Event Report by Nicholas Jones
On Saturday, November 29th, Helen Kong and Sorlie Madox at Secret Teatime welcomed 8 JETAA members into their studio for a Japanese-inspired pottery making session. Helen and Sorlie are both JET alumni themselves, and at Secret Teatime they apply their personal experience with Tea Ceremony and Japanese pottery. They guide participants in the hand-forming of traditional bowls and cups, which they then professionally glaze.
Having never before had any experience with pottery myself, I really appreciated Helen and Sorlie’s style, which was at once relaxed and very informative. They seemed less interested in dictating what a traditional cup/bowl should look like and more interested in guiding us in the creation of unique, personal pieces. They had offered to help us create either three small cups or two large bowls, but they didn’t bat an eye when some of us decided to make two large cups.They were similarly patient with us when we missed a step, screwed something up, or needed salvaging from our frankesteinian creations. Helen and Sorlie were even kind enough to praise the JETAA members who attended for having an intrinsic Japanese style to our pottery making, seemingly informed by our years spent in Japan.
Though the physical creation of the pottery pieces was a lot of fun, the step that really brings them to life is the glazing of each piece, which is the step that adds colour to and seals the clay of your pot or cup. Though the Secret Teatime folks glaze your pieces for you after the fact, they let you pick out a unique glaze for each of your pieces. There are more than a dozen glazes to choose from, and all of them have been crafted and curated by Helen and Sorlie to resemble classic Japanese colourings and finishes.
You might not think that a little bit of colouring and finish can add that much to a piece, but just check out the before and after shots of my own pieces. Before they were glazed, I thought they were pretty cool, but I was happy to give them away as christmas presents to friends or family. However, after the glazing process, they both looked so nice and utterly Japanese that I decided there was no way I could part with either one of them!
Though JETAA usually runs only one pottery session at Secret Teatime in the run up to the holidays, Helen and Sorlie are open and ready to welcome visitors to their studio throughout the week and on weekends. What’s more, the group of us who attended this event had such a good time that we’re already talking about arranging another JETAA trip to the studio. If you’d be interested in joining us for it, fire an email to events@staging.jetaatoronto.ca, or to book your own visit, check http://www.secretteatime.com/.