Painting my own Macaron Pottery at Bella Ceramica in West Vancouver

On a typical winter day in Vancouver, the list for fun things-to-do can wither down somewhat due to the never ending West Coast rainfall. Since most outdoor activities are out of the question at this time, we tend to gravitate towards trying new restaurants and dessert shops at the expense of our ever growing food belly. However, last weekend we found a non-food related indoor activity which had the ability to capture both of our attention for the afternoon – pottery painting.

Painting pottery has always been something I wanted to do because I love creating things and all types of handcrafts intrigue me. This was my first visit to Bella Ceramica. The second floor arts studio, located in West Vancouver’s main street front retail hub on Marine Drive, provides all the materials (paint, brushes, smocks) you will need to paint your own pottery.

My previous conceptions of painted pottery are from childhood. In my mind, self-painted pottery had bold colours and crude paintbrush strokes. You know, the typical type of handcraft you’d make at school to bring home as gifts for mom and dad. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that wasn’t the case. Although the studio is perfect for children, it is also a great place for adults too. They offer so many different colour of paints (pastels being my favourite) and they even have fine tipped brushes which they will lend you upon request since they don’t want the children to be too rough with them.

In the end, I was able to create my very own pastel coloured macaron plate. Of course, you knew I was going to include macarons right? I’m so happy with my plate and I can’t wait to build my very own collection. I will definitely make a revisit on a rainy weekend day. On my very short list of fun things-to-do in the city on a rainy day, I just added one more activity to it.

Until next time.

Xoxo,

Mimi

Bella Ceramica is located on: 1381 Marine Dr, West Vancouver BC V7T 1B6, 604-925-3115

Work space for painting your pottery.

First, choose your pottery. There a lot of different vessels to choose from. Children will like the 3D shapes and adults will appreciate the clean lines and practicality of plain plates and dishes. Each piece is marked with the price. Pay the pottery piece price plus $4 for the Studio Fee which includes your time spent in the studio, access to paints and supplies, and the firing of your work.

These are the bigger dishes and plates. An average medium sized plate start at $18.

Your $4 studio fee gives you access to these paints and supplies. There are three kinds of paint. One type gives you a metallic, pearly looking finish, another gives you traditional solid colors and the last type comes in a mini squeeze bottle which is used for outlining your work.

This color chart comes in handy! Start your project off by choosing your color palette. When you group your color samples together, they should all look pleasing together as a whole. These sample pieces also give you an idea of what your colors will look like after firing and glazing. You’ll find that the colors appear much lighter while you’re painting it.

My pastel palette. The colors look much bolder after firing. You don’t need a lot. A little goes a long way

You’ll get a quick course on pottery painting before you start. Make sure you pay attention! Especially in regards to painting light colors over dark. That’s a no-no (bottom right section). Always paint your light colors first and then paint the dark colors around it.

You can use a pencil to draw out your work first. You don’t have to be too careful, the firing process causes the lead to disappear.

See how light the colors look before firing? I also made a boo boo on the bear’s face. I wiped off some of his mouth and eyes and started over by painting blue paint on top. It looks fine in this photo but since I didn’t wipe it off entirely, once it got fired, the remnants of that dark paint shows through.

Ta-da! My custom macaron tower plate with my signature Rikuma Bear Macaron on top. See his dirty face 😛 Click on the photo to see other macaron inspired projects.