Junji Miyazawa Teapot

Junji Miyazawa (no relation to Kiyo Miyazawa) is a Japanese potter and a good friend of mine. Originally from California, he moved to Pittsburgh from Kochi. Upon learning that I commute to work by bike, he realized he too could get an hour of exercise and save money every day. So he got a bike, too. To help him out, I gave Jun some bike lights and a u-lock. In thanks, he made me this wonderful teapot.

As an aspiring ceramic artist, I’ve learned a lot from Jun, who is never content to use materials straight out of the box. In fact, rather than using commercial materials, he prefers to create everything from scratch, even digging his own clay whenever possible. He formulates his own clay bodies, slips and glazes. I’ve even seen him build his own kick wheel and kiln, though this particular teapot was fired in a soda kiln.

As you can see, the teapot is personalized with Urban Velo themed decal work. The notion of using decals was inspired by fellow Pittsburgh potter Justin Rothshank, who’s made quite a mark on the local art scene with his ceramics. The process involves creating a decal with a laser printer, then firing the piece once again so that the decal burns away, leaving behind a deposit of iron oxide wherever the ink was printed.

See more of Junji’s pottery on Flickr, or contact him through www.newhouseproject.com.