Ceramic Solitude

Oh how I love painting ceramics!  I wish I could quit my day job and do it full time!  I come from a long line of the ceramics enthused......my mom, aunts, and grandma were busy making gorgeous creations long before I was born.  I remember going to ceramics shops with my mom and looking at the rows of greenware, I was drooling even at age four.  Utopia, then and now.



I used to try and paint at some of the strip mall pottery painting studios, but I have to be honest, I can't concentrate when there are giggling teenagers painting coffee cups and class field trips spilling paint and making all kinds of noise. One day as I went to my favorite pottery studio after work to finish a project, there were so many children, I couldn't even get a seat.  That was the best day ever!  I realized I could take my projects home and bring them back at a later date to be fired.  Heaven.

I immediately started collecting paints and pieces I wanted to work on.  The paints are fairly economical, and the studios will usually sell tiny cups of paint for about $1.00 if I find a color I just need a tiny amount of.  What could be better than sitting at your own kitchen counter, watching The Real Housewives of Orange County, painting away in peace and quiet with high quality paintbrushes that haven't been sucked on by a teething baby that has been forced against their own will to sit in a car seat while mom paints a seasonal platter with all of the kids names on it?  Almost nothing I say!

If you are a friend or family member of mine, you likely have pottery or ceramics in your house that someone in my family made.  Lately, I'm all about pasta bowls.  Paint, fire, fill with fine pasta, sauces, olive oils, etc.....such a fun gift to give.  I just got this bowl back last week, kind of a random design, only took about 30 minutes to paint....small price to pay for a hunk of sanity.