Introducing Mug of the Month Artist, May 2025: Eleanor Earnhart

Reserve Your May Mug Today!

May’s Mug of the Month will be designed and created by Eleanor Earnhart (she/her), a Mercer, PA-based artist whose journey with clay is as fresh as it is inspiring. Eleanor joined the PennOhio Clay Guild in July 2023, and has been diving hands-first into ceramics ever since. 

Though she doesn’t come from a traditional art school background—her degree is in Environmental Studies—Eleanor has been creating since childhood, exploring everything from fiber arts to relief printmaking.  It wasn’t until the age of 33 that Eleanor fully embraced the identity of “artist”.  

With no formal training, she credits the PennOhio Guild with making clay accessible to her, both financially and creatively. The welcoming spirit of the guild gave her the space to begin experimenting in ceramics—a medium she’d long admired from a distance. Through her increased Guild involvement, she now holds positions as a POCG staff and board member, committing countless volunteer hours to the organization.

Before joining PennOhio, Eleanor was working primarily as a multimedia printmaker. Since becoming a member, clay has become an exciting new avenue in her creative practice—and she’s been exploring how her love of surface, line, and texture can translate into three-dimensional form.

Examples of Eleanor's Previous Work

Mug of the Month - May Design Inspiration:

Eleanor’s featured mug is a reflection of her evolving artistic voice and deep curiosity about the relationship between material and design. She describes her process as “a collaboration between you, the medium and the tools”—a thoughtful and intuitive conversation where each element influences the next.

She began with a bold vision: a chunky, geometric mug with a strong visual foundation—distinct top and bottom forms that ground the piece. From there, each design choice became a negotiation between her instincts, the nature of the clay, and the possibilities of surface decoration.

“I like to ask,” Eleanor explains, “What does the medium do well? What are its limits? How can it be pushed? What enhances it—or distracts from it?” Her mug explores contrast and cohesion, balance and tension. There's a clear printmaker’s sensibility here too—Eleanor couldn’t resist bringing in printmaking-adjacent techniques to echo her love for that world.

The result? A mug that feels deeply considered, joyfully made, and perfectly Eleanor.

Reservations to purchase her limited edition mug are available now.  We’ll see her design and making progress on this work mid-May with the final presentation by the end of the month.

If you'd like to explore more of Eleanor's work, visit her website at www.stardogcreations.com