This light tan speckled clay thrown by my partner, Jodi in our cardinal bird in a pine tree theme. Once the clay is leather hard, I underglaze the clay with speckled green, ruby read and a mix of speckled yellow and ruby red glaze. Then I carve the design through and around the painted shape, then low fired. Next, a the mug is coated with snow, a white finishing glaze. The cardinal must be waxed to avoid the snow getting over the carving in order to keep the illustration clear. All ceramic shapes are food, dishwasher and microwave safe.