Dreaming of mugs

At the start of the year I wanted to create new products and develop new skills. I chose to create designs for mugs - something that can be practical and beautiful. I love tea plus cycling, walking and spending time outdoors so the enamel mug seemed a good choice - it’s robust, portable and the surface is printable.

Swimming otters by Lancaster Canal

Initially, I spent a good deal of time working on paper - creating new designs to wrap around a mug only to find a motif needed to be bigger, moved left or up, or removed altogether. After a number of draft paper designs, I knew designing for a round vessel was going to need a different approach to working on flat pieces of paper.

Otter design sheet by Teresa Kirk

I needed to work digitally to adapt to this new, mug-shaped canvas so ... three days and late nights later, after a lot of wrestling with Photoshop, eating, sleeping and dreaming of mugs plus countless draft designs, it happened - a design of swimming otters wrapped successfully around a mug. Apart from being very fond of otters, I’m fond of the otter design because it embodies the creative process so well - curiosity to try, dashed attempts, the urge to find a solution to a problem, and ultimately the reward when things come together. Finally.

There are a little family of mugs growing now with foxes, badgers, puffins, seals and hares. Available on Etsy if they float your boat : )