tea and tête-à-tête

Rich puffs of invigorating aroma gurgling tenderly over a gentle flame, steady hands, impatient fingers tapping away softly at the counter, blurry thoughts, long nights and complex bites of life. It felt as if, it hid something somewhere within it’s brooding bubbling. Somewhere deep within its intoxication was an answer to the unfathomable. Magical, almost mythical is intoxication, just as ‘the unfathomable’ is alluring. Tea, almost magically landed into our lives when tea leaves mysteriously flew into Emperor Shen Nung’s cup of hot water on a cold raw morning around 2700 BC in China.

Tea itself and its uses have evolved since the days of old and yet unlike the ways of the ancient, It has never lost it’s demand. From traditions like the Sado (tea ceremony) and swanky tea parties to impeccably packed packets or more commonly referred to ‘tea bags’, tea has undoubtedly seeped into the finer fabric of life.

It became a curious thought for me that how little I had noticed tea’s lingering presence in my life. Well, being an obstinate coffee devotee, tea was never my choice. I was a late entry into tea’s lair. Only recently had my interest diverged towards it, probably after my first slip casting project. We were required to design a teapot. While discussing the project my teacher mentioned how having tea at her place required all manner of propriety and preparations, something I had only come to see at the end of formal dinners at my place. I thought, surly one could not be expected to set-up a proper tea-set along with a tea-cozy before tea, why would it demand such respect, it was after all only a beverage. I had to see for myself to understand.

I have come to believe, the true tea enthusiast would only be able to answer my questions. I on the other hand have only reached a state where I can appreciate and indulge in tea, be it green, black or any other color.

The project required us to design the teapot, produce it’s molds, formulate 1200̊c casting slip and glazes and the final teapots, fired to their temperature, and completely functional.

This was my very first multi-piece mold. Section .A labeled underneath was a the two piece section of the main body and spout of the teapot. Section .B labeled underneath was a one piece section of the lid rest and Section .C labeled underneath was a one piece section of the foot.

detailed and separated documentation during the mold making process labeled as per the already labeled sections:

Next step was formulating the casting slip and the glazes. A number of glazes were tested on a spare teapot :

Apart from the regular color experiments in plain base glazes i also tried experimenting with copper, rubbing oxides, glaze splashing, dipping, crazing, crackling glazes, Indian ink, pressure spraying and brushing.

One of the requirement was a clean teapot without any glaze on the outside.

the last two pictures underneath were just an experiment with form, wax emulsion and thick casting slip.

I have come to realize life is too short, and provides us with too few opportunity for us to waste. Too few for us to be able to label situations and things undesirable without even having to judge them or without even trying to connect with them and the pleasures they may behold.

styles

Analyzing different and unique working styles:






out of the four styles used, one was selected to make a final piece.
my inspiration was anna hole's work where she creates huge structures that form fire sculptures. they are covered with ceramic blankets and then fired once.



The final firing still remains. - this blog will be updated as soon as that happens.

sentarse ??

"SEATS"

5th semester started with a head long dive into the formulation of salt bodies that could be used for ‘The functional seats project’. This assignment encompassed everything, from the selection of a location for the outdoor seats (within the campus), inspiration, design, process, final completed seats to their final firings.

I felt I would like to design my seats for a place that was peaceful. A place, that would be comforting and inviting for quiet contemplation, something that I quite savor. For this purpose alone I chose a lonely corner with a few trees that had a beautiful foliage cover which would allow in screened sunlight and heat in the hot summers.

My seats would be low and close to the ground since I felt that would be the best pose to feel and appreciate the view. By the view I mean the surrounding ambiance. The height of the trees along with their shimmering translucent leaves in the sunlight, the sharpness of stature and loftiness of the colonial architecture of the nassurwanje campus, the pond, the ever so populated canteen and the stretch of green.

It is around March that the best feature of the spot reveals itself to those who would be willing to connect. When the sun decides to shine down with all its might, huge shades of cream canvas are hung up to the many poles that adorn the grounds.

I chanced to discover its beauty myself one evening when I ended a 3 hour shift for a 1280̊c firing, and decided a short break was much needed. I randomly sat by that tree and closed my eyes trying a bit too hard, to block out life while vicious calculations of time and temperature scrutinized my patience, and thoughts of the gas kiln that boisterously rumbled away mercilessly disregarding any forms of punctuality eroded my peace. It was a delicate summer evening, a starry sky, and the sea breezes swept the grounds. It was their sweeping everything including the shades that precariously fluttered and made reverberating sounds that made me feel I was standing at a cliff with a lashing sea beneath me, and the furious wind whipping my clothes. It was a beautiful feeling, I suppose something that cannot be explained by mere words. Maybe all that I said sounds like a jargon of a confused or text with no subject matter. However, in all simplicity, the feeling was of peace like the quiet cooing of pigeons or rain drops falling on a tin roof or the smooth shifting of gears on a highway or the ruffling of dry leaves in the autumn winds or maybe like the silent sounds of a melodious river running its course.

Anyhow, the river drags me along to my inspirations for this project. River eroded pebbles, their cracks of erosion, rock strata, texture and color was my inspiration. How the water silently yet mischievous carves out niches from the pebbles, smoothes it, loves it, yet destroys it, and all the while defining beauty in all its devastation, sounded just like life. I realized during this project that exaggerations, subtlety, intricacy, sophistication and simplicity, these are traits are not easy to understand, yet nature so effortlessly employs them, and mocks us for our ignorance and foolish attempts towards uncovering it’s myths.

The seats had to have strength to withstand weight so a rib-cage like strength mechanism was formulated, something, that my teacher had suggested and it worked just fine. It was a working method that she had seen a fellow ceramist use to make her huge pieces during her residency in South Africa.

Although the project was exciting, and I had very high hopes, the result wasn’t close to what I had envisioned. I felt I could have done a much better job. In all, four pieces were erected out of which two decimated during their inception since the clay body was not plastic enough and apparently the scale was a big too large for it to handle.

(the pieces that did not survive)

The other two were then made from another clay body. From the remaining two that were completed and bisque, one developed a crack in the center of the seat but is still quite comfortable and strong enough to withstand a considerable amount of weight. The last piece, which is undoubtedly my favorite survived without any flaws.

These two still await their final fate in the wood kiln.