Behold the Drinking Vessel, that most intimate piece of tableware! Conveying all manner and quantity of quaffables to our lips in style, it serves with humble utility and at the same time augments our everyday aesthetics.  From the slimline Sippers, to the grabbable Cuppas and classically-handled Mugfuls, we have here a collection of hand-built and decorated works stretching a l-o-n-g way back in the Portfolio.

These are all pieces that have sold over the decades. For the most recent offerings, please see what’s currently in the SHOP.

Sippers

A Sipper is a drinking vessel that invites considered consumption. It can be short or relatively tall, thin or wide-bellied, but the thing it does so well is deliver the goods within a smallish top opening, asking for sips not gulps. Think shot glass, snifter or anything whose opening barely spans from one’s lips to below the nose. Of course there’s plenty of room for interpretation here, and it’s a Good Thing if the Sipper does its job in elegance and style. For example, these lovelies.

Mugfuls and Cuppas

It always returns to the mugs and cups, those perennial ceramic staples. I am utterly discerning about those I buy from other ceramic artists because I know – even if I never meet the artist – they will become personal conversations in use. When it comes to making my handbuilt versions, I have been all over the map: sculptural, generic, exquisite, ironic, even confounding. Regardless of their looks, I have come to believe that a a drinking vessel above all needs to function flawlessly. That intimate top rim needs to caress the lips and deliver the liquid smoothly. The method of holding it must conform to the user’s natural hand positions and balance the load easily, which is also a unique and personal experience. Visually, as always, that quotidian piece of functional art needs to resonate clearly in form and surface. No small task.

I keep at it. It may be a life’s quest at this point. This collection of past work represents many phases of my mug and cup making and seeing these examples entices me on. To explore what’s currently available for your own personal enjoyment, please click over to my SHOP.