StarTalk Blog Post + Giveaway

Joel Cherrico has long drawn inspiration for his pottery from Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson and his show, StarTalk Radio. Last year, we wrote about many of the reasons why, in this blog post: “Art and Science: Neil deGrasse Tyson’s Thoughts.” To avoid repeating, here is a key point:

Dr. Tyson is a man of massive influence. He wrote for The White House newsletter, appears regularly on TV Talk Shows and his work in Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey was enjoyed by millions of people. He laid the groundwork of inspiration for Joel’s creation of, “Cosmic Mugs” which you can see in this early, goofy YouTube video:

Cherrico Pottery has been supporting StarTalk Radio on Patreon for years, to draw more inspiration from the cosmos, and then filter it into art. This past January, Joel and Sienna were given an amazing opportunity: take the perfect business trip to The Big Apple (StarTalk’s headquarters in New York City) to meet Dr. Tyson and the StarTalk Radio Team.

While in NYC, they also saw a piece of artwork that was another major inspiration for Cosmic Mugs: Vincent van Gogh’s historic masterpiece The Starry Night.

StarTalk Blog

Thanks to the generous team at StarTalk, Joel was invited to publish a guest blog post titled, “Why ‘The Starry Night’ Is Universally Beautiful.” This blog reflects on several key ideas that help inspire Cosmic Mugs. These include how “Technology, Generosity and Kindness” have all helped create and sustain success for Cherrico Pottery.

Giveaway: $540 Value, 3 Winners, No Purchase Necessary

Please feel free to enter our newest giveaway, where three different people will each win one of “Our Best Cosmic Mugs.” Find all the details on how to enter by reading through Joel’s Blog on startalkradio.net, which can be found here: startalkradio.net/why-the-starry-night-is-universally-beautiful/

Dr. Tyson sipping wine from one of Joel Cherrico’s “Lunar Cups”….how cool! Photo by Justin Starr Photography

2 November, 20172 November, 2017

Art and Science: Neil deGrasse Tyson’s Thoughts

Two Sides of the Same Coin

Neil deGrasse Tyson is an astrophysicist known for his ability to integrate science into mainstream pop culture. He is the director of the Hayden Planetarium in New York City, hosts and operates the television and radio show StarTalk, is the author of 13 books, and has 9.8 million Twitter followers. He’s an accomplished man, to say the least.

Cherrico Pottery has long been fans of Dr. Tyson’s work, specifically because he sees the value in art. He says artistic expression and scientific discovery cultivate the same emotions. It’s both a scientist’s and artist’s job to communicate the awe, splendor, and the beauty of the world around us. Dr. Tyson says that one large difference between art and science is that if a scientist doesn’t discover something in the universe, someone else will. Art, on the other hand, is something different:

“In the arts, what you create, no one who was ever born before you or will be born after you from your death onwards, will ever compose exactly the same thing you did.”

– Neil DeGrasse Tyson

Creativity and Science

Our friends at StarTalk created a video with a few reasons for why it’s important to continue art education. Dr. Tyson is an expert in the sciences, but he understands that in order to succeed and grow in scientific knowledge, you must have certain skills that aren’t always taught in science classes.

One of these skills that overlap between art and science is creativity. Dr. Tyson points out in this video that the human mind is capable of both precision and creativity. The best scientists are creative and the best artists bring some rationality and order into their artwork. What makes Joel’s Cosmic Mugs so spectacular is because he has integrated both creativity and order into each mug. The cosmic glaze on each mug is not meant to depict the cosmos, but instead, express it.

When Dr. Tyson speaks about the topic of art and science, there’s a good chance he brings up Vincent van Gogh’s famous painting, Starry Night. He often says that it’s the first painting that didn’t reflect reality, but instead emotion. He says that art and science are the two of the few things we create that will last past our lifetime.

Joel has gifted Dr. Tyson and the team at StarTalk a few different mugs throughout the years to show his support. Dr. Tyson personally owns a Moon Mug and a Cosmic Mug. Joel also supports StarTalk radio and podcasts by donating to them through Patreon. Joel even sometimes wears a StarTalk shirt in his Facebook live videos. Inspired by StarTalk’s Patreon, Joel recently has launched his own Patreon. It’s a way for fans of Cherrico Pottery to get more content. Don’t worry though, Joel will still be active on Facebook, including his live videos.

Happy Halloween

Halloween might be every child’s favorite holiday, and Dr. Tyson was no different. Maybe it was a sign of his future career when his favorite candy bars were Milly Ways and Mars Bars.

Halloween Pottery Giveaway ($446 value)

Thanks so much for reading this far. Please feel free to enter this giveaway, in celebration of Halloween. 4 winners: 3 of Joel’s best Cosmic Mugs, and 1 Signed Copy of ”Ceramics TECHNICAL” that published about Joel’s Cosmic Mugs.

30 June, 20177 July, 2017

Asteroid Day: Meteorite Mug Auction and Donation + Asteroid Cup Giveaway

What is Asteroid Day?

We decided not to wish you a “Happy Asteroid Day!” because it’s not really a celebratory day. It’s an international day for the science community to educate and raise awareness on the seriousness of asteroid collisions with Earth. June 30th was chosen to be International Asteroid Day for a reason.

June 30, 1908:

Referred to as the “Tunguska Event,” an asteroid exploded over a Siberian forest causing mass devastation. It was a mystery to natives for decades on what caused this explosion, until scientists stepped in. It’s the largest impact event on Earth ever recorded during human history.

“You kind of want to know how to move asteroids around – that’s a good thing to be able to do, because one day we’re going to find one with our name on it.”

– Neil deGrasse Tyson

Our friends at StarTalk created a video with some of the best reasons for why it’s important to care about asteroid research. Dr. Tyson is an important science communicator, but he also has a soft spot for art (shown by The Starry Night painting reproduction hanging in his office or the Copper Red Mug that snuck into this interview):

Here at Cherrico Pottery, we donate regularly to The Planetary Society as members and periodically for additional research and understanding of asteroids. You can hear straight from them about the importance of asteroid defense in this video they launched today:

The dinosaurs didn’t have a space program…

We also donate to The B612 Foundation, which is an organization that helps protect Earth from asteroid impacts. We would prefer to not end up like earlier Earth inhabitants, especially since, “It is a statistical certainty that one day the Earth will get hit by a large asteroid.”

Joel Cherrico used inspiration from the cosmos to create amazingly unique Meteorite Mugs. Joel actually models all his Meteorite Mugs after the meteorite named The Willamette Meteorite, located in the American Museum of Natural History.

Here’s your chance to purchase a Meteorite Mug and donate to Asteroid Research and Defense.

This Meteorite Mug is being auctioned off on eBay with 50% of the profit being donated to The B612 Foundation in honor of Asteroid Day.

Giveaways: 9 Free Pots, $290+ Value

– “Asteroid Cup” $165+ value

– Set of 4 “Cosmic Shot Cups” going out to 2 different winners:

($126 value: $48 retail + $15 packing and shipping each)

You can win this free Asteroid Cup and a set of these Cosmic Shot Cups in honor of Asteroid Day. Simply answer the question below in our comments to enter:

How has science impacted your life?

Leave a comment below before Friday 7/7 telling us how scientific classes, scientific discoveries, or science in general has impacted your life. We’ll pick the best 3 comments and give the winners this Asteroid Cup and 2 sets of shot cups, 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 Nancy, Valerie, and Lou. Thanks so much to everyone for participating!

20 August, 201525 September, 2015

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.”

A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved, except in memory. LLAP

— Leonard Nimoy (@TheRealNimoy) February 23, 2015

Leonard Nimoy in Vincent, Joel Cherrico Pottery Blog, my DVD Live 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:

This morning's Moon is about the same phase & sky position captured by Van Gogh in "The Starry Night" pic.twitter.com/BWvbF07mKl

— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) March 18, 2015

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 nebula Fan-Image-and-Cosmic-Mug-planetary-Nebula-and-Molecular-cloud-cluster-hand-collage-home-page-Image-2