Handmade Art You Can Use Everyday
These were my first two attempts at throwing “Spiral Cosmic Mugs” and pottery cups blindfolded, both filmed Live on Facebook and then re-posted on our Cherrico Pottery YouTube channel.
It took me a while to get warmed up, so feel free to jump ahead. Enjoy!
Joel Cherrico will be exhibiting and performing live pottery demonstrations on his York Kick Wheel August 19th and 20th in Duluth, Minnesota at Art in Bayfront Park. One of Joel’s best BIG pottery jars will be on display, as well as a few of his best Cosmic Mugs. This will be Joel’s 7th year participating in this festival. He will also be crafting Cosmic Mugs live and anything else he’s inspired to throw, while breathtaking Lake Superior shimmers in the background.
Just one of his Big Pots will be on display in Duluth. They take a LONG time to make. In a hurried month, Joel can throw, fire and finish 100+ Cosmic Mugs in under a week and have them ready to order, but one Big Pot takes several months from start to finish. Just the drying takes a few months! Read about how Joel creates these beautiful works of art in a blog post he wrote back in 2012:
Big Pots deserve to be displayed on a stand as beautiful as the Big Pots themselves. So, Joel and his team have been creating beautiful wooden slabs over the last month to use as pedestals. The pedestals also help to level the jars on uneven ground. Four different types of wood slabs were harvested in sustainable ways from the St. John’s Arboretum with the help of a full-time forest technician: Aspen, Maple, Sugar Maple and White Oak. Slabs were dried slowly in Joel’s pottery kiln at 100 degrees C. for a few days, and then hand-planed, sanded and finished with love by local woodworker Tom Kuhn.
And yes… that is actually real gold in the bottom right corner of the gorgeous red jar. That is the Cherrico Pottery jar Joel plans to display in Duluth. Hope to see you there!
September 24th, Joel’s artistic talent will be on full display when he participates (for the 7th time) in the Millstream Arts Festival, located in his home town, St. Joseph, Minnesota. This is where Joel lives, works and operates Cherrico Pottery. They even generously put his work on billboards around the city.
Joel will be set up with 3-5 more of his best Big Pots right in front of the Local Blend coffee shop, where you can eat an entire meal from his artwork everyday. This interview with the American Craft Council tells how they developed an innovative business model. A few things have changed, but you can still buy pottery everyday and anyone can still go eat an entire meal from innovative pieces of Cherrico Pottery. Hope to see you at Millstream!
Joel is passionate about supporting the community of St. Joseph, and his unique partnership with the Local Blend is a perfect example of that support. If you’re not too busy, come see Joel create his famous Cosmic Mugs and learn more about his artwork by absorbing the energy of his specialty “Big Pots” in person.
“The most important thing is communicating with the user. It is only when the user feels the presence of the hand of the potter that communication truly exists.”
– Warren Mackenzie, 1999 Distinguished Artist Award” The McKnight Foundation
July 20th, 1969 was when humans first set foot on the Moon. Astronaut Buzz Aldrin (who owns a Cosmic Mug thanks to our friend Stacey at StarTalk) is 87 years young and he’s STILL active on Instagram, reminiscing about the experience:
Joel studies astronauts because it inspires him to filter ideas into is artwork, towards achieving greatness. Astronauts Buzz Aldrin and Col. Chris Hadfield both have Guinness World Records titles. Both directly inspired Joel to attempt and achieve the title for, ‘most pots thrown in one hour by an individual.’
Astronaut Col. Chris Hadfield also let us send him a Cosmic Mug. In his book, “An Astronauts Guide to Life on Earth” Hadfiled tells how his childhood dream was to walk on the moon. That goal wasn’t reached, but it put him on a path towards successfully becoming an astronaut and achieving his Guinness World Records title for ‘first music video filmed in space.’ Joel studied Hadfield’s work, sent him a Cosmic Mug and got an inspiring letter in return. He said:
We also send free pots to other astronauts occasionally, like Lt. Col. Mark Vande Hei who graduated from Joel’s alma mater CSB/SJU. He is in line for a trip to the International Space Station.
“Why climb the highest mountain? … We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills…”
– John F. Kennedy, September 12, 1962
Entrepreneurship is one skill that has many of the same core values that propelled the United States to the moon. Entrepreneurs are required to spend years overcoming failures and striving towards success. You can learn how Joel launched and sustained his pottery business immediately after college graduation in this eight part authorship series for American Craft Council:
🎉🌘🎁🌌☕🏔🎁🌒🎉
Houston, we have liftoff! Here’s what you need to know:
If they’re sold out or too expensive for you, don’t worry! Here is another awesome giveaway we just launched, totally free:
Joel will also be releasing more pottery later this month: Cosmic Mugs, including $79 Random Cosmic Mugs and $49 Flawed Cosmic Mugs, before August. Stay tuned to the newsletter to get notified about availability first:
*This is a guest blog post, edited by Joel Cherrico and written by John Fink: CSB/SJU Marketing Intern at Cherrico Pottery.
Interesting facts about Father’s Day:
“A father is neither an anchor to hold us back, nor a sail to take us there, but a guiding light whose love shows us the way.” – Unknown
Joel Cherrico’s father, Gene Cherrico, played an important role during one of his most defining life moments.
Joel and his dad were on a road trip just before he launched “Cherrico Pottery” back in 2010. Joel was hesitant about taking on the risk of starting his own company, investing his $3,000 of savings and committing to a small business loan after graduation, instead of getting a job like all of his friends.
“Owning your own business is one of the best ways to personal wealth.” – Gene Cherrico
Without Papa Cherrico’s wise words of wisdom, and his love and support, Cosmic Mugs might never have existed.
“I can discover something in the Universe, but if I didn’t do it, somebody else after me will discover that exact same thing. Whereas in the Arts, what you create, no one who was ever born before you or will be born from your death onwards, will ever compose exactly the same thing you did.” – Neil deGrasse Tyson
You can learn more about the origins of Cosmic Mugs from Joel’s authorship for American Craft Council: “A Potter’s Journey.” Learn why Joel chose an art major, how he developed a business plan, launched a small business and has operated his pottery business for seven+ years in this American Craft Council “Web Exclusive” blog series:
Another person who Joel drew inspiration from while growing his business was Robert Herjavec.
Herjavec is an immigrant from Croatia who owns a world renowned computer security company in Canada. He is most known for being a “Shark” on the hit TV show “Shark Tank” (Joel has repeatedly submitted 1st and 2nd round applications to the show). In the video below, Robert shared his story of his father’s immense sacrifices to give him a better life.
Also in honor of Father’s Day, we’re launching two pottery giveaways:
*(ENDED 11pm 6/19/2017. Winner: Sherry E.)
Today and tomorrow only, we are releasing all of our current stock of Cosmic Mugs and our current stock of Moon Mugs. Anyone who buys one or more of these new Cosmic Mugs or Moon Mugs released today and tomorrow will be entered into a drawing. One random customer will win this lunar bowl, included with their order at no extra charge.
If they’re sold out or too expensive for you, don’t worry! Joel will be releasing more Cosmic Mugs, including $79 Random Cosmic Mugs, $49 Flawed Cosmic Mugs and Moon Mugs before July. Stay tuned! For you pottery fans who are waiting for these great deals and on a budget, we’ve got something special for you too.
You can win one of three pieces of art history from Joel’s epic achievement with the Guinness World Records™ title for ‘most pots thrown in one hour by an individual.’ Simply answer the questions below in our comments to enter:
If you didn’t grow up with a father, please feel free to leave a comment about a lesson any other important person in your life taught you. Leave a comment below before this Friday telling us. We’ll pick the best 3 comments and give each winner a random World Record Pot and even more pottery ($767.00 value: $159 World Record Pottery + $20 packing and shipping average each, Spiral Bowl for $185 + $20 shipping, a copy of “A Potter’s Book” by Bernard Leach at $25 average value) given to 5 random winners, totally free!
To enter, you must leave one, genuine comment, or the moderator will not approve your comment or include you in the giveaway. Please use your PERSONAL name or initials and not your business name, as the latter comes off like spam. Please allow 24-48 hours for your comment to appear. You must also be on our email newsletter distribution list to qualify, so please make sure you are okay with receiving our email newsletter before you leave a comment. We will pick winners Friday around 2pm Central and you will receive the pottery shipped to you nearly anywhere globally, totally free. *ENDED: Congrats to our winners Carol, Jerry, Olivia, Ashlei and Steph. Thanks so much to everyone for participating!
Cool facts about the number 29:
To celebrate, we’re giving away 29 pots, totally free. Plus, we put together a bunch of discount deals and one donation to a great cause:
– Coupon Code: GWR50 valid through Friday.
($425 Value: $385 + $40 packing and shipping average)
What was the last thing you gifted or donated to someone, and why?? Leave a comment below before this Friday telling us one thing you gifted to a friend, donated to a local food shelter, non-profit organization, school, church, anything! We’ll pick the best 9 comments and give each winner a certain selection of the above 29 pots ($771.00 value) totally free.
To enter, you must leave one, genuine comment, or the moderator will not approve your comment or include you in the giveaway. Please use your PERSONAL name or initials and not your business name, as the latter comes off like spam. Please allow 24-48 hours for your comment to appear. You must also be on our email newsletter distribution list to qualify, so please make sure you are okay with receiving our email newsletter before you leave a comment. We will pick winners Friday around 2pm Central and you will receive the pottery shipped to you nearly anywhere globally, totally free.
*UPDATE 5/12: ENDED. Congrats Kristie, J.B.S., Diandra, James H., Dorthy, Michael, Amy, Leslie and Stephanie! You should have an email waiting in your inbox. Thanks so much to everyone who participated! I’m truly blown away by all of the kindness that all of you shared about the ways you spread generosity. Thanks again! – Joel
Please give us a couple days to pack and ship, because I plan to spend my birthday busting out a few fresh pots and guitar riffs.
– Don Reitz, quoted in this video interview.
