This cup features imagery inspired by places and experiences from my recent trip to Japan! This one in particular features a pair of Shisa, which are creatures from Okinawan folklore that look like a cross between a lion and a dog and guard both rooftops and house entrances.

It's handmade with love: wheel-thrown and decorated by hand. Each ball of clay has its own shape, and I try to listen to the form as I’m throwing – so it is rare for any two to end up exactly the same, which means each cup ends up being unique and one of a kind.

The surface decoration on these pieces is a combination of two processes – sgraffito and Mishima. Sgraffito involves painting on underglaze and then carving through it, and Mishima is inlaying underglaze into existing carvings. I then went back in and hand-painted the glazes. As you can imagine, these take quite a while!

The bottom half of the piece is bare clay and a more earthy, tactile experience, and the top half is glaze. 

All cups are food, microwave, and dishwasher safe, although hand washing is recommended for any handmade ceramic piece.

I do the best I can to accurately photograph these pieces using natural lighting, but glaze colors can appear differently in various lighting environments.

If you have any questions, please feel free to message me, I am happy to help answer them!