The Way of Tea
Shiro Tsujimura – potter
Shiro Tsujimura is one of the most prominent contemporary ceramic artists of our time and is considered a living legend in Japan.I fell in love with his work when I saw the video that is posted below. Then a week ago I went to a new art space Assembly in Monticello,...
The Rikyu movie
Sen Rikyu, (1522 - 1591) was the greatest tea master of his age and directly influenced the Japanese tea ceremony as we know it today. I have been a long time tea student and saw this film when it first came out in 1989, but just recently saw it again online. It's a...
The Color of the Mountains
Many people are surprised to find that Chanoyu, the Japanese tea ceremony, is not a ceremony at all. Chanoyu literally means "hot water for tea" and is a Zen art. Its four hundred year history is filled with stories of Zen personalities and Tea masters whose practice...
Tea Style Video
Japanese Aesthetics Through A Tea Bowl
"Ceramics is one of the few arts that go beyond the self - the artist's ego - and into the realm of prayer." Raku Kichizaemon, the fifteenth grand master of the Raku line of potters, creates avant-garde works of ceramic art rooted in 450 years of tradition. With a tea...
The World in a Bowl of Tea
It is bright and clear this San Francisco morning as I arrive for my tea lesson. I climb the steps of an ordinary looking building, walk through the door, and enter the world of tea. The fragrance of incense and the gentle rustling of my sensei's kimono greet me from...
A Japanese Garden
Here is a beautiful quote from the curator of the Portland Japanese Garden, Sadafumi Uchiyama. He expresses the essence of a tea garden and for me, the essence of Japanese art and culture.
Deconstruction of a tea house
This is a fascinating deconstruction of a tea house. It's all glass, whereas tea houses of the past were dark, enclosed spaces where you could hardly see. Light and shadow were paramount aspects. But here - all is revealed. I would love to have tea in this space....
Trillium satori
Yesterday, as I was walking through my garden with a friend, she discovered this wonderful and mysterious Trillium - a precious, native orchid. It was hidden away and I had no idea it was in the garden. Did I plant this years ago and forget about it? A Trillum is...
