From Ink to Glaze: How Majolica Became My Ceramic Canvas

November 23, 2024

From Ink to Glaze: How Majolica Became My Ceramic Canvas

The Corporate Designer's Secret

Picture this: A corporate worker bee by day, secretly doodling away with watercolors and ink, dreaming of something more tactile. That was me, channeling a bit of Ralph Steadman's controlled chaos (albeit with considerably less splatter), creating illustrations that danced between representation and reality.

When Pottery Calls

Then pottery happened. And like all good love stories, Majolica played hard to get.

You know how some techniques just keep showing up in your life? Like that persistent black cat crossing your path, not as a warning but as a "hey, pay attention to this" moment? That was Majolica for me. It kept appearing in my research, in workshops, in conversations. But here's the thing – most of the traditional Majolica I encountered felt too... proper. Too structured. Where was the loose, illustrative quality that made my heart sing with pen and brush?

For those who aren't pottery nerds (yet), Majolica is an 8th-century technique where you brush a white glaze onto earthenware clay, then paint on top of it with colored glazes. Think of it as watercolor painting, but make it permanent through the magic of fire. The traditional results are stunning, but they weren't quite singing my tune.

The Persistent Pull of Majolica

So I kept it simmering on the back burner while I explored sgraffito (basically fancy scratch art in clay) because, let's be practical, you work with what's available when you're learning. But Majolica kept whispering, "Soon..."

Where Illustration Meets Ceramics

Fast forward through years of experimenting, failing, succeeding, and failing again, and here we are – with a collection of ornaments that finally brings together my illustrator's heart and my potter's hands. Each piece is a tiny canvas where I can let loose with the same freedom I once found in ink and watercolor, but now in glaze and clay.

These ornaments? They're not just holiday decorations. They're little time capsules of my journey from corporate designer to full-time potter, from hesitant beginner to "yeah, I'm going to make that garlic bulb sparkle." Each one carries a bit of that Steadman-inspired courage to let the medium have its say, to embrace the happy accidents, and to find beauty in the imperfect.

And maybe that's what makes these pieces special – they're the perfect marriage of then and now, of ink and glaze, of structure and chaos. They're what happens when you finally listen to that persistent black cat and follow it down the creative path it's been showing you all along.

Ready to Add Some Artistic Magic to Your Holidays?

Each ornament in our Majolica collection is a one-of-a-kind piece of functional art, waiting to become part of your story. Whether you're drawn to the whimsy of our garden-fresh vegetables, the charm of our celestial designs, or the quirky personality of our unexpected characters, there's a piece that's destined to be yours.

But here's the thing about handmade treasures – once they find their forever home, that's it. Like winning a coveted piece at auction, there's nothing quite like the thrill of discovering "the one" and making it yours. Each ornament carries its own unique personality, its own slight variations that make it perfectly imperfect.