Heart Mugs

Made in Cary NC by Crouse Pottery for Life. Each handcrafted mug is made jointly by Melinda and Todd Crouse. 

Todd Crouse was introduced to clay in high school when he signed up to take a pottery class. What seemed like a good resume addition for a coveted camp counselor position at Deer Valley YMCA Camp turned out to be so much more. While discovering his "hidden artist, "he also found a knack for creating utilitarian forms -- mugs, bowls, jars, and the like -- and a desire to express himself in objects that could be part of everyday life rather than to sit on a shelf to be admired. A college ceramics course and an occasional seminar helped him hone these skills. But, as is often the case, life intervened - a career, a wife and two kids relegated pottery to a "spare time only" endeavor. Kids now mostly grown and his career in a manageable place, Todd decided to give pottery a try again and reclaimed his skills during a two-week "immersion course" at the renowned Penland School of Crafts in the NC Mountains. The purchase of his own pottery wheel (and the blessing of a tolerant wife!) proved to be the first steps in what is now a fully equipped home pottery studio.