October’s Wild Mug Club: A Little Raven Magic for Your Morning Coffee
October has a very specific mood around here. The leaves are changing, mushrooms are popping up everywhere, the mornings are darker, and suddenly putting a raven beneath a crescent moon feels completely reasonable.
So that’s exactly what I did.
For October’s Wild Mug Club, I wanted something that leaned into the season’s slightly wild, slightly mysterious feeling without going full Halloween. I love Halloween, but I wanted this mug to still feel at home in your cabinet long after the pumpkins have disappeared from the porch.
The result is a raven tucked into a little woodland world of ferns, autumn oak leaves, red berries, mushrooms, acorns, stars, and a glowing crescent moon.
From Watercolor to Mug
This one started with the raven. I knew I wanted him to be the centerpiece rather than just another little motif tucked into the design. From there, I started building the woods around him with the things I associate with this time of year: rusty oak leaves, deep greens, mushrooms, berries, and those tiny details that inevitably sneak into my work once I get going.
Watercolor has been taking up a lot more space in my studio lately, especially with my 100-day watercolor project, and I can see that experimentation spilling into everything else I’m making. I’m learning more about letting the water do what it wants to do instead of trying to control every single mark.
The raven, naturally, required approximately seventeen thousand layers of gray and black and had opinions about every one of them.
A Mug for the Wilder Side of Fall
Wild Mug Club was never meant to be a collection of generic coffee mugs with something cute slapped onto them. Each month gives me an excuse to create a little piece of art around the season, the trail, the woods, or whatever has been taking up space in my creative brain.
It’s earthy and a little whimsical. There are recognizable pieces of the woods mixed with just enough magic to make you wonder what happens out there after everyone else has gone home.
And I love that this isn’t strictly a Halloween mug.
October? Absolutely.
November? Yep.
Sitting on the porch drinking coffee on a chilly February morning while pretending you’re a mysterious woodland creature? I see no problem here.
October’s Wild Mug Club
The October Raven Mug is available as this month’s Wild Mug Club release, limited time only.
Wild Mug Club members receive the monthly mug at the member price of $16.99, while non-members pay $20.99. Each monthly design has its own release window before I move on to whatever strange little world I decide to paint next.
If your ideal morning involves coffee, ravens, mushrooms, ferns, and just a tiny bit of woodland magic, October’s mug might have your name all over it.
Mine will probably have coffee stains all over it.
Welcome to October at Wild Ridge Studio.
