American Teapots

[Oni]

I think tea culture should be about nature, bringing a touch of spring into your cup in any season, communicate with nature through a cup of tea, tea should be natural, made from healthy organic old plants, that has absorbed the scent and essence of nature, it shouldn`t be teabags, and artificial flavouring and commercialized, people should get to know the wonder of "real tea", instead they mass produce crappy tea, and they over use chemicals till the plants die, pick it with machienes and grind it up, they put those little white balls (artificial flavouring) to the "teadust" in your teabag and they call it tea, there are no health benefits and you cannot feel the qi nor the aroma, a good tea should remind you of the scents of the mountains where it was produced.
The teaware and the ambient should be artistic and in harmony with the values of tea culture, I really think tea culture should be like I read about it at www.the-leaf.org , the way Nada and Aaron Fisher, Scott Wilson, James Norwood Pratt and the chinese masters describe it, and these values that they talk about apply to the whole world we live in philosophically.
P.S. I have no problem with any nation, I have a problem with the whole world I live in, Man forgot that he is part of nature, not the master of it.
I have a problem with pollution, overpopulation of the planet, gene-modification, not using green energy, imperialism,

[Firebug Pottery]

I think tea culture should be about nature, bringing a touch of spring into your cup in any season, communicate with nature through a cup of tea, tea should be natural, made from healthy organic old plants, that has absorbed the scent and essence of nature, it shouldn`t be teabags, and artificial flavouring and commercialized, people should get to know the wonder of "real tea", instead they mass produce crappy tea

I think this is a statement that we can ALL agree with

[Oni]

I think art is a form of self expression, and also a way of comunication to the masses, you have to have something to say with your art, I believe if Pagace Pagasari can make beatiful chawans, and I would like to own one, maybe other western artists could make something of great value.

[AdamMY]

I think art is a form of self expression, and also a way of comunication to the masses, you have to have something to say with your art, I believe if Pagace Pagasari can make beatiful chawans, and I would like to own one, maybe other western artists could make something of great value.

Granted I look over my teaware collection, which contains pieces from only 3 Western Artists. Granted there can be many different definitions of value, but lately I have been using pieces from the western artists more and more and more. My Chicago potter pink shino is wonderfully crafted and I use it for black tea and Balhyocha when I want to get away from tiny little cups. My Shyrabbit cup I use because stylistically I find it amazing in terms of tactility. My third piece by an American artist and actually the first one I got, is a BearsBearsBears Chawan, granted I have not used this one lately, but I have been meaning to test it out in terms of granny style preparation of tea in a Chawan. As the few times I made Matcha in it, there were a few things I loved about it, one of those being of all my pieces it is possibly my favorite to hold in my hand when it is filled with warm tea.

[rdl]

I think art is a form of self expression, and also a way of comunication to the masses, you have to have something to say with your art, I believe if Pagace Pagasari can make beatiful chawans, and I would like to own one, maybe other western artists could make something of great value.

as a western, post enlightenment concept, sure. but certainly not a universal definition of art. but since "maybe other western artists could make something of great value" i'll take another look at my western-made pieces. i still hold to the idea that just looking at the tea ware from artisans on this site, there is great value there. not just financial, but aesthetic.

[JBaymore]

Story....... likely apochraphal:

A Zen tea master hands his acolyte a chawan. He then asks, "What is the most important attrubute of this Chawan? I will return tomorrow for the answer." and leaves the room.

The student ponders and ponders for hours and hours. He cannot sleep. He studies the kodai intently. He makes matcha in it and contemplates the way the residue collects in the chadamari. He holds the bowl endlessly in his hands in different positions, feeling the form. He gazes intently at every millimeter of the glaze surface. He presses the guchi to his lips and relishes the feel.

His master returns the next morning and says, "What have you learned?"
The student tells his master of his studies, and how he cannot pick out the most important attribute; it is a fine chawan in so many ways.

The master says simply, "It holds tea".

best,

.............john

[JBaymore]

American institutions do not train students to become potters, but Artists (with a capital A).

I have to disagree with this broad generalization. SOME American institutions do not train students to become potters, but artists.

best,

..........john

[JBaymore]

Japan had no native tea culture either. They had to copy from China....

Bingo!

best,

.............john

[JBaymore]

At least there are people out there (Americans, Japanese, Chinese, CZ, AU, UK, etc...) that are taking the time to create handmade wares for the brewing and consumption of tea. Some are better that others, some are pure dreck -- across all regions and nationalities.

Cutting to the chase here.... NICE!

Some of the worst schlock claywork I've seen for pottey is in the "famous ceramic center" of Mashiko, Japan ... home to good folks like Hamada Shoji, Shimaoka Tatsuzo, Matsuzaki Ken, Kamoda Shoji and many others.

It is NOT about nationality.

best,

...........john

[rdl]

Story....... likely apocryphal:

this is a perfect story because many prefer the apocryphal to reality. maybe that's why "western' has this negative attached to it.
imagine feeling an asian could not/should not use a fork and knife at the dinner table. absurd! but the imagination soars in the apocryphal, if that's the realm one chooses to dwell in.
thanks for chiming in, john. i don't work in clay so i really don't have the convincing power you have in this discussion.

[JBaymore]

imagine feeling an asian could not/should not use a fork and knife at the dinner table. absurd!

When I m working in Japan with a bunch of non-Japanese and Japanese....... often at the dinner table all the gaijin (foreigners) are using hashi (chopsticks) and the Japanese are often all using knives and forks .

We all have a good laugh about it.

best,

...........john