Introducing Mug of the Month Artist, July 2025: Frank Parker

Reserve Your July Mug Today!

After 45 years as a rural family physician, Frank Parker has learned to appreciate the quiet, steady rhythm of clay. His journey into ceramics began in 1991 during a three-day workshop with Philadelphia potter Bill Daley at the Chautauqua Visual Arts Community Summer Program. That first encounter with clay sparked a lifelong interest that simmered in the margins of a busy medical career. Pottery opportunities for Frank mainly occurred each summer while his family vacationed at their Chautauqua, NY cottage..

When Frank retired and relocated to New Castle in 2015, he finally had the time and space to pursue pottery more fully, developing a home studio focused on functional ware—especially mugs.

As he dedicated more time to clay, his quality and range of functional pottery improved to the point where he was creating enough inventory to begin to sell at small markets and coffee shops.

Some examples of Frank's work...

Mug of the Month - July Design Inspiration:

This month’s featured mugs are a thoughtful blend of two of Frank’s artistic passions: clay and watercolor. “My first underglaze mugs were the start of this design,” he explains.

Drawing on his background in watercolor painting, Frank developed a surface approach that adds depth and texture through slip trailing clay into simple natural designs. You’ll see this especially in the tree motifs, where careful underglaze work and chattering at the base give the impression of layered forest and earth.

Early test tiles helped refine the palette and technique, and the resulting pieces capture a soft, serene landscape—perfect for quiet morning coffee.

Throughout July Frank will finalize the mug form and surface design and continue glaze application technique testing.

Frank continues to sell his work now, proudly, as part of the POCG Mug of the Month series. “I’m always trying to make a better mug,” he says. “There’s so much to learn in ceramics. And every now and then, I open the kiln and find a gift from the pottery gods. That makes it all worthwhile.”

Reservations to purchase his limited edition mug are available now.  We’ll learn more about the design and making progress mid-July with the final presentation by the end of the month.

Please note, due to the nature of Frank's designs, mug choice will be offerred in the order of reservation date.

Reserve Your July Mug Today!