My newest pieces are my own take on akae. My style is more colorful than the traditional akae. The pieces are tools for o-toso, which are sake pot and three different sized cups for sake. Since I've never seen o-toso sets in colors other than red, I decided to followe tradition and created a red set as well.
It took me almost one year to complete the four pieces. Although I had hoped to take them to the art show in Italy last year, unfortunately, I couldn't meet the dead line. So, after returning from Italy, I kept working on these. Now, I'm very happy to finally share my completed pieces.
Since these are ceremonial tools for New Year celebrations, I wanted them to feel vibrant and festive. I'm quite satisfied with the results. They look gorgeous!
I painted underside of the sake cups too. The most challenging part was connecting the designs on the pot and the cups, so they would feel cohesive as a set.
Now, I'm working on a porcelain tile, a teapot with a matching cup and saucer, a plate and more. I’ll be excited to share them with you soon!
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This is beyond beautiful!! Your dedication has lead to outstanding results! I have always loved red ceramics, they feel very special. The detail underneath really ties it all together. I used to do ceramics a few year ago. Do you paint it with a glaze or is painted after firing? Do you have a post on your process? I would love to read it.
Thank you so much for reading and commenting! That's really cool that you used to do ceramics! Did you create them or just paint on them? I've never created ceramics and I'm a china painter (American English). I've painted on underglaze, but I prefer painting on overglaze because I can use more colors. Plus, it's much friendly to my electric kiln. I've posted several step-by-step pictures here. I hope you can enjoy looking around!
https://journaly.com/post/42029
https://journaly.com/post/44125
https://journaly.com/post/41750
Thank you!
They are indeed georgeous. Such fine craftsmanship (craftswomenship). Such attention to detail. Such patience. Looks a like a tea pot but is in fact, an alcohol pot with a spout. I'd never seen one before & so was quite surprised to see a spout. Though upon reflection, the Asturians use a type of spout in their cider drinking, where they pour from 'high'. At arms length, like we used to do in the English tea parties of my youth. I've been to a few chinese Zen tea ceremonies, which I enjoyed. The Toso ceremonies sound lovely. Is it tasty ? BTW, IMO, these are worth photographing 'professionally'.
Amazing work, Yumi!!!!! 🤩
@Adam123 Wow, thanks for the compliment! Some people say o-toso is tasty, but it's better for your health. Usually sake bottles don't have a spout, and o-toso pots are unique, but I didn't realise that until I read your comment. Although I thought Zen was a Japanese thing, Chinese Zen tea sounds very interesting. Thank you for pointing out the photo. I totally agree with you. When I put these sets up for sale on websites, I will definitely have to take the best professional looking photos.
@Zobayda Thank you so much!!!!
As always, your essay was fantastic. But I'm blown away by these pieces. They are amazing! I can see the hard earned skill. Thanks for sharing them!
@JPNsally Thank you for the compliment! I'm so glad to hear it. Of course, Roma was not built in a day. All the comments have been worth it! They definitely encourage me a lot.
Thank you for the links. I was very bad at painting my pots, and enjoyed throwing on the pottery wheel. I played around with underglaze once but never got to use overglaze.
@via-chan I'd like to try out the pottery wheel as well as drawing lines with it. It's fun to paint overglaze because you can use lots of colours! I hope you'll try it!