If you are a coffee or tea drinker there is nothing better than having your own special mug. I have a cupboard full of store-bought mugs with logos on them that have been given to us. In 2003 I started making pottery and mugs quickly became my staple seller and maker. I must admit the beginning ones have probably ended up in the trash can. But some of them, the ones that the bottom cracked but still held water and were still usable landed in our cupboard at our cottage and our house. A few mugs that were good for selling still ended up in my cupboard. We need good mugs too.
When I turn my cups on my pottery wheel I push out the bottom of the cup and flair out the top. This makes a comfortable shape, but it also serves as a function for the mugs. It keeps my coffee hotter than a straight store-bought cup. Stoneware clay that I make them from also holds the temperature longer.
Glazing, the colour, is often an experiment. How does the glaze flow when it is fired in the kiln? Would it be best on the bottom shelf, which is cooler than the top, on on the top shelf? Does this change the colour or how it flows? Brushing on the glaze or dipping it can also change the colour of it. Once I settled on the glazes that I liked and worked well I began to combine two or three colours on my mugs to see how they flowed together.Now I have a few designs that have become my regular go-to colours. After a few years of selling these mugs, I am now itching to experiment with other colour glaze combinations I can create.
I hope you enjoyed seeing my mugs I have. You can buy them on my Etsy web site The Butler's Creations. To see my mugs just click here to go to this site.
www.etsy.com/ca /shop/TheButlersCreations?section_id=7509176
