Every other year, in conjunction with the Global Studies’ focus on East/Southeast Asia, Ms. Mosley’s Art 2 class learns to make tea bowls on the potter’s wheel. They also complete a hand building project that complements the study of Japanese ceramic forms with the incorporation of specific aesthetic qualities and design principles. You can learn more here: https://www.mosleyart.com/project-descriptions1/chawan-japanese-tea-bowls.
Raku:
1) Japanese hand-modeled pottery that is fired at a low temperature and rapidly cooled, and
2) a process by which pottery is fired at a relatively low temperature and then moved while hot to a closed container with combustible materials (as paper or sawdust) that ignite and cause a reaction creating colors and patterns in the pottery’s surface; also: pottery produced using this process.
The wheel-thrown tea bowls are usually raku-fired in December but the weather did not cooperate this year. With some luck, the class will try to raku THIS Wednesday during 5th period. Don’t be concerned if you see/smell smoke and flames…it’s just us, doing our thing!
