Wow, what an enthusiastic group of people I taught last Saturday at Blossom Hill Crafts in Los Gatos. So much energy and so many questions to answer. Remember I’m the visual person, a verbal wanna-bee, so I use that digital camera whenever I can. I hope these help.
early mugs low fire and high fire
Yes, Amber, you can make these out of low fire clay or high fire clay… or mid-fire clay or raku clay. The point is the technique works at all temperatures. Low fire on the left was coated entirely in clear glaze the day after scubbing off green glaze on the outside.
This is how the mugs started in the late 80’s. They were much more simple and I must have messed with them enough after taking the template off to make them sag a bit making them appear bag like. And look at those rims! No beer cans had been thrown into my driveway yet! Once I started wrapping the mug around an object to seal the side seam, tah dah, no more warped rims.
mug progression: late 80's mug to 2010 version
early mug freehanded, current mug wrapped around a beer can