Bowls

A few years into making pots I had been talking trash one day to a friend, I was concerned about the cost of something I wanted and how I could possibly afford it.  My friend stated that he looked at my problem in terms of bowls I could make to be able to have it (30 bowls @ $5.00 each equals the price of the object I desired).  The object I wanted became history, but my fascination with the bowl has consumed my pottery life.
 
Big, little, square, round, tall, flat, altered and just plan strange have all been drawn through my fingers.  I stay preoccupied with bowls, good ones (you might be thinking that "Here we go again with the judgemental crap"or "what the hell does he know" frame of mind ).  I am looking at the form follows function ideal, focusing on a shape that feels very comfortable in my hand, the curve of the wall, the weight in relation to the size, the lip, the foot and inside of the bowl.
 
Bowls were the first shapes that I worked on as a beginning potter, and many influences have directed the avenues I went down over the years and it occupies a place in my work day.  The bowl is my warm up piece I throw to get me into "a throwing frame of mind."  By lunch I have warmed a bowl of ramen noodles or heated up a  bowl of hot tea to get the chill out of my hands and a warmth in my belly and by supper or late night I will have had something in a comfortable bowl I enjoy.  A friends bowls, my own, or some one I knew back when.  A functioning creation made with love, skill, patience and thoughtfulness.

Like a Navajo rug, I have never reached for the "perfect" bowl.  There is always a small area that I never tidy up, maybe some of those bad spirits need to have a way out.  I have never collected bowls,  so my collection is small, but they are used daily and satisfy my soul.

This bowl is one that I had done a very early reduction on and I kept the piece more so for the glaze than any other reason.  These shapes I have made for years, the shape allow the soup to stay warmer a little longer and comfort my cold hands.  The bowl is as it came out of the kiln, the glaze was not inked, nor is this raku.  It is cone 12 reduction on a white shino glaze.

The rim is straight up with a slight bulge to the outside at the lip.  I feel the foot is a bit out of proportion but gives a nice lift to the form.  The weight is balanced and the insides are smooth with just a hint of finger marks

Now, where is that pack of Ramen noodles?  Maria........