THE CUP I ADORE!

So my latest new love has been the "cup" I made.  Well, it started out a coffee mug but got a little off center while I was throwing and therefore, did not quite make the final coffee mug cut.  Since it was a little imperfect, and I didn't want to waste the clay,  I thought "I will make it into a vase and experiment with it". (Novel idea, all my mishaps are now vases.)  Given it was an experiment I went all out, added some slip as texture (sorry for the technical term but that's what I did) and glazed it with a bunch of random colours.  I was curious about how the colours would look combined, how they would react over the slip, and how they would react with each other. This was the perfect piece to try everything out. When I was done, into the kiln it went.

In all honesty when I opened the kiln I had all but forgotten about my experiment.  I unloaded the top shelf, then came to the second shelf and there sat the experiment.  I picked it up and looked at it.  Since I really had no idea what to expect I looked at it and thought "cool--really cool"(and it is, the colors and texture are amazing).  I brought it in the house and sat it on the counter.  It sat there for a couple of days and I just looked at it.  During those couple of days I happen to read a post by a potter who makes his own cups and goblets.  He talked about how he enjoys drinking from his pottery cups.  He said that he uses them for everything from OJ in the morning, to a glass of red wine at night and everything in between.

The Original Cup

Hmmmmm, I looked at my experiment and thought, "this could be a really cool cup!"  I wondered what it would be like to use a pottery cup, I had never done that before. I gave it a try and....ok, can I say I LOVE IT!!!!!  Love, love, love it.  I love it so much I made 2 more.

The 2 new cups

I use my original cup for everything!  Morning, noon or night. It is awesome! It also works great to put some yogurt in the bottom, layer some granola and berries on top and --Bon Apettit!


 Now, when I made the other two cups I wanted to duplicate the first one as close as possible.  I didn't have anymore of the original clay, or the slip that I used, but I had written down the glaze combination.  So, I threw two "random" cups (random because I experimented with the shape and size), glazed them with the same glaze combination as the first and put them in the kiln.  Voila.  Now I have 3 cups!  I still only use the first one---I have been know to have favorites-- but the other two turned out so cool as well.  I am going to "experiment" and make a few more in some bright colors, maybe some yellows or reds, maybe both.  But I have to tell you pottery cups are the bomb!  I think everything tastes better. Seriously!

See the different clay, the original is on the left

The Sunlight shows the colors and texture best. They look great with the yellow!

They look great with the blue green combination as well.  Hello Fall!!!! Yay!

So as we enter into this INCREDIBLE fall season--incredible because I love this time of the year, my absolute favorite!--find something special that brings a dose of joy into your everyday life.  Whether it be a cool pottery mug for hot chocolate or, my new found joy, a pottery cup for sipping something special or eating yogurt parfaits.  It really is the little things in life that make our everyday experiences bring a smile to our face.
Happy Fall!
~Rhodena