MUG DAYS

Well, the last few days have been "mug days". And I've been thinking again about how hard it is for me to make good mugs, and how I seem to approach the "ultimate mug" in a really slow fashion. In the image below the first on the left was made years ago, and I liked the fluidity of the lines, but it was too small for today's caffeine generation, and not that easy to drink from. Then came the next one- better capacity, and better lip, but I didn't like the way the handle stuck out. The next two were sort of standard for a while; I'd throw the round mug, let it get leather hard, cut three facets with a wire, put the handle on where the facets were cut, and then facet the rest. OK, but they look sort of stiff, the facets were too small, and there was none of the fluidity of the first one- and I always lost a few by cutting through the wall with the cutting wire. After all that work! So now I'm on the latest iteration- I facet it while still wet on the wheel, then expand the body from the inside with a rib to give it a nice full shape. And because the clay is still soft, and the rib drags a bit, the facets have a slight twist, which makes the mug visually much more interesting- to me, at least. Let me know what you think!

Mugs, from 3.25" to 5"