Butterfly mugs for the esk valley running club

In the studio at the moment I’ve been making the Summer Series of running club awards for 2023, if you're part of the club you might get one of these as a prize! I’d been trying to think of a motif that really said ‘summer’ to me and the vibrant colours of butterflies as the float through the garden really say high summer to me. Butterflies in the garden really signal the very end of the summer since they seem to appear right before the end with their pretty dances in the air.

Due to the nature of the butterfly motif on the front these mugs have a very simple shape, a complicated shape for these would be a bit overwhelming! The butterflies have been cut with my new toy - a cricut machine. The butterflies are die cut onto paper to create a stencil and then coloured slip applied to the front. I am having to tidy these up where the slip just sneaks in under the stencil. For the final prize giving there will be a choice of four colours - they’ll also have a transfer on the opposite size to the motif.

If you’d like to commission me for a prize giving or for custom commemorative pottery just get in touch with ideas you might have!