contemplation 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/

Porcelain Contemplation 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

contemplation bowls

during my MFA course in ceramics, I developed an authentic connection with Mother Nature while making ‘earth vessels’ in natural crevices in the earth.

As this connection grew, I was able to translate the feelings I had absorbed from my surroundings and materials, while making in nature, and transpose them to functional ware back in my studio. Recalling my experience making on location, felt like an echo of sorts, a primal remembering/

Consequently, it felt apt to create a form to be held in the hands, acting as an activator for contemplation; a container for people’s thoughts, musings and mindful exploration – my hope being that they would resonate with the origin source of my inspiration (biophilic connection with nature), so they too could find sanctuary in her arms/

to take fine porcelain in one’s hands and intuitively form the material on the Potter’s Wheel, is a privilege in itself. As Edmund de Waal says in his book ‘The White Road’, “if you make things in porcelain clay, you exist in the moment”. What’s more, being a Reiki Master Teacher, I am able to raise the resonant frequency of the porcelain even higher, so the user can benefit – a beautiful pairing of light energies.

after the porcelain form is made, I take wild clay slips and allow my remembering to fall out onto the surface with intuitive markings. This is a beautiful process enabling trust, flow and surrender. Finally, the inner space of the vessel is covered with a water tight glaze for functional use, should the user wish to eat from the bowl/

Edmund de Waal also likend porcelain vessels to chalices (objects that hold light). My wish, is that each contemplation bowl brings a little more light into the holders hands – to be utilised for their greatest and highest good/

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