When my friend, Madeline, asked if I wanted to go to ceramics night with her and our friends, June and Ellen, I was unsure. I’m not “into” arts & crafts and haven’t done ceramics since my kids were young.
But I decided to go. I didn’t want to be a “bummer.” I went with an open mind.
My history with Ceramics…
Thinking about ceramics, my first recollection was when I used to go with my grandmother in Florida for ceramics lessons. I stayed with my grandparents at least two summers when I was a young girl. Every Wednesday night, my grandmother and I would go to ceramics and make something.
At that time, it took a few stages before the project was actually completed. My grandmother kept going even after I stopped coming to see her in the summers. After she passed, I had many of her ceramics in my house — a duck, a doll, and more. When I moved, I only took the most memorable items with me.
At Earth Arts in Long Beach, NY
When I arrived at Earth Arts in Long Beach, we were greeted by the friendly staff. They explained that we needed to pick out something that we wanted to work on, choose the paint colors, and get started. “There’s food from La Botega too,” the woman said. “take what you want.”
There were some people eating and painting, but I decided to eat a little first and then paint.
I picked out a bowl for my son. Since he is always looking for his phone and/or keys, I figured a flat bowl would be perfect to put alongside his bed.
I painted the bowl. I felt like I wanted to do something else. So, I picked out a butterfly for my mom and sister and painted that too. I figured I would put it in my yard under the rose bush.
The four of us were deep in concentration, making sure that our projects came out as good as they could.
Ellen made a dish for her husband, Ron. June made a plaque for her sister’s birthday and Madeline made a dish for her upstate home. Their work looked great.
I decided to go with the “dot technique” and added dots to both pieces. I think that was the way to go. It jazzed it up a bit.
When we were finished, we left the pieces there to be glazed.
The only problem, Earth Arts has limited hours and if you don’t pick up the pieces within 10 days, they discard. So, I was a little panicked about it since I no longer live in Long Beach. Originally, when I went to pick it up, they were closed. The sign on the window said open T through F – 4 pm to 8 pm.
I eventually picked up the pieces and put the bowel in my son’s room and put the butterfly under the rose bush. As I positioned the ceramics where I wanted them to be, I thought about the wonderful evening I had with good friends. It put a smile on my face.
