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Genevieve Dandurand

WorkCeramics, woodworking

The Art of Crafting a Tea Experience

A tea ceremony with handmade ceramics and a hand-built table. Honors in the Arts thesis.

Celadon-glazed tea bowls, a teapot and a whisk on a wooden table with lilies

One of ~12 Stanford seniors selected from ~100 applicants for Honors in the Arts. The project combined philosophy, ceramics, and woodworking.

I designed a meditative tea experience inspired by Japanese tea practice: a tea set I made, a wooden table to host it, and a guided meditation on the vessels.

Year
2025
Context
Stanford Honors in the Arts
Timeline
Senior year, 2024–25
Tools
Wheel throwing, Glazing, Woodworking

Question

The project asked what happens to physical objects, and to attention, as more of life moves onto screens and into the cloud.

Research

I collected references on Japanese tea bowls and teaware, wooden tools, slip-cast forms, handmade zines and places such as Green Gulch Farm and Tassajara Zen Mountain Center, then organised them by part of the experience I hosted.

Research board of Japanese tea bowls, teapots, whisks and wood sculpture
Research board
Board titled Ceramic Tea Vessels with collected teapots and cups
Ceramic tea vessels board

Making

I made every piece: the ceramic vessels and the wooden table.

Tea bowls, a whisk holder and a vase on the table
Bowls and whisk
Small bud vases holding lilies
Bud vases

Final set

Overhead view of the tea set on a square wooden table on a blue cloth
The full set
Genevieve kneeling beside the low tea table on the lawn
The table
Cups and flowers arranged on the table
Cups and flowers

Ceremony

I hosted the ceremony with friends and guided them through a meditation on the vessels.

Friends gathered around the tea table at dusk
The ceremony

Video

Stanford University Honors in the Arts