I have to admit... and a little tool talk

Ok I have to admit that I am a bit of a Wino. I may have confessed this before but my addiction has escalated since I burned my fingers sneaking these out of the hot kiln. Once again, it was a custom order request that made me get down to the business of perfecting my wine mugs.

I am one of those 'no advanced planning' kind of potters and I needed to get at these mugs immediately. I wanted to get a really good hand-hugging shape that I have had in my mind for a while and wanted it to be somewhat consistent. I knew that I needed a guide for this rounded shape so I did what I usually do... scavenged my studio for ideas.

I had been saving a bunch of those plastic gift card that just get thrown away once they are used up. They are a study enough plastic with a straight edge that I often find uses for. I took my studio scissors and started cutting different profiles into the cards. I just freehanded the angles since I had a bunch of them. They worked quite well and I found one profile to be almost perfect. Now if I get the urge and energy, I can duplicate this profile into a more sturdy wooden tool. But that is a project for another day.

Altered Pottery Mugs

Can you tell that I have been infatuated with mugs lately?










I participated in the St. Clair Art Walk a few weeks ago and almost sold out of mugs. So I have been furiously making all shapes and sizes of mugs since then. Here are my latest Altered Mugs. They have an organic, triangular rim which makes them super fun to drink from. I also added a Brilliant Blue glaze to give them even more energy.

Mix n Match

If you have been following along with my random streams of thought, you probably know by now that I love putting personality in my pottery. I guess its not really me putting it there, it just kind of happens. The pots grow into their persona through each stage of the creation process. I recently threw a bunch of similarly shaped jumbo tumblers and felt that they needed a little more personality. So, I decided to create a mix n match grouping that paired and alternated the glaze on the body with the colors of the rims. Each rim was dipped in the color of the previous mug and ta da! A mix n match set with personality!