Michael Sharf

Michael Sharf works from a pottery studio and woodshop in Ojai, California, making contemporary objects for tea ceremony. He grew up in Northern California and trained in woodworking and ceramics from the age of eight. His work follows what he takes to be the teachings of tea: a reconnection with nature, which we are part of; with presence, which our digital lives pull us away from; and with a reverence for objects that global trade has obscured.

His teapots are thrown on the wheel in stoneware and flameware clay, then fired to cone 11 in reduction, where the oxygen-starved flame draws subtle shifts of tone and texture from the minerals in the clay. Interiors are usually left unglazed so they take on a patina over years of use. The wooden handles come from branches and roots he gathers while surfing or hiking. He lets the material lead, sometimes throwing a pot to suit a piece of wood, sometimes waiting until a vessel is finished before choosing its handle, then working the two to fit precisely.