Mugs

Artist Statement:

For this project we were assigned to create a set of mugs. The set I chose to create consisted of three matching mugs with handles. For the mugs design I drew inspiration from mugs that I saw at a craft fair a few years back, where the artist imprinted flowers and leaves into her mugs. I really liked the minimalism of the design and how the the simplistic design allows the viewer to look at other parts of the mugs craftsmanship. I too chose a flower to press into the mug and to only color the flower for a little birst of color, then experimented quite a bit with each mugs handles.

The materials I used for this set of mugs were clay, a seltzer can, wild flowers, the slab roller, and glazes C-20, SM-44, and HF-10. When looking at the mugs at home I noticed that a seltzer can fit perfectly inside, and I didn't want to make a mug mug bigger or smaller because they hold 10oz. of coffee perfectly. When I rolled out my initial slab of clay, I cut out a rectangle that was a little over 4" high and long enough to be wrapped around the can with excess. After the slab was formed I pressed the flower into the slab, then left it to reach the leather hard stage. While that was happening I would make the handle of the mug. From my teachers example, I liked the look of a pulled handle rather than a coil one, so all my mugs had pulled handles. When the slab and handle were both leather hard I assembled the mug and smoothed them out. After they were bisque fired I glazed the flowers with C-20 and SM-44, then put HF-10 clear glaze on top.

Overall, I am happy with how the mugs turned out, but I can definitely point out things for which I could improve on. This was the second time where I tried the glazing technique of painting over the pits in a piece and wiping of the excess. I really like how this technique comes out, however on a couple mugs I think I put too much clear glaze over the flower and it made the color underneath, especially in the thinner parts of the flower stems, disappear. Another critique of mine is the hangles. I really liked the negative space my handles created and I loved the look of diner mugs with thicker handles, however when it comes to actually using the mugs, they aren't the most comfortable. But I think they still look pretty neat!