TEA MUGS

In November 2021, I made 100 tea-mugs. Some are big, some are small, some have handles that protrude like a watering can, some have little cups that look like side-cars. Every nook and cranny is considered as an opportunity for drawing. This was my first big ceramics project, and I learned so much from making so many! Forming them was all about learning patience and craft, and figuring out all the different steps: throwing a cylinder on the wheel, rounding the lip, then throwing the little cup-handle off the hump, then trimming and attaching, and doing it over and over again until I made it to 100. Even though each form is slightly different, the process of forming them was all about repetition. Once formed, I was faced with 100 blank, white cups, each waiting to wake up with a drawing. Each drawing is entirely unique! Some are personal scenes from my childhood or landscapes from my favorite hikes. Others are floral, abstracted shapes and colors drawn from my sketchbook or camera roll. The drawings wander from cup to cup as I experimented with different techniques, materials, and palettes. I was constantly trying to figure out how to let a picture live comfortably on such a strange and unfamiliar form. I dabbled with painting on the insides of the cups, or leaving a surprise on the bottom. I was constantly surprising myself with the decisions I made. Not only did each mug teach me a little more about wheel-throwing and surfacing, I also learned about the value of the multiple. A single mug is small and precious, but a hundred mugs is a body of work. All together, these mugs take up space. Each little drawing and each knobby little handle is an experience that informs the cup next to it. Now they are all divided and sent off into the world, where I hope they are all being used for tea, or whatever else people choose to put in them. <3



All are made out of a cone 6 porcelain clay body and fired in oxidation with a range of underglazes, glazes, and oxides.