Zhen Wei, Sue and I visited YaYa’s and her mother’s studio each day, watching a demonstration by YaYa, and then having a chance to attempt to work with the clay and tools ourselves to make a pot. The process was one of pounding out thin slabs, cutting them into discs and rectangles and paddling them into rounded forms. The spouts and handles are formed from coils. YaYa gives a couple of days a week to teaching young would-be teapot makers the necessary skills in a community center adjacent to her studio, and that is where we worked, with lots of assistance and encouragement from her and her students.
