May's Mug of the Month Progress Update: Eleanor Earnhart
- PennOhio Clay Guild
- 8 minutes ago
- 2 min read
Things are moving right along in the studio for Eleanor Earnhart, our May Mug of the Month artist. All of her mugs are now built and ready to head into the bisque kiln—a major milestone! But, as Eleanor shared, every step of the journey so far has brought its own set of challenges.
“From the initial ideation to construction to glaze testing, I’ve run into unexpected difficulties that pushed me to rethink my approach,” she said. “It’s been challenging, but also really rewarding.”
One of the most exciting aspects of this project has been how Eleanor incorporated her background in printmaking into her ceramic work. Drawing from familiar techniques, she created custom stamps to press into flat slabs of clay before constructing the mugs—bringing texture and pattern to life from the very beginning. She continued to approach the design process as a conversation between herself, the clay, and the design. The end result: bold, geometric form and texture with the top and bottom halves of the mug interacting with and mirroring one another through dynamic use of positive and negative space.
Eleanor also made a deliberate choice to highlight the handbuilt nature of the mugs. Rather than hiding seams and joins, she left them visible as a storytelling element in the finished work. “It was important to me that the mugs didn’t look like they were made on a wheel or slipcast. I want the construction process to remain part of the story of the piece, and even compliment the overall design.”
This project also challenged Eleanor to scale up her production process—something she hadn’t done before. Using the Guild’s large slab roller and learning how to batch her workflow helped her develop a new rhythm in the studio. “It took some practice and finessing,” she said, “but all that extra effort allowed me to create a large number of consistent, high-quality pieces in a reasonable timeframe. Plus, what I've learned will no doubt be useful in the future.”
Glaze testing, too, has been a learning curve—full of experimentation and unexpected discoveries (including, notably, the destruction of a kiln shelf). Through it all, Eleanor embraced the trial and error, even learning how to use an air sprayer to apply glaze with greater precision.
Now, with the construction complete and the bisque firing underway, Eleanor is proud of how far the project has come. “I’m really looking forward to seeing and sharing the final results,” she said.
Stay tuned for the final update at the end of the month, and reserve your mug now at the button below!