SCRAP PAPER

Back when I was working at Cleveland State (CSU) I used to carry a backpack with all of my essentials since I was gone from before 7am to after 6pm every day and in my pack I had this book pouch (six by eight inches) that I would stuff with scrap paper pieces I found along the way to sketch on while on the train to and from home or at the studio as ideas would come to mind. I recently found the pouch tucked away in a box in the studio and it still had hundreds of quickly rendered sketched ideas, some used and some long forgotten just like this one. 

This cup/ mug design idea is on the reverse of an advertising card for a restaurant in downtown Cleveland and shows a group of "landscapemen" decorated around the surface entitled, Sermon on the Mug. I vaguely remember using this idea on some mugs in both tebori style, carved through black slip as well as black and white slip trailed. Many of these designs worked in a variety of styles and some were just momentary or singular attempts and others I find myself using to this day but finding the sketches was an interesting reminder of where some ideas sprung from. I continue to use the "landscapeman" design on mostly terra cotta pots and credit all the time that needed passing as I was riding the rails, making my way to and from the CSU studio, I think it was time well spent.