AbouT WavyDays
Welcome to my WavyDays website! I'm very excited about setting up WavyDays hand-painted ceramics and want to take this opportunity to let you know how it came about!
I have always been interested in all types of art & design and have experimented with many crafts from painting, needlepoint design, knitting & embroidery ~ to silversmithing and stained glass. I have been hand-painting ceramics for several years now ~ mostly as a hobby and to give as personal presents to friends and family, whilst continuing to working full time. My entire working life has been spent in customer service ~ retail, hotel & catering, youth-training, and NHS/patient care. I love working with people and dealing with the public ~ you meet such varied and interesting people and each person you meet adds to your own life I think. I always like to go the 'extra mile' to ensure a high standard of service and care. So, when late last year I heard that my workplace would be closing and I would be made redundant, I decided to try combining two of my passions ~ excellent customer service with art & design, in particular my hand-painted ceramics, into a new venture! Then I added in vibrant colour, individuality, some humour and lots of love ~ plus a few funky daisies, and WavyDays was born!
I buy in blank earthenware ceramic items mainly from a company in Stoke-on-Trent, but also some from another company near Oxford. At this stage it looks a little like uncooked biscuit !
First of all, the item needs to be cleaned thoroughly with a dampened sponge to remove any surface dust or dirt particles. (It's essential too for me to have clean, washed hands before handling the bisque as natural oils in the skin can affect the quality of the finished piece, once fired). Then I individually hand-paint the design free-hand (no transfer prints) onto the ceramic item using specific underglaze paints.
I always have lots of design ideas - usually too many to get into my sketchbook! For special commissions, I research images in books, from real life or on the internet and make series of sketches and layouts until I'm happy I have the right design to match the 'brief' given to me by the customer. Quite a lot of the time though, I create the design onto the ceramic item as I go along ~ which means that all my pieces are actually individual. I do of course repeat designs on request - see items available to buy in my *SHOP - but because they are all hand-painted, no two items even of the same design are ever precisely identical. *My shop page will be available soon. Meanwhile please contact me to order. The hand-painted ceramic item is then coated with a lead-free glaze and fired in a kiln to a temperature of 1,020 centregrade* This ensures a hygienic seal to the item, particularly important for things like mugs, plates and bowls which will be eaten or drunk from. NB as with any hand-painted item, putting in a dishwasher or microwave it is not recommended. *With special thanks to Sticky Earth Café, Cromer, Norfolk. Susan Janes creating a hand-painted design for a
WavyDays jug When first painted with underglaze the colours look quite muted its only when they have been glazed and fired that the vibrancy of the colours used really shows! Its a real transformation and very exciting to get that first look at the finished item when it comes out of the kiln! (See the slide-show above).
Then all that remains to do, is to find a customer who loves the item as much as I do, to give it a good home! I guarantee that every item of WavyDays Hand-Painted Ceramics has been designed and painted with care and love - just for you! Susan Janes |
I commissioned a trinket box to be hand-painted with anemones on it as a birthday gift for my Aunt who particularly likes those flowers. Susan Janes was very helpful and did a lovely job of it within 2 weeks of my order as promised. She rang me first before posting, and it arrived safely, carefully packaged. Extremely pleased. We saw WavyDays stand at the Forum craft fair earlier this year - it was really bright and colourful! My wife fell in love with a very attractive and unusual bud vase and a bright cheery daisy money-bank! She couldn't make her mind up so I bought both for her from the kids for Mother's Day! |
WavyDays Ceramics
Hand-Painted in North Norfolk - with Love! |