Julienne Tomatoes Mug Day

HOORAY!!! The day is here!! Two months of planning and throwing and testing and painting and WAITING are finally over, and I was able to gift my friends Julie Adams and Tom Sheffler with a set of mugs for their café Julienne Tomatoes.


From the time Julienne Tomatoes opened, when Bobby was just a baby being toted everywhere on my back, Julie and Tom have been absolutely amazing neighbors to our family. Their giving, generous spirit is widely known here in Petoskey, and they are well appreciated by many.

So, when I saw a sign posted on the pastry case one day saying "Bring us your extra mugs!" I hatched a plan. I decided that rather than rifle through my cupboards for extra mugs, I was going to MAKE some. And make them SPECIAL.


I started with carving a stamp with the Julienne Tomatoes logo tomato on it.


This was my very first attempt at carving a stamp myself with the dremel, and it didn't turn out too bad.


Then I fought with trying to get back in the swing of throwing again after a month's break, and trying to work with a new clay and learning a new form to throw. It was rough going. They all turned out pretty enough, but they definitely weren't the uniform shapes I was shooting for!


Then came the test tiles. Since I was working with a brown clay I hadn't used before, I had NO CLUE how the glazes I had available were going to look on it. So I had to test. And test and test. How does it look by itself? Layered over another glaze? Over texture? Around the tomato medallion? How does the tomato look painted? Glazed over with clear? (Really ugly, by the way.) How much will the glazes run? SO MANY THINGS to consider! W

While I was trying to figure everything out, I decides that I really liked the look of the plain Stone White glaze over the brown clay and texture. So I quick dunked two and called it good.


It was not good :(

The pieces that I had dipped in the glaze were SUPER dry...so they took up a rather thick layer of glaze very quickly. So.....when they were fired, they stuck to the clay slab they were sitting on. I was very sad. But I did learn a lesson - make sure I rinse off the pieces just a short while before I glaze them, so they only pick up a thin layer! I know a lot of people like heavy glazes, but they just don't work well for me, and I'm always disappointed.

I'll eventually get the bottoms of those cleaned up, but for now I had to leave them out of the bunch. So today I took them 11 mugs rather than 13. Better luck next time, right?

I won't list the photos of all of them, but I'll show you my favorites.


Tom claimed this one right away.


I wish you could see how this actually looks - pictures just can't capture it!


My old standby Nutmeg drizzle


This glaze is a longstanding Clay Club favorite - Reverend Xavier's Warm Jade Green.


Like 'em? You'll have to go down to Julienne Tomatoes in Petoskey and get a cup of coffee or tea. Maybe you'll be lucky and get to use one!

As evidenced by the picture up top of me and Julie, they were very surprised and happy. Which made me happy. It was a fun process for a fun surprise, and I'm pleased with how they turned out and how much I learned in the process.

The next batch will be even better.

- Stell