Coffee Cup Yunomi "Discovery" by Paul Fryman. Sculpture

My sources of inspiration are Japanese ceramics, the beauty of the land around me and behavior of the material itself. From wood-fired stoneware I expect to get on the one hand, perpetuation of the raw piece’s beauty, on the other hand, achievement of an extreme degree of firing transformation, one step before (or even after) the material’s destruction. The greatest success for me is an obtaining a harmonious combination of these two mutually contradictory results in one bowl. The clay, the fire and the artist are equal partners in the pot’s creation, giving one infinite wonder. The most exciting moment, the kiln opening, can be compared with a new planet’s discovery, finding a place there was no one before. That’s the reason to make a Chawan.