A cup is an intimate object. You put it to your lips to drink from. You hold it in your hands. Your eyes are only inches away from every surface detail, the perspective of every curve. It comes in many shapes and styles-- and it is a popular ceramic creation. Cups are not just "easy to make"-- to degrade a form that can be so dynamic to the point of calling it simple is disappointing. I regard the cup as a friendly and mystical form. Sure, there are generic factory-made mugs out there at every gift shop and pharmacy you run across, and there are cheap plastic cylinders that are capable of holding liquid that you can buy at any Walmart, but a cup is not so easily defined as a cylinder that holds liquid. A cup is an object of affection. The sweetly animated curve of a loop handle on a mug or the crisp shadow around the rim of a carefully crafted cup is something to be appreciated. The subtle silhouette of a perfect form and the dramatic presence as it sits on the table is what invites me. I want to create cups that form close relationships with people when they see them or hold them in their hands. A cup is never just a cup (except the factory mug or the plastic cylinder). Any hand crafted ceramic cup always has a story. The process, from vision to creation to fire, is what makes every cup different. Ode to the cup.
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