Who is Christine?

Hi my name is Christine. Born and raised in Florida. But currently reside in San Diego, CA with my partner and our dogs. I recently fell in love with making ceramic mugs! Growing up I’ve always loved doing art. I’ve tried all kinds of methods of expressing art, from traditional oil pointing and graphite sketching to pretty geeky ones like acrylic miniature painting and board game themed pin design! But nothing had really clicked as ceramics did with me. So I made the investment and bought myself a kiln. I’m now a solo mug maker working out of my garage.

Why Does Christine Make Mugs?

Mold making, slip casting … I’m constantly covered in clay. Why would I do this to myself? It all started during 2020, I pretty much binged watched everything and I just so happened upon a show called the Great Pottery Throw Down. Binged that real quick too. BUT little did I know…the show planted a seed into my head. It wasn’t until early 2021 when we started emerging from our caves, I visited my first a tiki bar called Devil’s Reef. I stepped foot into that place and was transported somewhere else entirely for a night. The escapism and the strong but balanced drinks made it one of my favorite nightly getaways for a long while. One night I asked the owner of the bar, Jason Alexander, about the mug collection he had displayed at the bar. He showed me all these amazing CERAMIC mugs. Then it all clicked. I love this tiki bar, I love these mugs, I love ceramics… I can do this. I drunkenly declared that night to the Devil’s Reef crew that I was going to make my own mug that I’ll bring in to drink from. Then I did and I’ll continue to do this to myself because I love doing it.

What now?

While working a full-time day job, I’ll continue to sculpt and make mugs in the evenings and weekends. But my plan is to save up and go full time into ceramics within the next 5 years or so. It’s just so much fun, plus all the cool people I’ve met in the tiki community just makes it all even more worthwhile!
UPDATE: It didn't take 5 years but now that 2 years have gone past and all the immense support I've received from everyone. I've decided to try my hand as a full time artist. Thank you for taking this leap of faith with me.