Illustration Cups
Illustration Cups began as a throwing challenge: make as many of the same cup as I could to the same specifications. Eventually it became a time to think and an exercise in patience and acceptance rather than a way to make quick, perfect cups. There were always those that went flying as I attempted to trim them while far too tired or distracted. There were those, too, which didn’t quite fit the right dimensions in the first place. With each mistake— or “Smash Pot” as I refer to them— I became more accepting of and invested in the individuality of each cup and the collaboration going on between myself and the material.
The drawings came about out of a kind of determination to draw even as I was so busy making other kinds of art. I am an illustrator who got so wrapped up into ceramics over the last couple of years that I had little time to draw traditionally. I love to make things with my hands. Especially things that are functional. So, recently I decided that since I had fallen out of love with paper in favor of clay I might as well migrate “full send” to my new chosen medium. So, with my tiny paintbrush and chicken chili tub of red iron oxide I started creating my illustrations on the walls of my cups.
Pretty soon after that I dreamed up my Cabinet of Thought, which is meant to convey some of my thoughts and thought patterns to others. Things like environmentalism, fantasy, pollution and just plain wild imaginings. With a little help from my engineer dad I built the cabinet and painted native wildlife, endangered species, whimsical scenes and funky paint splatters onto my little three-dimensional canvases. I figured morning rituals like making coffee, tea— fuel for the day— are so contemplative and personal that my illustrated cups could be a good way to raise awareness, promote creativity and curiosity, and just spark a little joy in people’s lives. I made thirty of them specifically for this project, which were all displayed on the cabinet as a nod to that quintessential morning decision: which cup am I going to use today?
Faith Hills 