Beach home decor

 BEACH AND SURF THEMED WALL HOOKS

Handmade pottery wall hooks with surfboards, vw surf vans and vintage woodie surf mobile designs.

Working on a new line of items for beach and surf decor has led to the creation of these fun little wall hooks.

THE PROCESS

The weather has been so incredibly awesome lately enabling me to take my work outside ~ which is always a good thing when working with clay! 

I've been utilizing my woodie and surf van patterns - drawn and cut from clean meat trays - to make the process of cutting through clay go a little faster and to keep the shapes more uniform in size.

To create the wall hooks I roll out a slab of clay and cut out long strips with a point at one end.  After smoothing out the edges, the pointed end piece is rolled up towards the top.  

 

The pre-cut surf shapes are scored and slipped on the back and attached to the prepared hook forms.  I smooth out all edges then let the hooks dry to a bone dry consistency before firing them in my kiln.

Once the clay has been fired to a bisqueware form it can be drawn on, painted with glaze then fired one more time.

A FEW FINISHED PIECES

Turquoise surf van with orange polka-dotted hook.

Woodie surf mobile and surfboard in turquoise and yellow.

Orange surf bus with yellow polka-dots.

This van looks just like the one my husband used to own - back in his younger days.

The color and drawn design combinations are endless.  I love these and think they would be so cute in a beach home, outdoor shower, beach themed bathroom, bedroom or kitchen, or in a surf themed nursery. 

If you'd like more information or would like to purchase one, they're available in my Magic Markings Art shop.  Thanks so much for following along in my little tutorial!

Beach party

Surf's up baby!

The warm spring days of late have inspired the creation of a new line of beach related home and party decor. 

Hand painted dinner napkins:

Surfboard napkins in tropical colors.

These new napkin designs are handmade with re-usable, Eco-friendly, 100% cotton cloth. Each napkin is a little piece of art, hand drawn and hand painted with non-toxic, lead free acrylic paints.

 Vintage woodie with surfboard.

The napkins are perfect for beach decor, entertaining or for your everyday dining pleasure.

 Pink and green hibiscus flower

Sold in sets of four or customized to your number and color choices.

Handmade Pottery Surfboard Serving Platters:

Surf's Up Serving Platter and Palm Tree Knife

The 12 x 5 inch platters are hand cut from a slab of clay and fired in my kiln.  Designs are hand drawn on the form and painted with non-toxic, lead-free glazes then fired once again. 

 Palm Tree Serving Tray and Palm Tree Knife

A metal hanger is attached to the back of each platter so they can decorate a table or, when not in use, be hung on a wall as a little piece of surfboard art.

Mermaid Serving Platter and Surfboard Knife

Surfboard platters can also be personalized making them a great hostess or wedding gift.

More beach party ideas and designs are being created as warm spring air blows gently through the open windows of my studio.  If you are interested, this new line is now available in my Magic Markings Etsy shop

In my Studio

Lately I've been busy working on a few new pottery pieces for the 

Spring Craft Bazaar at Cox High School on Saturday, March 31

In preparation for the new pottery designs I created a couple of patterns to make the work go a little bit faster.  The surfboard cookie cutter was formed by first pounding out an old cookie cutter and then reshaping it into a surfboard design.  The woodie surf car, with all of its curves proved to be too difficult to make into a tin cookie cutter.  Instead, a well washed meat tray was my medium of choice for the woodie and for a surf van pattern.

The Process:

Step 1:  Rolling out the clay into a somewhat uniform surface.

Step 2:  Using my handmade forms to cut shapes out of the rolled out clay.

Step 3:  Attaching design elements to the cut shapes.

I heart surfing :)

A Sneak Peak:

A quick preview of my new pottery creations set aside to dry before being fired in my kiln.  Drying time varies depending on the thickness of the clay.  These pieces will take a few days to dry before they can be fired, glazed and re-fired.  Once finished I'll give them their grand debut.  If I'm happy with the results I'll probably have a few available in my shop as well.

Stay Tuned....

Note of thanks

to Julia Ryan for featuring my little swimmer print on her

Pawleys Island and Posh blog today.

First Dive

available here

The great news is Julia is having a photography give-a-way for a two hour photo session!  Check out her work and get more information on her give a way here.