Yunomi cups by Hanna Nussmeier of La Paisible Ceramics

I recently purchased a set of two meoto yunomi cups from La Paisible Ceramics through Etsy.com.
http://www.etsy.com/transaction/50730380

 

 Meoto means married couple and yunomi is a Japanese tea cup. These cups have a great appeal to me.
They give the impression of being a simple set of cups that are rough and unfinished, but that does not mean they were made by unskilled hands. The maker of these cups is reaching for a higher aesthetic, creating a record of her efforts and the process from start to finish.

The maker's tool marks have been left on the foot of the cup, on the rim and in the deliberate cracking of the surface which gives it the look and feel of the surface of a brick.  These marks are left as ornamentation. I really like the faceted surface with the squeezed indents where my hand just naturally falls into place.  It feels like it was meant to be held, an often unmet requirement of a functional pottery cup.  

 The glaze or even lack of glaze on the surface of these cups talks to me about the firing process and the type of kiln that they have been through.  In my mind a wood firing is a journey where you take all of your loved ones into a very difficult place and none make it through unmarked by the process. Some do not make it at all, while a few seem to be in the right place at the right time.  These fortunates  go into the kiln plain, simple and unadorned, but inside they are transformed into something exquisite.

 As a potter I know that a kiln firing never gives you 100 percent perfect results, there are just too many variables. So when someone with the skill and talent to wood fire yunomi offers to sell such fine results of a difficult process, I am impressed enough to be a happy customer.



I hope all the best for Hanna Nussmeier in her La Paisible Ceramics shop on Etsy.com.  You can see and purchase other pottery by Hanna Nussmeier through her Etsy store.
http://www.etsy.com/shop/LaPaisibleCeramics?ref=seller_info

With Hanna's permission I have used one of the cups I purchased from her as a photo prop in my own Burlchaser Etsy shop.  Follow this link to see it.  
http://www.etsy.com/listing/76643692/curly-swirly-oak-burl-wood-spoon