the starry mug

 For this piece, I decided to use clay instead of paint to switch things up a bit. As a coffee mug collector and a lover of mountains, I realized I did not yet own a mug with mountains on it so I decided to make my own instead. I did not use a reference as I had the idea in my head for what I

 wanted this mug to look like. After wedging my clay, I used a roll of blue tape to get the circle for the base of the mug. after that, I cut three slabs of clay that widened as they went upward and attached the smaller ends to the bas of the mug using slip and making sure there were no bubbles. Once I had the basic shape of the mug rounded out and how I wanted it, I shaved the places that still had too much clay on them and added clay where it was too thin. Then I carved the mountains onto the side of the mug and carved the tree trunk on the inside of the mug and attached a handle to the outside. As soon as the mug was dry enough, I began painting. on the inside i used a light tan that fades to a tree trunk brown around the edges that continues upward and fade into black along the top of the mug. The black goes up over the rim and then fades down to a blue just above the mountains to indicate a night sky. So far I have had no challenges with cracks or bubbles and hope that it survives the kiln. I am loving this piece so far and cannot wait to finish painting it and use it in the morning for my coffee.