That scene from Ghost. Demi Moore. Patrick Swayze.
Movie inspiration aside, my love affair with pottery actually began in Rome, where I stayed at my aunt’s house – it had a warm earthy vibe, an old world mess of pots and mosaics. I’ve always wanted to create a home as a reflection of who we are and our lives… every piece curated or handcrafted…speaking of interesting stories and shared conversations.
Shortly after returning, I took up pottery lessons. It was everything I was expecting and more. The absolute joy of getting your hands dirty, the feel of wet clay and the smell of glazes – it’s such a heady mix and feels like too much, yet just right all at once.
Posting some of my pieces here –
- Starry Night – painted a dark midnight blue glaze with little specks that burst when fired, to give this tealight candle holder it’s glassy dotted look and texture.
- Babyphants – hand sculpted, they have tiny pouches where one can keep the teabag after use or mini cookie bites even. My first creation, dedicated to the husband and his love for elephants. We are a little nervous to actually use it so these two are perched up on the windowsill, being unusually chatty with each other.
- Potted in Pink – a small’ish pot, the glaze is a mysterious red that turned pink when fired, giving it a much more delicate look than what I was going for. Saving it for a money plant, multi-purposing as a pen stand till then.
- Lost in Translation – As the story goes, my teacher (T) asked a friend (B) and me to paint our pieces in different layer of colors.
- T meant – each coat of paint in a different color to give an interesting finish once fired.
- B perceived – mix a couple of different colors to create a new one and paint each coat with this new color.
- I perceived – Divide my bowl into three sections/layers and paint each in a different color. I went dark to light, shades of rich blue over the raindrops carved into my bowl.
Needless to say, we had a good laugh over it all and stand proud owners of our pieces, no matter the mix-up over layers.
- Roll me up Pretty – the husband’s favourite, a rolled slab shaped into a tray, stamped in lotuses, painted a dotted blue and deep pink.
- Sunset in Rome – an ode to the place where it all started, the place where I left a part of me.
Each of my creations have their own little place at home…whether standing nerdy holding bookmarks on the shelf, lying lazy on the coffee-table or shining a dim light during cozy dinners.
The big dream is to go back to Rome for a pottery course (and for the gnocchi, and for the wine). But like they say – everything, in its own time!
Words and other Comforts. 