Cardinal Plate

My sister wanted me to go with her to "Doin' Dishes" in Montclair, NJ last weekend, a paint-your-own ceramic studio, where you pick a ceramic piece of your choosing (the have dozens of choices), and then paint it as you choose.  They then glaze and fire it for you, and you get it back about a week later. It's fun to do, and my sister's whole family joined us there. My sister wanted to make a plate for her boss's upcoming birthday and wanted my advice, and possibly some help. 

I had no special reason to make a plate, but figured I would do *something* as long as I was there. I liked the cardinal I had done at Christmas time, and decided to try to paint him on a plate. Of course painting on a plate is an art itself! For one thing, the colors are totally different when you paint them from what they are when the piece is fired. The red of the cardinal was a very pale pink when I painted it. They only seemed to have fat paint brushes which didn't allow for much fine control. 

But it was fun to experiment. I used sponges to dab on the blue background, and that was a fun and simple part. I struggled with the cardinal himself. When I saw some of the gorgeous examples of works there I saw I have a *long* way to go before I could be a ceramic artist. But it was lots of fun and I like my plate. Maybe not high art, but I can eat my breakfast on it, which I can't do with one of my paintings. :-)