Brown for Thursday

You can't talk about brown with out talking about coffee. I'm a big coffee fan and snob, I might add. Our favourite local coffee roaster, JJ Bean, makes one of the best lattes in town, with latte art to boot. That was my inspiration for these low latte mugs of mine. Low so that they fit under the home espresso machine, wide so you can attempt to make that foam look pretty. Look pretty that is, until you pour the raw sugar on top and have to stir:). Dean drinks espresso- no milk and no sugar. I'm determined to make more of these little brown espresso cups in time for Christmas, but they are usually at the bottom of my list. I'm still not sure about the design too- will have to tweek out a few thoughts on these once I get at them!
And last, my new uniform for the fall, this great Ralph Lauren Plaid shirt I found at Value Village for $4 that feels too cosy to even take off at night. I know you can't really tell what it looks like on me here, but my good friend Sherri did a swell job of making it look great on me here!

The Dish Rack

I have a recent confession to make: I'm a bit of a snoop. When I go to someone's house, I like to check out their mug cupboard in the hopes that I'll find some gems... gems being hand-made mugs. I found this out about myself this past summer when we were staying with some friends on our holidays. I was putting away their dishes and soon found an amazing crystaline teacup/mug behind all the generic mugs. Turns out the mug had a story to tell- how my friend found it, who had made it and how much joy it brings her whenever she has a cup of tea in it. Isn't that cool!?- how a mug can tell a story. Since that's the case, my cupboards tell a lot of stories. I've started 'collecting' my own mugs since 1994- that's when I was good enough on the wheel to make more than a door stopper for a mug! I have to confess that I don't use them all and I certainly have my favourites, but it's great to look back on how I've grown and where I got my inspiration for my current work.
I've also decided to officially collect espresso cups from other potters. I've been buying espresso cups regularily for Dean - he's a serious coffee snob and drinks black espresso at least twice a day. The other day I just had to buy one from the BC Gallery of Ceramics- it's by Dawn- don't quite know her last name, but she's finishing up at Emily Carr University and she's this months' featured artist. I thought her work was great- a lot of play with colour and glazes and finishes- a little gold lustre around the rim and a pearlescent glaze inside with a really interesting shape to boot.
So anyways, that's what's going in my dishrack these days- what's in yours?