Date of Award
5-2023
Degree Type
Creative Project
Degree Name
Master of Fine Arts (MFA)
Department
Art and Design
Committee Chair(s)
John Neely
Committee
John Neely
Committee
Dan Murphy
Committee
Kelly Bradbury
Committee
Ryoichi Suzuki
Committee
Jared Ragland
Committee
Todd Hayes
Abstract
Tea time with the Devil
Tea Time with the Devil began with the hypothesis that I could create a diverse palette of glazes from one local material. I chose to base my experiments on a granite from Devil’s Playground in western Utah. I collected its rocks, hauled them back to USU and crushed them into powder. Each glaze contains at least 50% of the Devil’s granite. This palette resulted from much trial and error — mostly error. Between 2020 and 2023, I ran thousands of glaze tests to formulate and hone these surfaces.
Why this place and material?
The wild landscape of Devil’s Playground captured my imagination and made me want to keep returning. I am truly grateful to this landscape and its rocks. The granite contains a high percentage of silica, as well as some feldspar and mica. Once powdered, it melts into a celadon glaze without adulteration. This was a good starting point: a blank (albeit grey) canvas for experiments.
Why tea wares?
As an Englishman and a walking stereotype, I love tea. Tea brings people together. By sharing tea, we make time to stop, reflect and connect. I am fascinated by the world’s diverse tea traditions and their accompanying ceramic tools. Tea Time with the Devil is inspired by the distinct tea traditions of England, Japan, China, and the American South.
Recommended Citation
Jackson, Hamish, "Tea Time With the Devil" (2023). All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023. 1725.
https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/gradreports/1725
Additional Files
The writing on the wall 1.jpg (1648 kB)The writing on the wall 2.jpg (1093 kB)
Wide view from front.jpg (1337 kB)
Granite.jpg (1064 kB)
Granite processing.jpg (1215 kB)
Granite processing 2.jpg (1349 kB)
Geology of Devil's Playground.jpg (1370 kB)
Wet plate photographs.jpg (1219 kB)
Platters and SEM photos 2.jpg (964 kB)
Yellow glaze with SEM photo.jpg (1242 kB)
Jun platters with SEM photo.jpg (1264 kB)
Celadon wares.jpg (1866 kB)
Celadon ice tea wares.jpg (1671 kB)
Tenmoku wares.jpg (976 kB)
Matcha teaset.jpg (1932 kB)
Matcha teabowls.jpg (821 kB)
Tenmoku pilgrim bottles.jpg (861 kB)
Tea storage jars.jpg (770 kB)
Wide view.jpg (1242 kB)
Gong fu tea table.jpg (2162 kB)
Hamish Jackson serving gong fu tea 2.jpg (1734 kB)
Jun travel gong fu teaset.jpg (1753 kB)
Hamish Jackson with english teaset.jpg (1225 kB)
Brigade of English teapots.jpg (1391 kB)
English teaset 2.jpg (1576 kB)
Gallery view from front.jpg (1488 kB)
Juliet Jackson reading a didactic.jpg (1458 kB)
Thanls and Hamish Jackson portrait.jpg (1461 kB)
Comment book and postcards.jpg (1294 kB)
Reception.jpg (1724 kB)
TWTD Poster outside gallery.jpg (1620 kB)
Poster.jpg (1700 kB)
3 minute walkthrough of gallery.MOV (189360 kB)
Included in
Copyright for this work is retained by the student. If you have any questions regarding the inclusion of this work in the Digital Commons, please email us at .
Comments
In this report you will find photographs of my show, along with the vinyl text I had up in the gallery as well as the didactic text that was hung throughout the exhibition.
I have also included a short 3 minute video walk through of the show.
If you would like to see fuller documentation then check out my blog. On this I have a 30 minute video where I discuss the exhibition in detail, as well as photos of each piece:
https://www.hamishjacksonpottery.com/blog