Pottery Painting (Part 2): The Results!

Following on from last week's post on Painting Pottery, here are the results of the final fired and glazed pieces that I painted. I was pretty pleased with how they came out, particularly the rectangular platter which I think has a sort of Scandi 1960s feel to it.

Dive in, or plan it out? Painting pottery (Part 1)

Yesterday my pal, Rachel, and I headed to the "froh + bunter" workshop in Munich to get painting on pottery. Rachel and I have only known each other a few weeks, but a few hours in the workshop and we discovered a fair bit more about each other's personalities.  Whereas Rachel dove straight in, creating a beautiful pattern of swirls and dots on a cake platter...

...I took a more planned approach.  OK, perhaps I was procrastinating and scared of making a mark, but I just like to plan a bit more. You can't knock 10 years as a lawyer out of me that quickly!


Taking inspiration from the textile design course I attended earlier this year, I picked out from my sketchbook one of my circle designs that I had developed for that course and then plotted out a design for my chosen piece of pottery - a rectangular serving dish.

After much goading from Rachel, I eventually got to work on my piece, using a special pencil (I wouldn't have been able to get the fine lines I wanted with paint).

Not wanting to miss out on the painting action, I also attempted a scandi style classic blue and white striped pattern on an egg cup.

We have to wait until next week to pick up the pieces once they've been fired. I can't wait to see them and will be sure to post them on the blog. Until then, here's a couple of pictures of us in action.

What's your approach to art/design? Do you plan it all out in advance, or just dive in and follow your instincts?