Happy Accidents: Making Art from Mistakes

I am in the process of bringing in a new line of glaze and have been testing new colors to see if they are compatible with my current colors. During a recent round of testing, I decided to paint a salsa bowl, as one can never have too many salsa bowls. My salsa bowl was actually a drip tray from a flower pot set that was rescued from my “discard” box, because it had a small chip in it. Nothing that a few coats of paint wouldn’t cover.

After painting the salsa bowl with the new colors, I decided it needed a little more pizzazz, but I was pressed for time. What could I do quickly that would look good? A stamp would be perfect! After some consideration, I chose one of my cute frog stamps, even though it was not a particularly good stamp to use with glaze. I sponged a bit of Java Bean (yes, it looks as yummy as it sounds) on the stamp and stamped away. One-two-three- lift! Ugh! It looked nothing like a frog. It was basically a brown blob.

Now what? I couldn’t leave the sorry looking blob frog at the bottom of my salsa bowl. So I decided to have some fun and get creative. I grabbed the sponge, dipped it back into the Java Bean and sponged over what was left of the frog. Then I created a flower outline using the Sgraffito technique; a technique in which layers of color are applied to the bisque (pottery) then lightly scraped away to create an outline. In this case, I lightly scraped some of the brown to reveal the blue underneath. For the finishing touch, I added some splashes of Sour Apple.

The results? The colors are very happily cohabitating with each other and I love my new piece! Time for some chips and salsa…

Process Art

Lots of great things have been happening at VanGo Pottery™ since my last post. In addition to working with our regular clients, we’ve had the pleasure of meeting and working with many new groups, including Girl Scout troupes, church groups, mom’s groups, business groups, and school groups. It’s always great fun watching people come together to make art. It seems that no matter what is going on in the outside world, given the opportunity to create, most people are transformed to a place of calm and ingenuity. Walls come down and barriers are broken.

This month, children in our preschool classes had the opportunity to learn about tile art and mosaics. We studied several tile muralists and then the kiddos got busy creating their own tile masterpieces. They sketched out several designs, developed their own color palettes, and then painted their tiles. Once completed, the tiles were affixed to a beautiful wooden tray, to be used for serving special meals to the special people in their lives.

The tile project, and most all of my projects focus on the process rather than the end product. Because learning styles are as unique as the child (or grown-up), I let the student be my guide. Where more attention is needed, more attention is given and vice-versa. Through trial and error (and a little guidance), the student discovers his or her own process and builds confidence to pursue the next project. How can the end result be anything less than spectacular?!

Until next time, Peace, Love, and Pottery!