Irregular Mugs! Creating Interesting and Dynamic Versions of Basic Forms With Surface Design and Shape

 I've been experimenting with mug shapes and especially handles. I've recently gotten into braided handles and decoration. It's a very fine technique that is very hard to get right and stay right. The braiding technique is hit or miss for me and I definitely need more practice with even coils and attaching it so its less fragile at the base of the attached handle. 

    So far I've (successfully) made two braided handle forms. A carved mug and a basket. I will continue to experiment with the braided method. Maybe I'll make a whole braided bowl, or platter.

I've also messed with carving and glazing templates. I need to practice depth regulation especially for deeper carvings. Using templates for carving is interesting. I haven't decided whether I prefer having a carved outline or a light indentation. 

    I want to try having a gapped handle on a mug that is a mushroom that hangs down but doesn't connect on the bottom maybe having another mushroom rise up from the bottom to meet the top but never connect. I might have a pressed in portion on the mug with a mushroom popping out. 

Yesterday I make a slab-built mug and focused more on underglazing creating bit of a nude clay moment by cover portions with a sticker and painting over it. Incidentally I created and almost framed logo effect by pressing too deeply with my template sticker (cut out of Con-Tact paper) which worked pretty well for my purposes. I mixed my own greys and pinks for the mugs and am glad that underglaze follows regular color-mixing theory (unlike the regular glazes, which can be infuriating to mix sometimes)