Wednesday, January 4, 2012

A Very Tempting Craft


You may (or may not) remember that Mr. M and I went to Michigan for Thanksgiving, to be with my brother and his family. My brother's wife, P, is a true Craft Queen who can turn her hand to anything. Having graduated from a fashion institute, she is able to draft patterns and design clothing; she creates costumes for the local theatre company and banners for local churches. She can knit and crochet; refinish and reupholster furniture. She's also a skilled decorator, amateur picture framer, and artist. In short, no craft mountain is too high for her to scale, and she excels at whatever she attempts.

P's latest crafting passion is for painting and firing ceramics. She has a kiln in her basement, and enough greenware (unfired clay pieces) to open her own store. Luckily for me, she's also very generous. While we were there, she took me downstairs and said, "Pick out anything you like to paint, and I'll fire it before you go home."

Her basement was full of fun and temptation: all kinds of plain greenware, with many gorgeous samples of her own work to provide inspiration. A table held pieces (painted by local home-school groups) waiting to be fired.


There were shelves of little boxes, and figurines galore....


All kinds of tempting plates and bowls....


Mugs of every shape and style....


And this, my favourite section, filled with lovely curvy pitchers and pots.


So many beautiful things. (So many things I didn't need.) Finally I settled on a little pitcher which would be perfect for holding my crochet hooks. Then I fell in love with a little square plate and carried that upstairs as well.


The little pitcher had a charming design of molded leaves at either end of the handle - it only remained to add some sprigged flowers or other small motifs around the body. The plate was another story. How do artists, faced with a blank canvas, ever get started? I had the hardest time thinking of something to put on that blank plate. Finally I sketched out some tulip-ish shapes and proceeded to agonize over choose paint colours. (You can draw on the greenware with a pencil, and the marks will burn off when the piece is fired.)

My sister-in-law has several paint colour sample boards (sorry, I didn't take pictures of them), which feature small glazed circles of available shades, identified by numbers which can be matched to the paint bottles. The liquid paints are paler than their finished, fired selves, and dry to a matte and chalky finish on the clay. It is recommended that the painter apply three coats of every colour being used. This can become complicated if one is layering colours; the paints must be applied in a certain order or they will not show up correctly.


If the painter makes a mistake, or is unhappy with how a piece looks, the dry paint can be scraped or sanded off to allow a fresh start. This worked out well for me, because my tulips, when the three coats of paint had been applied, looked less like flowers and more like eggs on a stem. So my sister-in-law sanded them down and I painted some daisy-like shapes instead.

After the tulip fiasco, I felt less than confident about painting flowers on the little pitcher. So I settled for trios of dots, with green handle, leaves and trim.

The pieces dried overnight, and the next morning P put them in the kiln for firing. The process would take about 24 hours, and they'd be ready for me to take home the next day. Unfortunately, the kiln chose that day to misfire, so my pieces had to be left behind in Michigan. (P promised to mail them to me once the kiln was repaired and the firing completed.)

And here they are, having arrived a few days ago.

My cheerful little square plate, about 5" across:


And the little pitcher, already sitting on the lamp table and keeping my crochet hooks handy:


(I think the dots came out rather well.)

I dearly love my brother and his family, but perhaps it's just as well we live some hours apart. Any closer, and I'd be in their basement every chance I could get, painting more ceramics than I could ever use or give away. A very tempting craft indeed.


~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

15 comments:

  1. Dear Sue,

    First things first; I wish you and your family much peace, harmony, and creativity for this new, fresh year which is dawning. By the looks of the above post your sister-in-law does not need creativity wishes for her 2012! She sounds amazing. I really enjoy spending time with people like that for they can but lift you to a higher level.

    I spent many a happy moment during our holidays reading the Jane Austen Knitting Book. I am challenging myself to making one of those patterns.... I will let you know which one soon.

    Warmest wishes,

    Stephanie

    ps How was the carol service? ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Oh wow! I am loving that jug! It really is gorgeous Sue :D

    ReplyDelete
  3. Lovely! Especially the jug, the dots work really well! You couldn't help but be happy looking at that :-).

    ReplyDelete
  4. What a lovely thing to be able to do. I do like what you produced and I expect that the pieces are greatly loved, well done.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh, lovely. And how lucky you were, to be able to use her *stuff,* and do such sweet things.

    My yes, seems her neighbors would be knocking on her door, day and night. To ask; "Please may I come in and play???" :-)

    "Animal crackers, and cocoa to drink,
    That is the finest of suppers, I think;
    When I'm grown up and can have what I please
    I think I shall always insist upon these."

    ~Christopher Morley

    ReplyDelete
  6. Mmmmm, do you know how much pluck I need, to dare to comment here?!? Because you really SCARE me, being the Captain of the Local Grammar Police.

    -sigh-
    -moan-
    -whimper-
    -etc.-
    .
    .
    .
    .
    .
    Really!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    "Animal crackers, and cocoa to drink,
    That is the finest of suppers, I think;
    When I'm grown up and can have what I please
    I think I shall always insist upon these."

    ~Christopher Morley

    ReplyDelete
  7. Your pieces came out terrific. The overall post, though, got me to wondering what is she going to do with all that greenware? Is she going to open a store or hold classes?

    ReplyDelete
  8. You're lucky to have such a talented sister-in-law, my sister-in-law is the Queen of Mean! Love the little jug, great colors. It also gave me an idea of how to store my crochet needles that tend to get lost.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Thanks all! Lolly, she does hold classes - and I forgot to mention she's also buying molds and starting to pour her own greenware. Considering the nature of crafting - which seems to include the inevitable piling up of supplies - I imagine the greenware will now join her truly impressive fabric stash and be part of her life for decades to come. :)

    ReplyDelete
  10. I, too, like the jug! The dots remind me of holly, which I am rather fond of. When the Goatmother lived in CA there were places that you could go and paint ceramics and then they fired them for you. Perhaps your sister-in-law will open one of those. Much fun to be had there. People even had ceramic painting parties there. Yes, a very dangerous place indeed.

    ReplyDelete
  11. "she does hold classes." Let go! I want that kitten mug so bad. Seriously! Plus a few other pieces.

    ReplyDelete
  12. I just yelled, a joyful YELL! Could you hear me?
    That plate and sweet pitcher are fantastic.
    What a wonder and what fun.
    Happiest of everything to you, e.

    ReplyDelete
  13. So cute, Sue. What a room! To think of a room like that full of yarn...

    ReplyDelete
  14. I think you may have a future in greenware decor!

    My friend Shonna made porcelain dolls from start to finish, and this post reminded me so much of her enthusiasm, joy and artistry. Thank you!

    ReplyDelete
  15. How beautiful! I liked the tulips, too, but both your finished pieces are amazing. Love those dots - that was a great idea. We have a shop in town where you can buy greenware, paint it, and have it fired. I've thought about doing this now and then to make a large teapot, but always come up with what you said - faced with a blank canvas, what to do to embellish? You did really well!

    ReplyDelete

I love comments! Speak on....