Along with the standard functional-ware created by most potters, Long tends to make vessels such as flasks, wine bottles, and sake sets. His theme and thought behind these vessels suggests more than just alcohol consumption, something that intrigued me when listening to a lecture of his this past summer. Long expressed that his work is not about the alcohol, but instead is about the company that surrounds someone when vessels such as a flask are in use. This idea of community is also applicable to the coffee and tea pots that Long often creates and is explained in this quote from a 2004 article in Cermaics Daily (accessible for download at the bottom of this webpage http://ceramicartsdaily.org/bookstore/vessles-for-victory-by-matt-long/) “To be in the front of the cupboard, to be on the counter top, to be set on a table where someone is having a conversation with someone they care about: that matters more to me than making money or driving a better car. Maybe my flasks get passed around at a family gathering to celebrate the new year, an anniversary, or the birth of a child—events that really define who we are.”