Pot-Er-Ee

A few months ago, my darling Ali asked me if I would be interested in doing pottery with her.

Now since I take any opportunity I can get to see Ali, I agreed - without actually having a clue as to what I was agreeing to.

When I hear "pottery" I think that sex scene with Demi Moore and Patrick Swayze in Ghost (which is of course also inextricably linked with Unchained Melody).

However, that? Is not precisely what she had in mind.

I think it was for the best. I mean she's married. And I don't even really like the Righteous Brothers.

Miscellaneous fact about me? I hate to get my hands dirty. So touching newspapers, eating ribs, and doing something like making pottery? Well they kind of stress me out. But for the love of Ali, I would do anything.

And...I am a dork.
Because pottery kilns? They didn't enter the picture at all.

What you CAN do at this pottery studio is paint pre-made pieces. Pieces that don't look all wobbly like they were made by children. Of course once you start painting, the child-like skill issue does come into the picture. Because I? Have not touched paint since high school art class.

So after we both strongly considered painting a plate with a skull and crossbones (and bow) on it, we each went with something different. I went with a pitcher, and she went with a curvy kind of bowl.

And then came the hard part. Stencils. And drawing. And choosing colours. And painting. Three coats.

Ali came up with the awesome idea to put fish all over her bowl. (To make a fishbowl. Get it?)

Love it.

For some reason, I went with a sort of nature theme. Ladybugs and butterflies and sunflowers etc.

Of course after I was done painting all things that can either sting me or give me allergies, my pitcher still looked bare. So I came up with the brilliant idea to put a border around the top and bottom, with little squares.

Little squares. In two symmetrical rows around the top and bottom.

Each one has to be painted 3 times. In the lines.

Oh, and why don't I do a black border around them all too. But don't touch the squares. And don't forget about the inside of the pitcher. Because taping around a semi-round pitcher will be easy.

See this photo? My squares? NOT in symmetrical rows. Not even remotely.
And the black border that I painstakingly painted around each square? Well, let's just say that those squares? Used to actually be square. And bigger.

So it took us roughly two trips and close to 10 hours to complete the project. Surprisingly we finished around the same time. Ali had to paint around fish. 3 times. And she painted the entire bowl blue (cause water's blue - get it?).

Needless to say, I am MUCH more impressed with her fish bowl than I am with my pitcher. But I still kind of love them both.

So, who in Winnipeg wants to come with us to do the skull and crossbones plate?