Coffee mug

After my cup-with-handle project from the at-home class produced a nice cup that's just much smaller than I'd want to use regularly, I've decided to have a go at building one closer to the size I want. I build and used a tool to calculate sizes to achieve a given volume. My goal is a 16 ounce mug.

My base circle was essentially perfect. Then I measured out the walls and that went well, except the walls were a bit too big. Hmm! And that's when I realized I had booched the measurements again. I'd cut my base circle to the right radius for the interior of the mug and had forgotten to account for the thickness of the walls that would need to sit on top of the base. UGH!

I also had a bit of trouble with the handle. I think the clay had dried a bit (it was a bit that I had trimmed away from the slab to cut out the walls) and it stressed a lot when I tried to bend it into shape. I think in the future, I need to be more attentive to the clay is responding when I try to bend it, and maybe give it a bit of water to help it relax.

In addition to cleaning the mug, which went pretty well since the handle survived really well, I carved my signature stylized giraffe in relief into the two sides of the mug. Depending on how it turns out, this could become my favorite mug ever.

Coffee mug with a stylized giraffe carved in relief

But alas, it is not to be. The mug turned out too small, as expected. I'm happy with how the actual build went, and it came out of bisque in really good shape. I used a diamond smoothing pad for the first time to sand off some of the burrs that result from the clay not being completely smooth. The end result is the bisqueware was very smooth and nice.

I decided to use underglazes for the color so I would (hopefully!) have more control over the outcome, and honestly, I am very hopeful that underglazes are going to become a standard part of my pottery.

Coffee mug with a stylized giraffe carved in relief, with colored glaze applied.

I think I will use underglazes on greenware instead of bisqueware from now on, however, because when I brushed on a clear coat, I think the underglazes smeared together. I won't know for sure until it's back from firing, but... I'm not super optimistic.