Mug Shots - Pottery Works

Not long after Sarah and I got married, we decided to walk to The Pottery Works in downtown Lancaster PA. It's one of those cool little shops where you choose your piece of choice, paint it, and then leave it there for them to fire. A short time later, they give you a call and you can pick up your new uniquely designed piece.

This was my first time at a shop like this and I was impressed with how many things you could choose from to paint and design. Plates, cups, bowls, animals...and a lot more. Of course, Sarah and I opted for coffee mugs and it made for a fun afternoon.

I chose to create a mug with sarcastic directions on how to use it painted all over it and Sarah went the more artsy route. I had forgotten from high school art class how the colors you paint with actually look nothing like the finished project because the heat of the oven makes the paint change. So, if you choose a blue paint, it might look red going on. It's pretty crazy, science and all, and makes it a little tricky to picture what the final project will look like.

Sarah doesn't like how her mug turned out ("I mean, what IS it?" she still asks to this day when I tell her she did a nice job), but I love it because she made it and I love it for its imperfections (or what she sees as imperfections). It's funny how we see ourselves compared to how others see us. When I take a photo of Sarah, it's always a dance because as soon as she catches me pointing the lens at her, she smiles and poses (Understandably so. I think it's a natural instinct for all of us) but I prefer a candid shot, one that doesn't feel planned or staged. I think there's a beauty in the everyday moments of life (especially when Sarah is the subject of the photo).

Maybe that's why I like her mug so much. It reminds me of a sunny Saturday afternoon we spent together but, more than that, it's a reminder that there's beauty in crooked lines. There's warmth and attachment in something truly hand crafted and admittedly a biased love that radiates from within knowing those lines and colors and shapes were made by my best friend.