My sister bought a t-shirt that had "No weapon" printed on it. Below those words was printed a biblical reference, Isaiah 54:17. A portion of the scripture states, "No weapon formed against you shall prosper. . ." This is a commonly used saying in the Christian church. There are even gospel songs written with this verse in the lyrics.
When I saw my sister's t-shirt, I became inspired to make her a mug with a lid on my pottery wheel. I have gotten so much better throwing clay on the wheel. I now can sit at the wheel and make practical pottery in a short amount of time and make it look good enough to give it away as a gift.
I started out with a ball of clay that was less than a pound. I threw it on the wheel and produced a cylindrical shape.
I had to clean it up and dry it out until it became leather hard. I also made a handle for the mug. The next step was to make a lid for the mug.
I had to measure the inside diameter of the mug so that the lid would fit right inside. After both pieces were leather hard, then I carved the message that I wanted to appear on the lid and the outside of the mug. I added a piece of clay in an oval shape to the outside of the mug to emphasize the writing.
Once the clay became bone dry, it was bisque fired so that I could add a glaze to it. I chose red and black.
The color of the clay that I used was a brownish red. The glaze should have been a candy apple red, but the color of the clay made it slightly different.
I really like the final result. It does not look like a commercially produced mug, but it has meaning, it is functional, and can be used with hot coffee or tea.
I absolutely love creating things with my own hands. Especially when the things that I can create and make myself can be shared with others. You can always buy an inexpensive mug from the store, but there is nothing better than doing it yourself.
Enjoy your day!
