I love making tea bowls because every tea bowl you make is a unique, individual artefact. There are never two the same in the world, so even though you are making a batch of fifty, each particular one is its own character, has its own characteristics after you have made it, glazed it and fired it. I like to develop a broad repertoire of designs, colours and shapes, always striving for improvement, so you are hoping to gain a little bit more than you got from your last lot.

People love using tea bowls because it’s a lovely experience to hold a warm cup of tea in your hands, in an object that has been hand-made, which is unique, which is a very intimate experience because it is a tactile thing. Visually, it can also be a contemplative experience because the colours and the textures and the surface and the shape of the object can calm your mind and make you feel peaceful or calm and comfortable, and you are drinking from it so it’s a whole sensory experience.

I think people buy more than one tea bowl and collect them and need to have a series around the house because they are beautiful things and rather than just have one, if you have several then you can rotate them and perhaps use a different one each day of the week and they are like friendly companions to have around the house.

If you would like to contact The Tea Bowl Company please call 01225 85 88 88 or email [email protected]