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Limited Edition Mug From Bennington
Potters Benefits Moosefest 2009 Bennington Potters is participating in
Moosefest 2009 as only they could by making a
moose designed and produced in house, a
unique and functional piece of made-in-
Bennington-Vermont stoneware. To find out
just what was involved, this
reporter followed the process
from idea to execution.
Owner Sheela Harden: "A
cluster of ideas sets the process in
motion. First of all, Clayton our
Moose arrived 2005 and his love
Dolly the Cow have had a little
Moose. Our making another
moose just seemed wrong! And
Bennington Potters has become
quite collectible. We've been
wanting to develop the capacity to
do overall low relief as a decorative
treatment and to work out the
costs of a limited edition custom Designer Julia Butkas: "In this situation, Sheela stands in for the customer with one set of needs and wears her CEO and owner hats with another set of needs. In asking for an overall low relief design that would be very Vermont, feature a Moose and be both a unique statement for us but not depart from the Bennington style and with such a low direct production cost target and a relatively low price point fixed, Sheela has set the ball in play. Designers are given needs, often conflicting needs - make something beautiful that everyone will love and want, make it just like this and just like that, make it indestructible, bring it in at less than X dollars (always too low) by Y date (always too soon), always problems to solve a.k.a. opportunities to be creative. At Bennington Potters, we say bring it on! As designer and, on such a run - a development run that will be the only run - as project leader (with a less than four month window -
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run. Like everyone these days, we
have to watch spending. For our moose to make
his appearance on a custom mug seemed like
win-win all around. Bennington Potters contribution
would be the development costs, all overhead
and any profit. A unique commemorative
mug might well appeal to our fellow Bennington
merchants and make their cash registers ring.
Moosefest 2009 participants and visitors could
take away a Bennington moose tucked into their
suitcase. Moosefest 2009 would gain a nice contribution
per mug sold to support arts/history
education outreach and future Bennington promotions.
We would set the price at $19.80; $6.60
would cover materials, firing propane and direct
labor; $6.60 would cover costs for the store selling
the mug; $6.60 would go to Moosefest 2009.
The moose mug will only be made during the
May through October Moosefest 2009 season."
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Sheela had this idea in February), my success
depended upon teamwork. The go-to person
was Tom Cutler, tool designer and machinist
extraordinaire. David Gil, my teacher and our
founder had talked about a jigger mug with low
relief. Tom Cutler was going to make it happen."
Machinest, Tom Cutler: "The key to meeting
the cost target was using an existing interior profile
and reworking the exterior profile within a
narrow range so that I would not have to tool a
completely new stainless steel spinning former,
Julia - and, she says, David - had the key idea. By
making a new outside jacket out
of silicone rubber, which could,
both carry the relief design and fit
onto the existing model, which
had the maximum draft and interior
capacity, we had a shot at it.
But you have got to realize that
there are many steps. "1st, Julia makes drawings. 2nd, Julia makes a pattern that will cover the outside surface of the. 3rd, Julia makes a mold for casting the rubber "mug jacket". Inside she hand carves, using dental tools, the reverse of the design of the moose appearing among swirling maple leaves. 4th, she makes the casting and then, stitching a seam under the handle, she attaches the design to the mug model. 5th, she uses the dressed model to make a "scrap mold" to test on the jigger for a prototype. 6th, Julia and Sheela decide that the carving needs adjustment - more here, less there, some figures recessed rather than raised, etc. So Julia fills in some plaster and recarves and then makes another "mug jacket" and repeats steps 4 and 5. That means step 7 and 8 I think. With this second pass, we get the go ahead! Next, the 9th step, she makes a mold for the 10th Step, Al Boulet and Julia make production 40 molds. 11th , Al slip casts handles. 12th, we run the jigger and make 380 cups with me on the front jiggering and Jenny Stone and Karen Wellspeak on the end finishing and sticking up handles. With this step, the project is entrusted to Dawn." Glazing and Finishing Expert Dawn Fressola: "Here at the 13th step, the formed, finished and stuck-up mugs go into the drying closet and rest (although we don't!). 14th , Al makes the chosen glaze, a forest green semi matte that gives both the Bennington look, an Arts and Craft feel, alludes to the Green Mountains and offers a very nice moose habitat. 15th, Jenny and Karen and I glaze the 380 pieces, bottom rub them - so they won't stick to the kiln when the glaze and body melt together and vitrify (accomplishing stoneware) - step 16; let them rest and dry one more time (17th step). Finally, the 18th step, yes, Chris Dufresne loads and fires our Moosefest 2009 offering and we bring the job home! And in time for the unveiling of the moose party on May 19th! Remember, the first test run was the run and we aced it! Houston! We have lift-off! Now comes the acid test: do you the customer like our Moose? Do you the visitor take one home with you? Come and see us at the Potters Yard and tell us what you think. We the potters are here working weekdays until 4:30. And our selling partners in the Grist Mill are there until 6:00 seven days a week." See other Moosefest Gifts |