One of my favorite things to do is to impress clay with a short piece of rope. The technique is an old one — about 10,000 years – which the ancient Jomon culture of Japan used on their own pots. It seems like a natural enough thing to do, since "cords," which is a more accurate description,  were an everyday necessity  back then. These days we still use a lot of rope, especially in the fishing industry around were I live. I like to think that somehow I'm continuing this long tradition in my own work. 

I have been experimenting with this new tea bowl form where I split the wall in half with a bow wire while the pot slowly turns on the wheel. By weaving my hand back-and-forth in a tight arc, a ripple effect emerges from where the wall is split. The small white area near the top is inlaid porcelain, which was meant to look like veins of quartz, but I didn't embed the porcelain deep enough, so most of it was lost. Next time I try this, I'll make sure the inlay goes deeper into the clay before splitting the wall.

Today I stopped by Vince Montague studio to pay a visit. A wonderful afternoon of talking about pots, books, and life in general.

Our friend, Gerow Reese, prepares a bowl of matcha for us in his wonderful tea room. Always a pleasure to visit.

Been spending some down time at the Japanese Tea Garden in San Francisco. Always an inspiring way to spend a few hours.

Marion and I had a wonderful time at our friend's, David's, apartment where we spent hours devouring "snacks" that he prepared, talking tea and looking at his wonderful collection of Kyushus and Hobins.