This teabowl is my favorite black bowl.  It reminds me of clouds on a cold autumn night and brings me internal warmth whenever I hold it.  The subtle colors on this bowl are incredible.   At first glance one believes this bowl is black but as your eyes adjust yellows, reds and even hints of purple emerge.   At first glance, the bowl is quiet but as ones heart adjusts, its voice is heard.  The bowl was a gift from the gamma.     

     Thrown on a slow wheel, it moves in its stillness.  Subtle in color, it does not overpower the tea.  It is both stable in hand and on foot. 

     The unusual coloring comes from being fired with wood in the large smokey shenogama with a classic shino glaze.  The shenogama, at 60 ft in length, is America’s largest anagama type wood kiln.  It was built principally by Ken Shenstone, thus  my name for it.

     Koreans might refer to the shenogama as a modified yonggama.

                    (For more photos of this bowl please contact me.)