Chawan (Tea Bowl) Workshop with Euan Craig
$700 (2 days)
Sat 3 & Sun 4 Oct
9am - 3pm
(Lunch both days and Friday PM artist talk are included in the workshop)
For hundreds of years, “Sado” (the Tea Ceremony) has been at the pinnacle of Japanese Art and Culture. Central to the tea ceremony is the Chawan (Tea Bowl) itself, and many have become National Treasures, featuring in the most prestigious Art Museums and Collections. There are, however, many misunderstandings and misconceptions surrounding Chawan, what they are and are not. This workshop will explore and, hopefully, demystify the meaning, aesthetics and practical considerations of Chawan, and give the participants the skills and understanding they need to include Chawan in their own studio practice.
This is a two-day hands-on workshop providing demonstrations and hands-on making.
DAY 1
9:00am~9:30am; Short talk about Chawan (Tea Bowls), Domestic Chawan vs Tea Ceremony Chawan, culture, function and design considerations.
9:30am~10:00am; Demonstration of wedging clay & throwing different types of Chawan off the hump.
10:00am~12:00; Participants make a one ended cutting string (Shippiki), and a simple dragonfly measuring tool (Tombo), then wedge and start throwing small Nodate and Tenmoku Chawan forms.
12:00 ~ 1:00pm; Lunch
1:00pm~3:00pm; Quick reinforcement demonstration with focus on throwing Usucha (Thin Tea) and Koicha (Thick Tea) Chawan. Participants continue throwing.
Target Skills; Spiral wedging, Centering a large cone of clay and throwing off the hump, making and using a Shippiki and Tombo. Making a variety of shapes and sizes of Chawan.
DAY 2
9:00am~10:00; Demonstration of turning Chawan, consideration of foot design, how to make a chattering tool, Chattering, Jomon Rope Marking, and finishing rims.
10:00am~12:00; Participants aim to turn, decorate and finish the bowls made on day one.
12:00~1:00pm; Lunch Break
1:00pm~3:00pm; Finish tea bowls, conclude with a short discussion.
Target Skills: Turning, chattering, Jomon rope decoration, cutting and joining separately made parts, pulling handles.
Target Skills; Spiral wedging, Centering a large cone of clay and throwing off the hump, making and using a Shippiki and Tombo. Making a variety of shapes and sizes of Chawan.
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1 bag of clay (you are welcome to purchase more from Clayschool if you need)
The Artist talk on Friday PM is included in your ticket price.
If you have a particular clay or you would like to use please bring this to the workshop
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Recommended Workshop Materials
Your tool box with your throwing tools like cutter knife, throwing ribs, needle tool.
Apron and towel.
Sketchbook or notebook to take notes
We have some tools to share at Clayschool as well so if you’re unable to find or have this list there will be access to Clayschool tools
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Workshop runs 9am - 3pm both days and is a combination of demonstration and hands-on making.
Lunch and tea & coffee are included (Please let us know via email if you have any dietary requirements)
ARTIST BIO
Euan Craig, born 1964 in Melbourne Australia, grew up in the historic pottery town of Bendigo in Central Victoria. Due to family illness, his own asthma and wide exposure to the disabled, from an early age Euan addressed questions of existence and social values. As a result, at the age of fourteen he chose Pottery as a career path, not because of what he wanted to do, but because of who he wanted to be. While working part time at local potteries to earn tuition fees, he pursued an education in pottery, finally graduating from the Latrobe University with a BA in Ceramic Design in 1985. Three days after graduation he opened his first Studio Pottery in the Northern Victorian town of Swan Hill.
Influenced by the “Mingei” philosophy from his early career, in particular the healthy and natural beauty of functional art and the life style of potters like Shoji Hamada, Euan sold his pottery in Swan Hill to take up a position as production manager in a pottery in Mashiko, Japan in 1990. During that year he studied Japanese language intensively in his private time. In 1991 he was accepted as an apprentice “Deshi” by Tatsuzo Shimaoka, National Living Treasure. His time there studying the traditional process and the heart of Mingei has influenced his work philosophy ever since. After graduating from Shimaoka’s in 1992, he rented studios in Mashiko until establishing his own pottery there in 1994.
Dedicated to a wholesome and environmentally responsible lifestyle and work process, he developed a 1 cubic metre fast fire “eco” wood kiln practical for a single person production pottery. In 2000 he moved his home and studio to a traditional farmhouse in the neighbouring town of Ichikai, where he lived with his wife and four children until the earthquake and nuclear disaster of 2011. He has now established a new studio and earthquake resistant kiln in a 140 year old farm house in Minakami, Japan.
Euan has held numerous solo and group exhibitions, taught workshops and summer schools and presented at art conferences and forums in Japan, Australia, the United Kingdom and Denmark. He has also written and been featured in many articles for magazines, newspapers, radio and television in Japan, Australia, the United States and Europe. Euan was a member of the Japan Mingei Association until his resignation in 2020, and is recognized internationally as a master of Mashiko Mingei.