My friends Karlee, Sheryl, and I recently had a cute little friend-date painting pottery! We went to a studio called Clay & Cupcakes in South Edmonton since they offer to-go kits. These kits cost the same as you would pay to paint in-studio, and you get 6 paint colours per piece that you purchase, plus $1 per paint for any extra colours you need, although I personally found 6 paints to be plenty. You will need your own brushes, though, if you choose to go with the to-go kit option!
We decided to also go with the to-go kits because that way we could have a dog playdate at the same time! We ordered pizza for a pre-painting dinner, and I brought Baxter with me so he could play with Mowgli while we painted in Karlee’s cute and cozy patio. It was really nice being able to sit outside chatting and painting! It also took longer than we anticipated, so Sheryl and I took our pieces home to finish painting them. This is another nice thing about the to-go kits: you can take your time and paint at your leisure, take breaks during painting as needed (whether it be for a few hours, or for a day), and you can paint in the comfort of your own home if the thought of spending an entire afternoon or evening in a pottery studio feels daunting! Although, it may not take as long to paint your piece depending on what you decide to do with it.
I really loved painting my teacup and saucer set. I found that I easily got lost in the task – I just threw on a podcast to watch while I finished painting mine the next afternoon, and since I decided to do a pattern of bumblebees and strawberries, it was more tedious and took me longer than I expected, but I didn’t mind and I didn’t feel like I needed to rush through it. I was just enjoying the task, and found it to be such a fulfilling and satisfying activity! The more and more I painted it and added details, the more I fell in love with it and was getting excited to see the end result.
Karlee picked up our pieces and dropped them off at the studio, and the hardest part truly was having to wait for them to be ready to be picked up! It took about a week, and I swear I got separation anxiety from my teacup almost immediately. I don’t remember the last time I painted pottery – probably when I was a kid – so I couldn’t remember what to expect, and I was desperate to just see the end result!
I was a little bit nervous as well – I hadn’t realized painting pottery was so technical! They warned us not to paint more than 3 layers of paint, so if you were going to paint designs on your piece as well as a background colour (which is what I was doing), then you’d have to draw the designs in pencil, then paint the background colour around them, then paint your pattern. Otherwise if you paint the background fully, and then paint your designs on top of that paint, you’ll end up with too many layers of paint on top of each other. Which is another reason mine took quite a while to finish! I was pretty sure I accidentally painted too many layers in some spots on my teacup, so I was a bit nervous about that, but I must not have because it all turned out fine!
I was so excited to pick it up, the moment we got the call I zipped over to the studio to grab mine. And I love how it turned out! The colours are much more vibrant after it gets fired, which was hard to remember, because it looked a bit dull while painting it. I feel like mine is definitely not artistically skilled haha, it’s got some good homemade vibes to it, but I think the imperfections give it a lot of character. I still think it’s super cute, and I absolutely love it! I had so much fun with the process that I wasn’t really too worried if it didn’t turn out looking super nice – it was my first time trying to do something like this, so I wasn’t expecting perfection, and I knew if I made any mistakes then it would be a learning opportunity for next time.
I already can’t wait to paint more pottery – I’ve got my next piece in mind, with a new pattern all planned out already! Maybe this is the beginning of me turning into a crazy pottery lady.
Until next time,
Nadine
nadinesnarratives.art.blog 