Week 6: Pottery Pieces
This week I found myself painting one of my pottery pieces at my kitchen island, while slurping homemade white chicken chili from a ceramic bowl I made this year*, all the while looking longingly at a freshly poured candle that was setting in front of me in hopes that the wick would actually work despite the iffy reviews online.
It looked a little something like this:
The mug I’m painting is part of my 16 piece collection for the year. This one in particular is a little art deco inspired. I think it’ll look rather dashing once it gets a shiny layer of clear gloss and is put through the kiln one more time.
The candle was given to a friend. In fact, she’s been patiently waiting for me to finish it for about a year. I used soy wax that I actually was given from the guy who works at our local chicken shop around the corner from my pottery studio. One evening I was picking up chicken for dinner and as I waited for the food to cook, I popped into the pottery studio and picked up some cups, I mentioned to the ever so friendly man behind the counter that I was going to turn one of the pieces into a candle. A huge smile spread over his bearded face as he told me that he had made a candle for his mum the previous mothers day… and in fact, he had some wax left over if I wanted it.
Fortunately for both of us, I visit this chicken shop a lot, so the next time I was around he handed off a half used bag of wax that was the exact amount I needed for the eucalyptus scented candle I made for Angela.
I melted the wax, added what felt like a conservative amount of eucalyptus essential oil and then poured it into the vessel.
A few hours later I tested out the wick and it lit for a few seconds only to extinguish and leave behind a sooty pile of disappointment. I handed the candle off to Angela anyway because it was still a thoughtful, good smelling gift, even if she couldn’t technically set it on fire. What a funny concept… a gift that is handed to the recipient with the express assumption that they will light it on fire at some point to reach maximum enjoyment. Like fireworks, but more civilized… and quieter.
This morning when I handed the candle to Angela she remarked how the design on the exterior (gum leaves/eucalyptus leaves) complimented the eucalyptus scent and it actually made me laugh out loud because that connection was entirely coincidental: I painted leaves because I liked them and she chose the scent without seeing the candle. If she’s able to burn the candle (fingers crossed), the process of burning the candle will reveal the playful design of light blue squiggly jelly beans on the interior. I hope she gets to see it fully one day.
Two things: My bowl of soup looks 2% as good as it tasted. The reason the checkerboard print is broken up by flowers is because I didn’t count the number of boxes I sketched and by the time I noticed I’d painted half the bowl hahahaha. I feel like a genius of redirecting errors because I genuinely like this better than the original vision. It has a “flowers growing in concrete” kind of message.
*story time: I have this delightful friend, Katlyn, whom I was able to get addicted to pottery at the same studio I go to. A month ago as we found ourselves giggling and throwing pots I had this idea: Let’s have a girls night where we make dinner and the only dishes we are allowed to eat from are pieces we made at the pottery studio THIS year. As piece after piece is pulled from the kiln, each of us excitedly sends a photo to the other announcing the sort of food we will be eating from it. This was the photo she received when I picked up the finished bowl, naturally Tilly and I went to the chicken shop to celebrate, jk I just didn’t want to cook.
This week our very special boy turned 5. I made him this little laminated hat sign using my laminator and fixed it to his hat with safety pins.
He equally loved and loathed the attention.
