Snowball Tea Jar By Shin Hyun Churl

This soft, hazy white, wood fired tea jar sits staunchly like a newly formed snowman. Its shape harmonizes nicely with its colour. Its texture is soft and smooth inside and out.

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Two Lustrous 'Chun Mok' Style Tea Jars By Shin Hyun Churl

Staring deeply into Shin Hyun Churl's tea jars is like gazing into the cosmos.

Into the nature of all things.

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An Interesting Tea Jar By Shin Hyun Churl

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An Enormous Tea Storage Jar By Shin Hyun Churl

This jar is the biggest one has ever seen! To give you a reference on size, it came up to around ones waist. You could surely store a small child in here or, better yet, a tonne of tea!

This massive white jar doesn't overwhelm though. Its soft natural white glaze beautifully drapes over its ash flecked sides in noticeable but not standoutish globs. Along with the ornate, signature Shin Hyun Churl lotus flower knob and a few ridges that circumnavigate the base, this pieces does its best to balance its massive size and makes some strides toward grace.

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A Gye Yal Style Buncheong Tea Bowl By Shin Hyun Chrul

Shin Hyun Churl is not really known for his tea bowls. This bowl stood out from a selection of his bowls. The haphazard nature of the 'gye yal' or brushstroke on this particular bowl reminded one of a breaking wave. The glaze on this buncheon piece is also nicely cracked, a whole shattering into pieces like the breaking of a wave. The clean cut Han Gyab style foot seems almost to act in opposition to such an idea and brings it whole again. One applauds such dichotomy in a piece of art... A million pieces return to one.

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Shin Hyun Churl's Thatched Roof Tea Jars

Shin Hyun Chrul is quite famous for his tea jars. These two tea jars are called 'cho ga jib ho'. This name refers to a traditional Korean thatched roof commoners home or 'chogojib'. These 'chogojib' houses were the most basic of Korean houses with a simple layout and a roof that looked like the cap of a mushroom that was entirely plaited by the straw of rice.

The shape of these tea jars resemble the shape of these traditional houses. These 'cho go jib ho' also remind us of the modesty we must cultivate while drinking tea, an idea that comes from Korea's deep Confucius roots. An idea that permeates many aspects of Korea's current tea culture today.

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Another Brazier By Shin Hyun Churl

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Shin Hyun Churl's Ten Cup Tea Pot

This pot is a beautiful giant. It displays many of the signatures of a typical Shin Hyun Churl work only in epic proportions. Viewing the glazing on the large side body is almost like looking at a beautiful work of art hung on the wall. One almost feels as though one is staring at a work of art within a work of art. Never had one seen a tea pot so big yet so beautiful before. Removing the heavy lid is like lifting a small teapot in and of itself. Wrapping ones whole hand around its large stable handle feels like pouring a pitcher of ale. The sight and feel of it left one with the impression that this pot wasn't made for use but more to just enjoy for its artistic value. This piece oozes with atheistic beauty, but all beauty aside, how could one ever leave a teapot thirsting for tea?

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A Brazier by Shin Hyun Churl

This enormous brazier is fit for a large tea room.

Though its shape reflects the Japanese style, this brazier is made of thick, earthy clay. To the touch it feels as if the artist glued fine grit sand to its earthy brown body.

Inside the kettle the chun mok style is seen behind glossy sheen and smooth texture. This must have been done to accentuate and contrast it from the outer. The chun mok technique is characterized by yellowish-green blotches that overlap black.

This brazier's smooth shape and clean slopes coupled with its earthy colour and texture lends itself to a nice balance. Because of this, this brazier could easily make its way into the more elegant tea houses of Seoul, and yet still feel at home in the more natural decor of the south.

And, not to be forgotten, is the focal point and signature characteristic of Shin Hyun Churl's works, the blossoming lotus flower adorning the lid.

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A Purely Beautiful Tea Set by Shin Hyun Churl

The purity of this cracked glaze is begging to be filled with the karma and residue that only a good tea could leave behind. Dirtying its purity, accentuating its beauty. This tea set is not a tea set without tea.

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Shin Hyun Churl Style Tea Set

This tea set is typical of artist Shin Hyun Churl.

The cups in this set are a delight to the senses. They have three circular windows in which one can view the beautiful edo clay. They feel just right in the hands as clay windows allow for the fingertips to enjoy the full tactile beauty the clay has to offer. Simultaneously, the eyes are able to view the smokey white glaze covering the rest of the cups. One wonders if the use of three windows might specifically imply that there is a certain auspiciousness that surrounds these cups and this set?

The tea caddy that comes with the set is of such unusual shape. Its long top protruding upward like the stem of a recently clipped flower blossom. The shape of this caddy is like no other it almost looks as though the lid of the caddy is a blossom turned face down in the fragrance of the dry tea leaves stored within. An interesting piece of an interesting set. The floral motif found in the caddy is carried through to the pot.

Shin Hyun Churl tea pots relay a sense of feminine floral lifelikeness. The clay and glaze compliments form to make them come alive. The large swirling flowering motif with the beautiful ebo clay blossoming in the center body of the pot exemplifies this motif.

The lids of Shin Hyun Churl pots are ornamentally topped with the motif of a budding lotus which is also seen in the lotus leaf shape of the plate that sits under the teapot. One must touch the lotus, removing the lid before tea can be prepared within the pot. In this way, the budding lotus design reminds us to prepare our minds for the awakening tea can offer us. Just as we prepare tea, we are also preparing our minds to drink tea.

Perhaps the most eye catching element of Shin Hyun Churl tea pots are their spouts. When viewed head on these spouts resemble the sensuous opening mouth of an orchid or ... ahem ... putting all metaphors aside, the ripe eager lips of a woman's vulva. When the last drops of tea drip from this scandalous spout, from pot, cup, lips, mouth, body, and mind our senses buzz with sensation. This pot reminds us to passionately use our senses when preparing and drinking tea. In a way it reminds us of the intimate experience that we share with tea when preparing and drinking it. The sensual orchid spout may also act as a warning against attaching oneself to the simple act of drinking tea.

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