Wednesday, February 20, 2013

handpainted handprint mugs


In addition to Benjamin's valentine mug,
I used my Pebeo paint set and thrifted cups
to make hand print mugs for my Mum
and my mother-in-law.


I traced my children's hands on paper,
making templates which I then stuck to the cup
and outlined with dots.

Dissatisfied with the uneven nature of the dots I used
to outline the hands,
I decided to fill in the hand prints on this first mug
with freehand swirls, dots, and hearts.

I'm an artist who likes to painstakingly sketch and plan first,
so this was wildly out of my comfort zone.
And the cup did turn out somewhat...wild.
In my newborn-stage haze of sleep deprivation,
I despaired,
fearing that this looked like one of those nightmarish trinkets
you see in the thrift store and pass by,
smirking with a hint of disdain.

I think I might even have shed a few tears.

But
happily,
my mom loves it.
LOVES  it.
Whew.

So the fate
of my painstakingly hand painted mug
will be a happy one:
a long life of use,
not forsaken on a thrift store shelf.

(Can you tell that hormones
and sleep deprivation make me more dramatic
than usual?)

This second
"more normal-looking" mug
(Benjamin's words)
will be either a belated birthday gift
or an early mother's day gift
for his mom.
I expect that she'll like it
just as much as my mum likes hers.

5 comments:

Tammie said...

charming. :)

Debi said...

What a lovely idea... I have to tell you that I like your mom's mug the best it looks sort of Pennsylvania Dutch... beautiful!

Emily said...

They are both darling! Even the "wild" one. I thought it was beautifully creative, and one who thrifts a lot, the thought of seeing it there someday never made me think of the trinkets I sometimes smirk at. Lovely!

Raise Them Up said...

That is such a cool idea! I love how they turned out!

Anonymous said...

I like the hands on both cups. I've never seen handprint art in this form and am glad to find it.
Thank you. Hope you're getting more sleep.
(I don't know what the choices mean under "profile". That's why I'm choosing "anonymous")
Mary