Joel Cherrico will be exhibiting and performing live pottery demonstrations on his York Kick Wheel August 19th and 20th in Duluth, Minnesota at Art in Bayfront Park. One of Joel’s best BIG pottery jars will be on display, as well as a few of his best Cosmic Mugs. This will be Joel’s 7th year participating in this festival. He will also be crafting Cosmic Mugs live and anything else he’s inspired to throw, while breathtaking Lake Superior shimmers in the background.

Just one of his Big Pots will be on display in Duluth. They take a LONG time to make. In a hurried month, Joel can throw, fire and finish 100+ Cosmic Mugs in under a week and have them ready to order, but one Big Pot takes several months from start to finish. Just the drying takes a few months! Read about how Joel creates these beautiful works of art in a blog post he wrote back in 2012:

Big Pots deserve to be displayed on a stand as beautiful as the Big Pots themselves. So, Joel and his team have been creating beautiful wooden slabs over the last month to use as pedestals. The pedestals also help to level the jars on uneven ground. Four different types of wood slabs were harvested in sustainable ways from the St. John’s Arboretum with the help of a full-time forest technician: Aspen, Maple, Sugar Maple and White Oak. Slabs were dried slowly in Joel’s pottery kiln at 100 degrees C. for a few days, and then hand-planed, sanded and finished with love by local woodworker Tom Kuhn.

And yes… that is actually real gold in the bottom right corner of the gorgeous red jar. That is the Cherrico Pottery jar Joel plans to display in Duluth. Hope to see you there!

Millstream Arts Festival

September 24th, Joel’s artistic talent will be on full display when he participates (for the 7th time) in the Millstream Arts Festival, located in his home town, St. Joseph, Minnesota. This is where Joel lives, works and operates Cherrico Pottery. They even generously put his work on billboards around the city.

Joel will be set up with 3-5 more of his best Big Pots right in front of the Local Blend coffee shop, where you can eat an entire meal from his artwork everyday. This interview with the American Craft Council tells how they developed an innovative business model. A few things have changed, but you can still buy pottery everyday and anyone can still go eat an entire meal from innovative pieces of Cherrico Pottery. Hope to see you at Millstream!

Joel is passionate about supporting the community of St. Joseph, and his unique partnership with the Local Blend is a perfect example of that support. If you’re not too busy, come see Joel create his famous Cosmic Mugs and learn more about his artwork by absorbing the energy of his specialty “Big Pots” in person.

“The most important thing is communicating with the user. It is only when the user feels the presence of the hand of the potter that communication truly exists.”

– Warren Mackenzie, 1999 Distinguished Artist Award” The McKnight Foundation

4 December, 20163 December, 2016

Good News/Bad News: Early Bird Package on Guinness World Record Pottery

Well, unfortunately the new Nuka Cobalt pots didn’t turn out as expected.

Maybe I applied too much glaze. Perhaps I fired too quickly, or applied the glaze layers without proper drying time, maybe. In pottery, sometimes pots just don’t turn out as expected. The glaze “crawled” and dripped during the firing, revealing the clay underneath.

I sincerely apologize that these pots do not look the same as our standard line of “Nuka Cobalt” pots. However, they are 100% functional and still great pots. The only flaw is in the wild appearance that does not match our normal line of pots. In some ways, I actually like this wild, unpredictable style more.

So, we’re still moving forward with our Guinness World Record Pottery package:

2 FREE Random Nuka Cobalt Spiral Mugs roughly 14-18 ounce size, shown above ($160 value: $65 + $15 packing and shipping each).
2 FREE Random Nuka Cobalt Ice Cream Bowls, roughly 8oz. size, shown above ($120 value: $45 + $15 packing and shipping each).
Simply Purchase 1 Guinness World Record Pot. You can even get 20% off, using this coupon: POTTERY20 ($179 value: $159 + $20 packing and shipping).

$459 value!
Limited Availability: Purchase before 11:59pm today, December 4th

To get this package, simply purchase your favorite Guinness World Record Pottery from our online store here and we will include all four of the above Nuka Cobalt pottery pieces, totally free, without adding even a dime to shipping costs. You can even use this 20% off coupon: POTTERY20

Purchase World Record Pottery + 4 Free Nuka Cobalt Pots

We’re planning one more awesome coupon package for the Holiday season. Stay tuned for more Holiday pottery deals on Nuka Cobalt Pottery and Cosmic Mugs.

“Problems are eternal, get rid of one and another appears. Pottery problems, disastrous firings, irresponsible galleries, etc. are often devastating if we don’t regard them as experiences. Seen in this light, problems often set the stage for creative action and allow us the opportunity to self expression.”

– Jenny Lind, Quoted in The Studio Potter, A Question of Quality, 1979

16 October, 20153 November, 2015

Cosmic Friday: Five Free Mugs, Studio Shot & One Cool Quote

As new mugs emerge from the kiln fire, I decided to launch this new “Cosmic Mug Giveaway” to give all of you more chances to win free cosmic mugs before they become available for sale:

Five Free Cosmic Mugs

If you’re dying to get your hands on a Cosmic Mug, I have just one more jewel available in my online store here. Feel free to use this 20% off coupon code as a thanks for subscribing to my email newsletter: COSMIC20

Stay tuned for a HUGE body of cosmic pottery available at even further discounted prices in just a few weeks, ready in time for Christmas delivery.

Studio Shot

“The challenge is to do the thing you have to do because you’re in love with it and can’t do anything else. Not because you want to become famous or rich, but because you will be unhappy if you can’t do it…Keeping up with fashion is the wrong challenge.”

– Warren MacKenzie, qtd. in The Studio Potter Journal, 1990

This photo features Warren Mackenzie on the cover of American Craft, and was used in my authorship for “A Potter’s Journey: The Search for 1,000 True Fans.”

9 October, 201512 October, 2015

Cosmic Friday: Free Mug Giveaway, Studio Shot and One Cool Quote

As a thanks for subscribing to my email list, one of you gets a cosmic mug every Friday, chosen randomly, totally free! I hope to give more people the experience of using this new, valuable type of art. This week’s winner has an email waiting in your inbox, ready to receive a free mug anywhere in the US or Canada!

Stay tuned for a huge body of cosmic artwork available at discounted prices soon, ready in time for Christmas delivery.

Studio Shot

“The world has many other avenues available to procure something that looks exactly like it does in the catalog, but fortunately our shop is not one of those avenues.”

– Nick Offerman, qtd. in “The Actor’s Workshop”

28 August, 201528 August, 2015

Cosmic Friday: Free Cosmic Mugs, Studio Shot and One Cool Quote

As a thanks for subscribing to my email list, I decided to send one Cosmic Mug to one random person each week- totally free. My goal is to give more people the experience of using this new, valuable type of artwork. This week’s winner has an email waiting in your inbox, ready to receive this free mug anywhere in the continental United States!

Sorry I can’t afford to ship free mugs worldwide yet. If you’re dying to get your hands on a Cosmic Mug, I have just a few jewels available in my online store here. Feel free to use this 20% off coupon code as a thanks for subscribing to my mailing list: COSMIC20

Otherwise, be sure to enter into the Triple Cosmic Mug Giveaway running through the end of August- definitely your best odds at winning a free mug!

By November, I’m planning to have a HUGE selection of Cosmic Mugs available at HUGE price discounts, ready in time for Christmas delivery.

Studio Shot

Each “Cosmic Friday” you will get a short email where I give away one free Cosmic Mug, show one cool process shot from my studio and share a quote that I found during my artistic research. Enjoy!

cosmic platter — The first “Cosmic Platter” – a huge wall piece with dark, starry night glazing…the first of many!

“In many ways, fame is the industrial disease of creativity. It’s a sludgy byproduct of making things…It’s my job as an artist to be understood, and I would rather fight for the audience to have a good experience.”

– Mike Myers, qtd. in Marc Maron’s podcast.