gem number twenty four- The Froggy Haze

Gem number twenty six- The Crescent shine

Winter bamboo...

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Gems twenty two and twenty three

As I have mentioned in my last post here, there are two new gems for my Gem Collection. The one piece is from end of February, second from March kiln. The kilns, which we have fired before my Taiwan trip. They were patiently waiting here for me and my camera. Actually, ceramic do not mind to wait. If it is good now, it should works even after years. Ceramic shards talk about ancient civilizations. Two months is nothing, right? But I feel, I need to apologize to you, my readers, and thank you for your patience.

As you can see bellow, both new gems are light in both color and form. Maybe it was upcoming spring, calling for something more thin and shiny.

The teapot is made of translucent porcelain. It is quite tricky to work with and much harder to fire. There are several teapots on our "pots cemetery" from this material. In high heat the porcelain is moving, warping, cracking, sticking to shelfs, glaze is running down. But when teapot like this Gem n.22 survive, I know why I am still using it. It is calling for high fragrant tea!

The bowl with the saucer is born from imperfection. It is like gaiwan but lid is missing. There is a lot of cracking on the glaze. There are "fingerprints", unglazed spots from my fingers. But there is elegance, it is graceful. The saucer is lifting up the form in both figurative and literal sense.

Before taking look at new gems, say goodbye to gems number twelve and thirteen. The small Cockerel is already in Shanghai, the Charm then will be on the road soon. I know that both customers love tea. Those pots are in good hands.

Note: Yes, both new pieces are light in color and shiny. It means that to take live, real pictures is task from mission impossible category. For sure, if the photographer is un-trained me. Anyway, here we are...

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 twenty two: Clean Fragrance

Gem number twenty three: Touching The Moon

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Gem number twenty one

Last regular firing of the year, last gem for my collection. Although I am not that kind of person who celebrate Christmas in traditional Czech or Christian manner I like that closer of the year. New season is coming, light starts to move up. Time to clean studio and prepare ourselves for another round, new days of our lives.

There was several applicants for becoming gem this time. Finally I decided for teapot in Black Magda slip glaze. I like the shape, how it holds in hands and how nicely it pours. I also went for for piece with Black Magda surface because couple of weeks before the firing, we made a trip to refill our stock of this magical clay.

Several years ago, some bag of this natural material was given me by our friend potter Magda (yes, we call it Black Magda for that). Just to make some tests with it...we use it regularly since that, travelling two hundred kilometres time to time, just to dig out some clay in forest on edge of Krušné Hory. Some pictures and notes from recent trip are ready to be share with you, curious reader. But for now, just the reason for such trips: Teapot in natural glaze called Black Magda.

Well, as usually, before taking look at new pictures of new teapot, say goodby to its predecessor in the gem collection: Chawan named FireLand...

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 twenty one: Black Teapot

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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!