Nell Ruby

I visited “48 of Thousands” a group of Ehren Tool’s cups at Haystack Gallery in Maine. Ehren is a veteran and an artist who only makes cups, and makes them incessantly. His surfaces (screen printed and sculpted in low relief) wound the clay body with words and images that evoke the raw experience of violence and war. They move me.

The times I have witnessed the cups being something more than just a cup are the times when someone shared a story about the images on the cup. Someone who had firsthand experience with that insignia or image and shared a story with someone they love. The power of the cups comes from the people they resonate with. 

Studio Potter Vol. 46, No. 1 “I just make cups”