I generally work on a three week cycle of making, glazing and firing. At the start of each new cycle, I like to get warmed up by making a few tea bowls, or chawan. The forms are simple and the throwing is relaxed. It's a good time to become centred again about clay and the kinds of pieces planned for the next firing. The tea bowls are also a good starting point for a day of glazing.

A tea bowl is a fine example of the kind of continuum that is often seen in pottery, that moves through philosophy, art and science. The design of one often aims for a sophisticated simplicity — difficult to achieve! — that lends itself to quiet contemplation and appreciation of the piece. As well, the science of glazing and firing play a crucial role.

The diameter of most tea bowls relates to the traditional width of a rice bowl. By touching your thumb tips together, and your middle finger tips together, you make a circle about 11 - 12 cm in diameter — the width of many tea bowls. This size is comfortable to hold.

I've been making tea bowls for about forty years. Here are a five examples.

This is one of my earliest tea bowls. It was raku fired in 1969 and it's 7 cm tall and 11.3 cm wide. The three black dots along the lower edge are finger marks from when the bowl was dipped in the glaze.

A hand built tea bowl made of porcelain with a wood ash glaze, and iron decoration. It was fired to cone 10 reduction. I only make a few things in porcelain every year. This piece is about 8.5 cm tall and 14 cm wide. It was made in 2008.

This hand built tea bowl has a temmoku glaze which makes a pleasant background for the bright green tea used in tea ceremony. The exterior has brush strokes in iron and titanium that flow and crystallize slightly during the firing and cooling. This tea bowl was fired to cone 10 reduction, and it is 9 cm tall and 14.3 cm wide. It was made in 2007.

This piece has an unglazed outer surface. The colour and texture comes from a terra sigillata that I make from a local clay, plus a black vitreous slip. It has a saturated iron glaze on the interior. This tea bowl is about 9 cm tall and 12 cm wide. It was made in 2007.

This hand built tea bowl is made of porcelain, and it has an apple wood ash glaze . This tea bowl was fired to cone 10 reduction and it is 7.2 cm tall and 12 cm wide. It was made in 2007.

There is one more example of a tea bowl on my Links page.