Creative Play at Kil'n Time

Have you ever gone to a shop where you can paint your own pottery?  I went to Kil'n Time in Ames with some church friends on Monday.  It was a cold and icy night... just perfect for sitting around a table with friends.

There's definitely a learning curve to working with this paint/glaze.  It dries much lighter than it will look after it's fired in the kiln.  You have to paint several layers to get a uniform color.  Then there are all the specialty applications....  It was a good exercise in just PLAY for me.

I chose a tile to do one of my doodle birds on.  You can write on the tile with a Sharpie or other pens and pencils.  The marks will burn off in the kiln.  I drew a quick sketch of my design with the Sharpie and then went from there.

I was running out of time when I got to the mug.  There's a special paint that has flecks in it.  Borrowing from my usual journal painting, I used up the paint on my palette to base coat the mug.  Then I added a couple layers of the flecked paint.

We left our creations at the studio and picked them up a few days later after they had been fired in the kiln and had a clear glaze coat added before another firing.

I think one of my favorite things about the evening is when one of the women who does not consider herself to be creative commented on how relaxing it was to be painting.  YES!  Often people deprive themselves of creative processes because they do not consider themselves to be creative.  My opinion is that since we are made in the image of our Creator, we have the need to create.  Create without judging ourselves.  Just do it.

I've been very creative this month.  Most of it has nothing to do with painting.  I'm learning a new eating lifestyle with the goal of improving my health.  In the process I'm taking the information and creating new recipes.  Breaking old habits takes work and creativity to make the process fun instead of a drudge. 

So on to the creative life....