Mashima

While Jeff was away in South Korea I read the Newberry Award winning children's book, " A Single Shard"by Linda Sue Park. A customer recommended the book to me and being a big fan of children's lit, I had to read it. I thoroughly enjoyed the story which wove a tale of the introduction of inlay work to South Korea in the mid to late 12th century.
As you know, Jeff came home with lots of little pots. Many with sgraffito designs and a few with porcelain inlay, also known as Mashima. He chose these pots because he knew that the carving and inlaid designs would inspire me...
I did some reading online as well as referring to my "go to" book for surface decoration, "Surface Design for Ceramics" by Maureen Mills. Maureen is the head of the ceramics department at the NH Institute of Art. I decided to try two methods of inlay. First was from Maureen's book, using a slip trailer to inlay the porcelain into my carved designs:

This worked best for vases which needed to be trimmed prior to the inlay. It was easy to clean up the excess slip with a scrubby but I did have some issues with the porcelain and stoneware drying unevenly.

Next I did some tiles where I carved them when moist and applied the slip with a brush immediately after:

Once the tiles were almost dry, I used a scrubby to remove the excess slip and reveal the inlay pattern:

This method was quickest for applying the porcelain slip and for the most even drying of the two clays, but it was a lot of work to clean up. I am not a fan of creating so much dust, I did it outside and really should have worn a mask. It was so darn humid today that I couldn't bring myself to wear one.
I am going to try two different glazes on these. Temple white, which is a translucent glaze and Celadon.

Jeff and I also collaborated on this little teapot...

Korean teapots are very small... this one fits in the palm of your hand. It was quite challenging to carve a design into!
Jeff may have been the one that made the trip to Korea, but his visit has inspired us both!

return of the gypsy potter...

Jeff finally arrived in Greensboro this morning after missing his connecting flight in San Francisco yesterday. He couldn't get a flight east until 11:00 pm which made his long journey even longer. He was totally wiped out but even as we were loading his bags in the car he started taking treasures out of his suitcase to show me. When we got home is was like Christmas morning, except things were wrapped in socks and t-shirts! I couldn't believe what he managed to get in his suitcase.

 A brick of tea... the fanciest I have ever seen. This is tea from China that Jeff bought at the festival. He also brought some matcha powdered tea home, along with a whisk. I think I see a tea ceremony in our future.

 Beautiful sgraffito plate and on the left is Soju in a very fancy bottle. Soju is like vodka only slightly sweeter.

 These tiny treasures may be my favorites. Traditional Korean Inlay designs.

 I took this photo to give you a sense of size, like I said, tiny treasures!

 This is just a small sampling of the sake cups that he either purchased or traded for. Potters wrap their cups and tea bowls in beautiful scarves that have their contact information printed on them. Most often they are then placed in a wood box. This one is from the daughter of Korea's National Treasure. I am not sure that I placed the correct cup on top of the box. Jeff was fast asleep when I took these and I wasn't about to wake him up to ask! I really like the one in the foreground on the left. My quick photos doesn't do it justice. I appreciate the respect that pottery is given in Asian countries, wrapped in silk, placed in a special box. No newspaper or plastic bags. Jeff did bring a pot home in a paper bag and it was beautifully printed... I will try to get a picture of it. 

 LOVE, LOVE, LOVE!!!

 and each panel is different

This is Jeff's certificate for winning the special prize for the Korean kick wheel competition... the only thing I can understand is Jeff Brown! The tissue paper on the left  has brush work and says something about Jeff and I already forgot what the story was behind that one.

This is only a small sample of treasures. There are many more little cups, little dishes, Korean wine, handmade jackets for both of us, and more scarves for me.

As soon as he awakens from his travel coma, I will have pictures and video from MunGyeong.