When I opened the door of my studio, it sounded like an airplane taking off. Sure enough, this weird looking car is working on the yard. Huge blower heater with car is blowing and melting ice and snow from the turnout. The studio smells like kerosene. We are expecting frigid weather this week, below zero. We had enough winter!
Teapot. It has dried overnight well enough to show these off. Good balanced teapot can stand up on its handle. One is very stable, and the other is trying. It is about the center of the gravity, and pouring the tea at ease by twisting the handle. However, this does not mean that the teapot does not stand is bad one at all. Each people’s hand is different, and people should find the one fit to your hand.
The cut of the sprout is a bit tilted to 10:17 (clock). This is because the clay will recoil counter-clockwise during the drying and firing as I threw the sprout on the wheel clockwise.
Like you twist a rubber band, and it will rewind itself. There are no definite way to figure how much it rewinds, I think.
I had the glaze firing today last year. I am way behind….
I broke my teapot recently and needed replacement.. I worked on the teapot over the weekend. Here are the parts for the teapot.
Bodies, covers, handles and sprouts are wheel thrown. Bodies and covers are made yesterday, and are ready to trim, when I throw the sprout and the handle. Handle is a bit different. Teapot is small, one cups or so. Green tea tends to brew quickly, and you do not want leave it in the teapot for long time. If you are serving to several cups, pour the equal amount to all cups (each cup) at a time, and repeat the process. So every cup has the same strength of tea, and temperature. I make the built-in strainer, I explained before, usually with 3mm pipe, but bought 2mm pipe for this one. I can put more holes, close to 100. With my new eyeglass, this turned out very time consuming project. I could not focus very well, and kept making the hole at wrong spot.
I am getting close to the first bisque of 2009.
Some of my teapot has built-in strainer, which has about 50 holes, and I have been asked about the loose tea with the teapot in the past.
Today, I bought the finest (smallest) loose leaf tea, Ceylon Fannings, which is shredded Ceylon tea. I heard that this Ceylon tea is enjoyed with lots of milk in the morning when you want something strong.
I brewed the tea with boiling hot water, and poured into the mugs. It is good idea to warm up the teapot before pouring the boiling water to avoid thermal shock. I saw some loose leaves in the bottom of mugs, but insignificant.
Modern teapots incorporate the mesh strainer, which is very effective, but loses some enjoyment. When brewing the Japanese green tea, very rarely, a stem of tea passes through the strainer and it stands up in the tea . We believe this is good luck, and you are supposed to drink it without mentioning to others. “Ochabashira. (tea stalk) Tea is standing up.”
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