Ht: 7 cm; dia at rim: 5.5 cm

Ht: 6.5 cm; dia at rim 5.5 cm

Audrey Blackman porcelain, fired in oxidation to Cone 6.

I threw these while taking a workshop at the Baambrugge pottery near Amsterdam, with the English potter Chris Keenan. We were to make pieces that worked together as families; these are the  two smallest from a series of increasingly large mugs. I like their shape. I can see now with hindsight, that under his attentive eye, I really paid  attention to the lines of the piece itself:  the wall narrows as it moves from its wide, sharp-angled base to the smaller rim,  and  the bottom of the handle firmly emphasizes  that first lower, lifting line.

I thought a squirt of a bright-coloured glaze would highlight the luscious whiteness of this  porcelain. Then I used a few touches of a red underglaze over the blue to further attract the eye. I poured a transparent glaze into the inside, and then, holding the mug upside-down, I  dipped the rim into the same glaze, ensuring a thicker, smooth finish where lips will touch it. To finish off the mug, I used an atomiser to spray a light layer of the same transparent glaze over the outside, giving it a sightly dappled effect once fired.

Below, a close-up of the red speckles: