This year I set out to make mugs. For many reasons I chose this form to be my focus. I love to make them. People love to use these little functional works of art. They are not that difficult to ship, but the main reason is mugs flow for my hands and mind with great ease. I have created this form so many times it is second nature to me. I can do it without thinking, like a meditation. Initially I chose this path at the beginning of the year because I’m a mom by day and a potter by night. I wanted a focus that I knew I could keep up with. As the year rolled by and I got deeper into my mug making I realize there was more to this mug meditation than I had first known. By creating forms I was so familiar with I had plenty of mental space to develop other ideas, surface design and glaze colors. By letting go of one aspect I was able to connect with another on a deeper level. This has been so exciting for me! I learned so much about my glazes this year, the same glaze palette that I’ve been working with for over a decade. This has been profound for my work and is leading me in new and exciting directions as the clay often does.

I started the year with a quote about letting go and I really followed the advise.

Learning about screen printing on clay and finding new ways to use text on my mugs was interesting. By March I had started working on the moon mugs and they kept my attention for the rest of the year! With each new kiln load I learned something new about my glazes. I ramped the kiln up a little hotter and played with how far I could melt the glazes. I found the results to be enchanting. Which made me want to make more mugs and chase the ideas!

This year of focusing on mugs has truly been magical! But as I look back it seems I have come to the end of the moon mug series. I have decided that this will be my final batch of moon mugs for a while, maybe ever.  I want to keep myself open to where the clay wants to lead me. I have reached my vision with these mugs and learned what I needed to learn from them. I am so thankful to everyone who purchased one of these mugs this year. Thank you for helping me explore my passion. I hope you are enjoying many tasty beverages out of your mugs. Now, I am excited to take a little break and open myself up to some new inspiration. I am going to remember the quote from my first mugs of the year, I plan to let go and see what happens. Stay tuned!

If you are interested in purchasing a piece from this series they are available at Artbound.com.