Tenmoku Matcha Bowl by Volodymyr from Kiev, Ukraine.

I spend about an hour a week checking out pottery-related things.  Most of that time is cruising around Japanese websites to see what the modern artists of Japan are up to, and websites like eBay to see what kind of crazy vintage stuff pops up. Most of my studying of technique, history, etc. was wrapped up years ago. I have foundational knowledge about Japanese ceramic arts — how glazes are applied, how different effects are achieved, the what’s what and to a lesser degree the who’s who — and while I could pursue it further, I would prefer to do it at a pace that I can expand while gaining new knowledge – not learn everything in the beginning and let it decay unused – because I really don’t get to talk about pottery much… Though it’s surely more than the average person!

I don’t spend much time looking at other countries’ works because the aesthetics of Japan are what I’ve grown to prefer and where I am trying to develop my ‘eye’ in — to see a pieces’ spirit. It might sound silly that pottery can evoke so profound a thought like it harbors a spirit inside. It’s bowls like this that make me re-evaluate my opinion that Japanese bowls are the only ones to be able to portray that — a persons’ spirit.

In the modern world of pottery, there’s some very cool stuff being made although most of it is beyond my budget. Sometimes I stumble upon someone with such a high spiritual presence but such a low price, that I lay awake in bed and wonder why I’m stuck contemplating buying a piece instead of actually doing it. When I saw this bowl the first time I thought “humph… That’s pretty amazing” and went to lay down in bed. A restless 45 minutes later I got up to turn on my PC again, purchased it, and went to sleep with a clear mind.

I don’t know much about this potter other than he’s from Ukraine and looks to be in his late 40s or early 50s. It’s obvious from his work that he deeply understands Japanese aesthetic across the country, from Hagi to Seto styles and everything in between. One of the things about his works that I came to admire is the use of oranges and reds. It’s rather uncommon in Japan to see orange or red ceramic glazes. Red is more often used in unglaze paintings or perhaps moving away from ceramics in lacquerware, and if something is orange it’s usually quite matte and done in an earthy-dull tone.

So what do I see when I look at this? ‘Volcanic Eruption of Spirit’ immediately comes to mind. Recently there was a video taken by drone in Iceland that is maybe the pinnacle of volcanic activity caught on video. This bowl seems like it was born from this footage. It glows so vividly bright in the sunlight, the cooled glaze feels so special to the touch. As you rub your fingers along the outside of the bowl the texture of the rocky-smooth body provides a vivid contrast with the ultra-smooth glass-like glaze. When held from the drinker’s position, the left hand is smooth, the right hand is rough, and the right index and middle fingers have much to feel, I don’t think someone could keep them still without deliberate effort.

There have been some other bowls made by Volodymyr that stood out to me, all sold. There are at the time of writing this there are 121 bowls in his inventory for sale, many of them nice, though none of them are profound like this. This is a complete work of art — Weight, Size, Feel, Shape, and Technique. If I didn’t commit to buying this I would have regretted it forever. I’ve made the mistake of hesitating to pull the trigger before, many years ago with a Japanese celadon bowl. I didn’t buy this bowl for myself though, it was enough to hold it once. It’s pottery like this that I want to base my shop upon. So it’s time to let it go, though I wonder how long it will take to find a buyer…

There are some bowls sold by Volodymyr today that have a ‘similar’ glaze and ‘design’, they might be worth checking out as the cost is much lower. In the world of semi-spontaneous art, similar is a funny word. There is one of these bowls in the world. I don’t think he will reach the spiritual level of this bowl very often in his life, and you’d better believe if he hits it again, I’ll spot it. All the pottery purchases on this site will be 100% reinvested to purchase more and build the collection of tea-ware. Being a pottery dealer is an aspiration of mine. I hope we can help each other out, and if you live in Calgary I’ll deliver it for free.