\"They are but beggars that can count their worth!\"

Gosh, but ain\'t that true? Just leave it to W. Shakespeare to condense the complexity of self-worth to such a pointed, pithy phrase. Perhaps that is why we moths are drawn to this bright and shiny flame... Hmm. Actually, this pot was not inspired by anything penned by the Bard. Rather, I recently found the stunning photography of Lee Jeffries. This is the second jug I\'ve made inspired by his breathtaking photography. Below are some of his amazing photos.

Good, right? So below are some photos of the jug his amazing photographs inspired.

Jeffries\'s portraits presented faces so full of character experience, texture, and the lumps of life lived on the streets. Further, and perhaps more impressive is Jeffries\'s uncanny ability to deliver these people without the slightest sense of exploitation. Capturing this delicate balance was my chief ambition here. I didn\'t simply want to \"make a portrait of a homeless guy.\" I wanted to capture uncertainty, disquietude, but ultimately an eternal hope that things may just right themselves after all.

The jug was turned on the wheel then sculpted largely from the inside out to keep the detail up and the weight down. The glazes are all home made. This jug is nearly 12\" tall. It is signed and dated. It is in mint or perfect condition.

I am a high school English teacher. For the past few years I have had my twelfth graders work on a project in the last quarter where they have to teach themselves something new--a new skill? Hobby? Trade? The sky is the limit. This year I decided I would share with them something that I taught myself about six years ago--pottery. I made a 60 second video on YouTube showing how I turn that glob of goo into a face jug.

A year or so ago I was contacted by writer/director Chad Crawford Kinkle, who had just won Slamdance\'s top prize for best horror script, to make around 20 face jugs for his film. The film is currently scaring the pants off of viewers in festivals here and abroad. News is that it was just picked up by a distributor, so start looking for it around July. I included a still and a shot of the new poster to show my pots acting their scariest.

To see more, please check out my website. Google: theyankeepotter.

Thanks for looking.Who made this?
My name is Jason Mahlke, and I am a self taught potter. I turn the pots in my basement, create thefaces at my kitchen table, and fire them in my garage. I admire theSouthern potters like the Meaders and Hewell families. Their pottery always features such solid,graceful forms with crude but expressive faces. But I am also drawn to thesophisticated and lifelike looks of some of Wallace Martin\'s face jugsand grotesques. I think I\'m beginning to get close to capturing thatsort of impossible balance. I mainly use Georgia clay because of its heavy grog. This gives the jars the sandy texture that you would find inthe Southern stoneware. I make jugs, jars, coffee cups, salt & pepper holders...pretty much anything that can serve as some sort of container.