The Painting of Gideon's New Bowl @ The Pottery Place

I visited a local ceramics shop - The Pottery Place - last summer to paint a cute mug and turtle during a Bachelorette Party, and really wanted to go back to paint something else.

Then Gideon's food bowl broke. 

He's afraid of metal bowls, so we had to opt for either plastic or ceramic.

I scoured the local stores and Interweb for something different - we wanted something special enough for him, but alas, we found nothing. 

I then found a picture of Vincent Van Gogh's "Starry Night" while Googling "Unique Dog Bowls" or "Tardis" - I don't remember which. I had seen it before, and knew one day I would paint it (with my own flare). 

My inspiration was in full force and I knew I was going to paint "Starry Night" on Gideon's new bowl.

With the dogs.

And a Tardis.

Just because I can.

So, I went in a Friday night after work, and painted for almost 3 hours.

You start with the lightest colour to the darkest. And put 3 coats of each colour.

With tedious details, I ended up going back Saturday for another 2-3 hours to finish the bowl.

And unlike painting on canvas, you don't paint the background colour on the entire canvas, then paint over those colours...but you don't want to overlap, or the colours may look muddy after the kiln fires away.

Then I had to wait a week to pick up the bowl.

It's not exactly how I envisioned it, but given the painting technique and a shaky hand for outlines, I think it turned out decent enough. 

Gideon and Fynn encompassed in Starry Night while the Tardis flies above their heads.

Gideon even ate out of it and wasn't afraid. Win-win!

I would definitely recommend The Pottery Playhouse in Stittsville, Ontario, for anyone looking to get their creativity on - even if you're not creative, you can paint a one-of-a-kind item that is made with love.

You just have to bring a donation ($ or non perishables) as your sitting "fee," which are then donated right back into the community.

I plan on returning soon to paint one of their new Garden Gnomes - I have to make a Zombie Gnome!

Husband says I should try to sell it. *I* think NOT. I remember the last time I sold my wares...it turned into a 6 year adventure!

Once I'm done my current professional exam, I THINK I'm ready to conquer painting the bird room into a mural. That will be a task in itself!