chawan tea bowls

each tree vessel I make responds to the time I have spent studying and connecting with a specific tree.  An intimate moment, where I choose to listen to the tree’s wisdom and essence of being. Not only do the physical attributes speak to me, such as bark texture, branch formation, folds and crevices; it’s about the energy dialogue between us/

Chawan Tea Bowl (2024) By Sonya Wilkins Ceramics

from Crab Apple trees, to Poplars, to Scotts Pine and Sequoia, the choice of exploration and understanding is endless. The variety even within each species never ceases to inspire me/

often I form the grounded base on the Potter’s Wheel, throwing stoneware clay while remembering…then I build upwards in coils, blending, pressing, cutting and folding. Coiling conjures the same concentric circles which represent a tree’s life, much like each coiled layer represents a moment in making time in my own life, in my studio/

The completed form is finished with wild clay slips which I forage from various locations on my travels. The inner space of the vessel is covered with a water tight glaze for functional use/

every tree vessel is unique, some even made incorporating woven willow and wire to suggest reaching branches; each one is marked with my signature ‘S’ on the base

chawan tea bowls

chawan means ‘tea bowl’ in Japanese. Japan’s love of chawan dates back over 800 years, to when tea was first introduced to the country from the Chinese mainland. Jian ware chawan (or Tenmoku) were coveted among Japanese upper class for their perfect aesthetic. Centuries later, a more humble and rustic style emerged called ‘Ido chawan’. If Tenmoko bowls are heavenly, then Ido chawan come straight from the Earth…

this duality captured my attention in my own making practise – the dance between perfection and chance, between control and freedom; not only relatable to my own temperament and how I navigate life, but also how I respond to, and work with clay/

my chawan are a joy to make; they offer a moment where I can be free, handing over my human constraints to a higher power. I allow the clay and slip to tell me how they want to exist; I am simply the conduit in this organic unravelling/

each chawan is unique, a moment in time captured and expressed through clay. Even the slip and glaze are applied spontaneously; one touch, one stoke, each timeless. The foot is carved according to traditional methods and I inscribe my name into the base using Japanese Kanji/

I offer three colour ways, all using a traditional ‘shino’ base glaze. One orange and milky cream; another reduction fired to olive green in a wood fired kiln and a darker ‘inky’ colour created by the inclusion of ash. Which one will you choose? Or should I say, which one will choose you?

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