New Pottery: Cosmic Ambitions, Japanese Traditions

The first Moon mugs and asteroid cups have emerged from the kiln…

Moon Mug and Asteroid Cup, Cherrico Pottery

Plus, remaining Kickstarter pottery has been thrown. Most pots are glazed and ready to fire, but I must procrastinate for just a couple more weeks. I was given a once in a lifetime opportunity to travel to Japan to visit traditional pottery studios, Tokyo galleries and Mount Fuji- all before building my own studio.

Renowned potter Shiho Kanzaki is welcoming us in for a tour of his studio. We’re also visiting Mashiko– a famous town of over 20,000 people who are mostly potters!

New Pottery: Online Store Revamp

We hired skilled photographer Julia Echart to redesign our online store. In 2-3 weeks, we will have a new body of artwork on our gorgeous, new website, with discount coupons given only through this email newsletter. 

Detail Shot, Cosmic Mug, Photo by Julia Eckart, Cherrico Pottery
Photo by Julia Eckart

Thanks so much for following along! We’re excited to build a new pottery studio this summer, inspired by historical Japanese studios. Check out the links below if you want to learn more about how Japanese pottery techniques inspired my career over the past 10 years.

Links:

Learn about my version of the Japanese Nuka glaze.

Learn how Japanese wood fired pottery inspires my art.

Learn about historical wood firing techniques that we practiced in the College of St. Benedict wood kiln.

Kickstarter Pottery in Process

Cosmic Mug Processs Shot, Cherrico Pottery

My Japanese Tools and Techniques

Japanese Pottery Techniques, Cherrico Pottery

Mount Fuji Mugs (Available Soon)

Dual Image for Emails, Mount Fuji Mug, Cherrico Pottery

“When you try to be good, you look like someone trying to be good, and the result is that no one believes in you. The problem is to deal with these things without becoming hyper conscious or over intellectual…The challenge is to do the thing you have to do because you’re in love with it and can’t do anything else.”

– Warren Mackenzie, potter, qtd. in the 1990 issue of The Studio Potter, told by Gerry Williams, editor of The Studio Potter Journal.

The Next Generation: Asteroid Cups and Meteorite Mugs

Just in case you don’t follow our Instagram, here are some pics of the newest cosmic pots I’ve been busting out, including Asteroid Cups and Meteorite Mugs:

Asteroid Cup, Meteorite Mug, Image 2, Cherrico Pottery, 2016

We will be stocking our online store with this new type of pottery soon, as well as offering coupons for everyone on the email newsletter list.

Our Kickstarter is way ahead of schedule! All Kickstarter pottery should ship next week. Whether you backed the project or simply gave us a “like” on Facebook, I really appreciate all of your support!

Last Call: $49 Cosmic Mugs (25 available)

Since all Cosmic Mugs and other pottery must return to full retail prices in February ($85 per mug + $15 average packing and shipping), I wanted to offer all of you just one more chance to get Cosmic Mugs at a huge discount. This link gives all of you another opportunity to get the lowest possible pricing on just a few more Cosmic Mugs:

The Last Batch of $49 Cosmic Mugs
(25 available)

What should I make next? This is your chance to request pottery. I get requests almost daily and can’t promise everything will get made, but I wanted to give all of you first priority. I’m getting back to the pottery wheel and would love to hear about any pottery you might enjoy owning:

Pottery Commission Requests

A new pottery studio can’t be built until our lease ends this summer. In the meantime, I’m making new types of cosmic pottery, researching world class pottery studios and practicing to challenge the Guinness World Record in pottery. Stay tuned!

Amtrak and Mountain, Photos by Cherrico Pottery

“Why do people climb the mountain? Because it’s there.”

– Random thought from Dave, a gentleman we met on the Amtrack during my yearly trip to the Rockies.

Mountain Mug, Cherrico Pottery, LLC, Copper Mt. CO

Cosmic Friday: Ten Free Mugs, Studio Shot and One Cool Quote

Thank you to everyone who entered last week’s Cosmic Mug Giveaway! Five lucky winners have an email in their inbox, ready for a Cosmic Mug shipped almost anywhere in the world, totally free! Didn’t win? Don’t be sad…because I made more Cosmic Mugs and launched an even better giveaway!

Ten Free Cosmic Mugs

These mugs are very difficult to create, but I successfully made a bit batch! I can afford to give them away for just a couple more weeks, before having a HUGE batch available at HUGE price discounts. This giveaway runs for two weeks, so you have an even better chance to win by referrals to friends and family who might get a kick out of getting their own chance to win a Cosmic Mug. Good luck!

Cosmic Mug in front of Galaxy Collision, Cherrico Pottery

If you’re dying to get your hands on a Cosmic Mug, I was able to save just three more jewels available in my online store here. Feel free to use this 30% off coupon code as a thanks for subscribing to my email newsletter: COSMIC30

Otherwise, stay tuned for a HUGE body of cosmic pottery available at discounted prices soon and ready in time for Christmas delivery.

Studio Shot: Cosmic Serving Bowl

Cosmic Serving Bowl Studio Shot

“This is the aspect of the art that interests me…the audience. 

…much more so than the fact that people call it art. Call it craft, I don’t care what they call it….long after I’m dead somebody will figure out what it was and how important it was. In the meantime, I get my kicks out of people seeing the work.”

Dale Chihuly

Dale_Chihuly_2009

Cosmic Friday: Free Mug Giveaway, Studio Shot and One Cool Quote

As a thanks for subscribing to my email list, one of you gets a cosmic mug every week, chosen randomly, totally free! I hope to give more people the experience of using this new, valuable type of art. This week’s winner has an email waiting in your inbox, ready to receive this free mug anywhere in the US or Canada!

9.25.15 Cosmic Mug, Cherrico Pottery

Stay tuned for a huge body of cosmic pottery available at discounted prices soon, ready in time for Christmas delivery.

Studio Shot

Photo by Steve Diamond Elements, HAnds on the wheel

“There’s something about the physicality of clay…a worthless material to most people. Contractors can’t build in it, farmers can’t grow in it. The only worth it has is what you and I give it.”

Don Reitz, qtd. in “A Beachside Chat with Don Reitz and John Balistreri”

Don Reitz, Flagstaff, AZ

Vincent, Spock and Tyson: Cosmic Inspiration, Mug Giveaway and a Special Announcement

Enter the Cosmic Mug Giveaway

Expanded Consciousness feature_image_template, Vincent and Nimoy

Vincent van Gogh and Leonard Nimoy devoted their lives to creativity. They were artistic innovators. Vincent (who signed paintings with just his first name) created a new way to paint with expressive brush strokes. His troubled mind was plagued with epilepsy, but he found remarkable beauty in the world and showed it through paint.

640px-Starry_Night_Over_the_Rhone

Leonard Nimoy (AKA “Spock” from Star Trek) was an actor, film director, photographer, author, singer and songwriter. President Obama referred to him as, “a lifelong lover of the arts and humanities, a supporter of the sciences, generous with his talent and his time.”

Leonard Nimoy in Vincent, Joel Cherrico Pottery Blog, my DVDLive long and prosper, Mr. Spock. Nimoy was also a huge fan of Vincent. He wrote and starred in a live theater performance where he played Vincent’s brother, Theo van Gogh. Nimoy performed this solo act across the country, and the DVD is now a collectors item.

Neil deGrasse Tyson is another advocate of both art and science. We sent him a few Cosmic Mugs, and he wrote us a couple nice letters in return! That’s pretty amazing, considering a man with over 4 million Twitter followers and his own TV show probably gets a ton of mail. Dr. Tyson said:

“I will definitely use and admire what you’ve sent. I’m gratified to be able to inspire the same enthusiasm for the universe, as I have.”

Tyson is a big fan of Vincent, as seen in this Tweet back in April:

Tyson is also a “Trekkie” (AKA Star Trek fan) as seen in this fan selfie:

neil-degrasse-tyson-and-leonard-nimoy-fan-selfie

I hope it can be seen, at least in an abstract way, that these inspiring people are helping my newest body of artwork explore more ways to positively influence society.

Starry night and cosmic mug in front of Galaxy Collision

August is Artist Appreciation Month, and I decided to give away some of my newest Cosmic Mugs to all of you, totally free:

Enter the Cosmic Mug Giveaway

A Special announcement…

Since we’re already talking about Christmas, it’s time to announce that I will have a HUGE batch of Cosmic Mugs available at HUGE price discounts, ready in time for the holiday season- hopefully by November 1st!

As more people sign up for my email list, the Cosmic Mug selling price will drop. This giveaway lets you share with friends and family to increase your chance of winning, while helping to lower the retail value of the mugs I can offer in time for Christmas. Hopefully, you all can get a truly amazing deal on my newest artwork, while helping me build a pottery studio that actually has heat and running water.

Cheers! LLAP!

Enter the Cosmic Mug Giveaway

Image 14, cosmic mugs in front of magellanic cloud and planetary nebulaFan-Image-and-Cosmic-Mug-planetary-Nebula-and-Molecular-cloud-cluster-hand-collage-home-page-Image-2

Here’s the sauce (AKA the sources):
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Leonard_Nimoy,_2011,_ST_Con-2.jpg
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Vincent_van_Gogh_-_National_Gallery_of_Art.JPG
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Starry_Night_Over_the_Rhone.jpg
http://www.usatoday.com/story/theoval/2015/02/27/obama-statement-on-leonard-nimoy-spock/24136695/
http://persephonemagazine.com/2012/05/science-news-roundup-5112/neil-degrasse-tyson-and-leonard-nimoy/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Starry_Night
Copyright for Hubble Space Telescope Images of the NGC 2074 in the Large Magellanic Cloud, the Planetary Nebula NGC 5189, and the Galactic Spectacle STScI-2010-25: Space Telescope Science Institute, www.hubblesite.org