Wood Fired Stoneware Coffee Mug with Eldora Speedway Slip Design

This is one of a series of mugs that were fired in my barrel arch, woodfired kiln in early December, 2022. This was a 20 hour firing that achieved about 2300 degrees Fahrenheit.

This is part of my Speedway Series, many of which were decorated with clay from racetracks where we raced our sprint car last season. I make a series of marks that represent characteristics of each track.

Mugs with multiple stripes have clay from Knoxville, Iowa with the Iconic multi-level Armco barrier on the outside of each of the four turns. Mugs will a single stripe of Gas City Speedway, Indiana display the lack of wall around the curves and backstretch. Mugs with a stripe of clay with vertical lines cut out reference Western Ohio's, Eldora Speedway. Last, Terre Haute Action Track at the Vigo County Fairgrounds has clay spatter combined with splashes of red, white and blue glaze that recalls the recognizable wall that surrounds this terrifying half mile oval.

In most cases, the decorative clay surface that you see on the mugs is scraped off our car after a night of racing. In other cases, I gathered the clay off the racing surface via paper cup. It is then taken home, dried, broken into small pieces and then slaked with water. I mix up this very thin slurry and run it through a screen to remove debris. This slip is allowed to settle, decanted and then mixed to the consistency of Cool Whip. The marks that reference the various tracks is applied after the form is thrown, dried, fired to a bit over 1900 Fahrenheit, cooled and then the inside is coated with a food safe "liner" glaze. At this point the race track slip is applied and the mug is further prepped for the wood firing.

All of my functional kitchenware pottery is safe for everyday use in the microwave, dishwasher and oven.

Mug Dimensions:
4 1/2" tall
5" wide with handle
3/4 pound dry weight
11 fluid ounce container