Black Rings Tea Bowl

About Black Rings Tea Bowl

Wheel thrown footed vessel inspired by a traditional 'Chawan' Tea Bowl painted with Thin Black Rings. Glazed with Temple White and a glazed signature crescent on the bottom 

Artist Michele Quan creates ceramic works that explore form, symbol, and the quiet resonance of the handmade. Her iconic bells, vessels, and sculptural forms  often carry markings that evoke sky, spirit, and landscape, inviting contemplation through texture and tone. 

Quan speaks of the fire and air within the gas kiln — the elemental forces that fuse earth into being. In that alchemy, the object emerges, transformed. There is a mystical quality to this process culminating in a moment where matter becomes meaning, and the elements, briefly, align.

In her words: I make ceramic art & objects for the home and garden. The pieces become a canvas for my love of drawing, painting, text and color. Many of the objects and images are rooted in the visual symbols of Eastern iconography- their meaning and beauty of which I am continuously in awe. 

Impermanence & interconnection are ideas that I return to often, drawing inspiration from the writings and teachings of Buddhism and its extensive visual language that points to the heart and the experience of living. I understand the meanings to be universal and independent of religious attachments.

All work is handmade in NY state by myself and a small team of talented and dedicated craftspeople. Stoneware forms are handbuilt or thrown on the wheel and all images are hand painted and then fired in a gas kiln to 2350 degrees. Other materials used include hand-dyed cotton, brass, wood & hemp rope.