Pulling Triggers: A work in progress

Here is a project I have been working on for the past few months: someone put me in touch with a fellow who needs some cups made for his wife. She has rheumatoid arthritis, so she has a specific mug that is comfortable for her to hold, based on things such as the size, weight, placement and size of the handles. This is a photo of one of her own mugs on the left. I am told that Bennington Potters in Vermont makes this style of mug, and it is often referred to as a Bennington Trigger.

But inevitably, cups break, and her supply of these are running low.


Her husband asked me to make some more for her. "It has to fit her like a glove," he told me. I said I'd give it a shot.



I finished a batch and sent them to her to try out. They returned with her user feedback on little stickies. For example:






So I have made another set, trying to get the size and hole placement right on target, and we shall see how it feels.

It is cool to have a project like this, which not only makes my degree in industrial design seem relevant but also gets me to throw many pots.

I also am learning to appreciate how difficult daily life is--just holding a coffee cup-- for someone with rheumatoid arthritis.

Octomug

My friend Rachel commissioned me to make an octopus-themed mug for her husband's Father's Day gift (Happy Father's Day, Eric!). Though I probably would never have thought to make anything like this on my own, I am quite happy with how it turned out, and discovered fascinating facts about octopuses in the process.

For example, an octopus has no skeleton so it can squeeze through a tiny opening, or even a skinny, hairpinny tube in order to get to some food at the other end. An octopus can figure out how to unscrew a jar in order to get to a crab sealed inside. Check out this You Tube video:





There was a large aquarium where dogfish shark carcasses kept appearing at the bottom of the tank, and when they put cameras in to figure out what was going on, they discovered that a giant pacific octopus was doing them in.

On the other hand, even though octopuses can be very strong and very fast, they run out of energy quickly because of their poor circulation.

I also found a cool octopus jewelry shop on Etsy at Octopusme.etsy.com






The suction cups are fun to touch and I think I will try adding little bumpers like these to some other mugs.