Hand made textured blue toadstool mug with protruding hand sculpted mushrooms, mushroom mug, cottagecore mug, sold fantasy mug, fungi mug, fungi

This is a hand made, one of a kind piece of ceramic art.
The mug in the pictures is the one you will receive.
This is a very textured, beautiful mug with additional leaves.

I hand make small batches of pottery in my tiny back garden studio - a few items a week. These are unique, one of a kind pieces of home made art and are usually wonky, blobby, irregular shaped and heavily textured because I love using too much glaze! You have to cherish its irregularities!

I made the initial mug shape in my back garden studio using earthenware slip, then fettled it as it dried slightly, then I added the hand sculpted leaves on the handle and toadstools on the front by hand. I got a bit carried away and added lots of large toadstools - I would say it was a decorative mug, as opposed to a functional, every day one!

It was left to dry for a few days, then bisque fired for 24 hours. After sold cooling, I hand painted it in a variety of different, high quality Botz glazes in earthy grey, blue, green, brown nature tones, with a transparent top coat to make it waterproof (the base is unglazed). It was then returned to the kiln for a further day. The textures and combined colours have turned out beautifully!

I really like the idea of wabi-sabi or perfect imperfections, and take delight in the way that the glazes have a life of their own in the kiln. I do things that I shouldn't do - I use stoneware glazes on earthenware and vice versa. I mix glazes that are supposed to stay separate and as a result, I get a fabulous abstract effect. When I paint, I paint big abstract canvasses, so this textured overglaze mishmash that I'm developing pleases me greatly. I hope it pleases you. I'm still experimenting wildly at the moment and it is very exciting!

This mug would make a lovely present for someone who likes nature or mushroom foraging or who is fascinated by toadstools (as I am). It was inspired by the lovely woods of Aspley Guise where I previously lived and the beautiful woods of Dorset (where my partner now lives). I love the flyagaric amanita toadstools best because their red and white beauty shines through the leaves and fascinates everyone who passes them. And they were the toadstools of fairies and elves when I was growing up.

Although it is mug shaped I think it is better used as an ornament due to the fragile mushrooms on the front and the vines wound around the handle. It is not really made to drink tea or coffee out of, but you could - however, it is definitely not suitable for the dishwasher or scrubbing in the sink - the toadstools are all delicate and hand sculpted and would soon snap off it over used. It is made to be put on a shelf or windowsill, to catch the light or hold flowers / buds.

A perfect gift for a gardener, a forager, a fungi fan, a mycologist, a nature lover, a walker of woods, someone who loves fantasy gnomecore, a cottage garden owner or as a 9th wedding anniversary present (ceramics).

This item is entirely hand made using sustainable UK resources.
It will arrive in a nice box with sustainable packaging - usually shredded paper or sheets of coloured tissue - sometimes it is recycled bubble wrap if I've had a delivery of some glazes - I'd rather re-purpose the bubble wrap than throw it away.

Made with love,
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