Callie Beller Diesel

Working on a serious mug collection in our house! My kids have fights over their favourites, notably the "bunny cup," which is a nice handle-less number from Shprixieland Studios, and one of @Joseph Fireborn's yunomi's. The little turkeys appropriated them before I got a chance to use them! Our popcorn bowl is another favourite.

My gravy boat needed a redesign, because the other one was too fussy. So I made a thing.

I make these thingys. Just espresso cups, with no signature and only a quick dip in a single glaze.

I would love to know what everyone’s studio looks like. Remember, if it’s messy, it means you’re working in it!

My usual is an ear or a d, with the backwards c used on latte mugs. But those are only a 2 finger cup at best, because of the low profile.

I do occasionally manage to snap a picture of finished work.

@Rae Reich type an @ and then begin typing the person's screen name. A drop down menu will appear, and you can just click on the right one.

I got some mugs out of the kiln last Monday. I am making more mugs this week. Because mugs.

I try to work clean, because I hate doing the Big Clean. If you break the big jobs down into small bits you do as you go, it's not so overwhelming. I don't deal well with visual clutter that reads as a mess. I'm not a total neat freak or anything, but I don't like seeing a million unfinished tasks in front of me when I come into my studio. Surfaces are wiped pretty frequently to keep the dust down, and mopping gets done after trimming and glaze days. Hands are cleaned in a bucket before being wiped with a towel, tools are rinsed in a bucket after the throwing sessions and the major messes are wiped as they're made. I have to be really careful of dust, because my studio is in he basement, and I don't want the bad stuff getting sucked all through the house by the adjacent furnace.

I have dedicated studio towels that just get thrown in the washer. I have bath sheets that get draped over my knees while I'm throwing or doing certain finishing tasks, and some medium sized ones for general purpose hand wiping. Just got them all from the thrift store. They go into the regular wash in their own seperate load, but I wash them pretty frequently in the name of keeping the dust down and not putting a lot of clay through my top loader. I tend to clean 98% of the clay on my hands off into a bucket (also wiping with a grout sponge) that later gets decanted into my reclaim. At that point, my hands are safe enough just to wash with soap and water in the bathroom sink. When pulling handles, I pull separately and let them set up before attaching, so I'm really only having to clean up from that job once, and not constantly wiping my hands. Fun hint: you keep your elbow dry if you dip the clay slug in the water bucket instead of getting your whole hand wet. I don't buy paper towels for the rest of the house, never mind my studio.

I can't use the fingerprint id either.

I walked right into that, didn't I.

I had my phone balanced on a travel mug. I'm glad I wasn't the only one hitting the button with my nose!

Well, my fingers have always been too short to be called graceful. My nails are soft and don’t really grow long anyways. So I am glad they are strong, skilled hands. (Also, given the weird things I had to do to take this shot, how did everyone with both hands in the shot get theirs?)

Workbench results this week: tea strainers, tea cups and dishies.

I think the closest I've come is some bisque molds. I play with those! And I've made some ocarinas and shakers before.

Clotted cream is heavy cream made into a sort of pudding. Sweet, not savoury with scones! And good luck with all your trimming.

I don’t have a thing for shoes or expensive handbags, so I collect mugs. They’re a relatively inexpensive way of getting to know an artist’s work, and how they think.

These photos are a good example of aesthetics vs good function. The white mug is by far the one that looks the best, and takes the best picture. The proportions are spot on, the visual flow impeccable. The finishing details are beautifully thought out. The glaze is a minimalists' dream of everything calm, subtle and soothing, and it's well suited to the form. It's stunning, and I love it. But... It's uncomfortable as hell. The sharp edge on the handle digs into the side of your finger when you lift the cup. It takes a bit of fiddling to find a way to balance it in your hand without burning yourself, because the spacing between the handle narrows too closely to the mug body at the bottom attachment point. The handle angle is wrong for it to be a two finger mug, and it's not large enough to be a three finger mug. The handle is too wide. It's a piece made with aesthetics, not ergonomics in mind, and you would never know that unless you held the thing. I also kind of hate it. The blue mug is definitely less sexy. The slip trailed decoration is a bit physically sharp, and probably a bit trite. The glaze job doesn't take as much advantage of the red clay it's on as it could. But it is a proper three finger mug, and you can use it without burning yourself. There is a very subtle thumb spot on the top of the handle near the join that is smooth like a stone. It's a suggestion to use it, not a demand. The edges of the handle are rounded, not sharp, and it's not too wide or too thick. And you would also never know any of that from the photo either.