Tin Cup

We've been going through our treasure bus reducing our possessions and making a few dollars selling at local flea markets, every little bit helps. Some things I'm re purposing to current needs, like my previous studio sign. I painted it with turquoise acrylic; I think this color is eye catching. I wish it said Pottery instead of Ceramics, someone else made it for me so it is what it is.


Some things I still can't part with like this soap dish I got more then twenty years ago. My initial thought was to have an outdoor plant potting station with an old sink and this soap dish. Somedays I think it will look great above one of those big porcelain cast iron farm sinks in a mountain cabin. Or perhaps in a warehouse-size pottery studio above one of those stainless steel sink and drainboards seen in commercial kitchens. Somedays are what dreams are made of.


Gary unpacked some of his father's things and found this bronze war merit cross from the German army. It has a swastika and swords on the front and the date 1939 on the back. I read the swastika symbol was used hundreds of years before it became notorious as used by Hitler and the Nazis.


Gary's father was in the US Army Air Corp from 1939 to 1945 during World War II. Gary also discovered this insignia. He was stationed at Morrison Field in West Palm Beach, Florida.


Meanwhile I made two more mugs, a giant tankard size without a handle and with thick applications of colorful texture, almost a carnival mug. This would be a good milkshake size tumbler.


The next one I was inspired from a memory of a tin cup, the kind which were issued to soldiers in a mess kit carried in the battle field. I should probably roll the rim out, to make it appear as if it's made of tin. Today this size mug, which is only about two inches tall, might be considered an espresso cup.


I'm quite enamored with this little cup; I might make a group of these. I like it's simplicity. I think I should reverse the top attachment of the handle and perhaps make it a little taller. Gary said I should put raised letters saying "U.S." I might make a few like that too. I could also make a mold of the insignia and then use it as a sprig on some 'tin' cups. This post is part of Show and Tell Saturday, Artist's in Blogland. Thanks for reading and for all your comments.