A Whale of a Tale: CustomMade Mugs for a Whale Lover

CustomMade customer Tammy loves the ocean. Having gone to for school for Marine Biology, she discovered that whales were what  interested her most. She says she has “a special spot in my heart for all things Cetacea” (the Latin word for Whale). Tammy approached CustomMade with the idea of honoring her favorite sea mammal. She wanted to have seven mugs created representing the seven different species of whale. Soon she found Sara L. Lynch and noticed that she had actually done a whale mug in the past! After checking out Sara’s take on a whale mug, Tammy quickly fell in love with Sara’s style and contacted her to make the seven special mugs.

Tammy then began her Private Project with Sara. She explained each of the seven different species of whale she was looking to have made - Blue, Humpback, Gray, Right, Sperm, Orca, and Beluga. Sara was intrigued by the project. Not one to shy away from an unusual request, she immediately responded with enthusiasm. Having no experience with the specifics of whale anatomy, Sara did some intensive whale research before designing any preliminary sketches for Tammy. After familiarizing herself with each whale, Sara began her detailed drawings and designs and Tammy loved her ideas. Together, they decided that since the Humpback Whale has a longer rostrum- or snout, that it would be the perfect choice to serve as the pitcher for the set.

The idea of this project held such special meaning for Tammy and she was eager to get started!  With this in mind, Sara kept Tammy informed through the entire creation process of her special mugs. Tammy says that in working through CustomMade, she found it easy to find a maker who would not only appreciate her sentimental attachment to whales, but also have such precise attention to detail to ensure that each mug would be absolutely perfect, and they were.

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Surprisingly, this was not Sara's first experience with making whale mugs. However, this was her first time making one of each species. After doing a great deal of whale research, she sketched each mug individually.
First drawing of the Whale Mug
First, Sara started with the basic mug form, making sure each mug was completely functional first before carving their specific shapes.
Basic Form
Sara has begun the carving and shaping. Each one is starting to look more and more like their specific type of whale with the Humpback (all the way to the right) taking the shape of a pitcher.
Starting to look whale like
Here the whale mugs have tails- or handles- however you would like to look at it. Complete with a bit more detailed carvings, the whale mugs are really coming together!
They have tails!
Here they are ready to go into the Kiln. Sara cleaned the mugs up and spent some extra time shaping so each one would look completely unique but still maintain that it is part of a set.
Ready to go in the Kiln
All painted and glazed! Each mug is happy and ready to go. They turned out beautifully and CustomMade customer Tammy couldn't be more thrilled with each. Here's a challenge: can you name every whale?
A Whale of a Tail