Sunday, January 18, 2015

Happy New Year!

This is my recent acquisition for chanoyu, a tanzaku-bako, traveling box for Japanese tea ceremony.
I chose the utensils especially to make tea for 2 potter-artist friends who came to visit last week. We had great times in the past, sharing our passion for making pottery and presenting tea ceremony.


This arrangement is just for the photo-record, not the way they are used for making tea.

top shelf: Hagi chawan from Japan.

middle shelf:
shino chawan by Dale Neese, Texas potter.

bottom shelf:
mizusashi / fresh water jar, by me.

in front, L-R:
bamboo chasen/whisk,
dark bamboo chashaku/tea scoop,
bamboo hishaku/ladle
on a sankanjin style futaoki / lid rest from Japan,
black natsume / tea caddy (maple, pine and gingko leaf design),
shino chawan by Angela Rogers, Austin TX potter.

My sunroom/tearoom, ready to make tea for friends. Since it's winter, the kettle is in a ro/ sunken hearth, between host and guests, to create a sense of warmth. The scroll "Thus Now" was chosen to remind us that sharing tea with friends after many years apart is a very special occasion.