Last year I went on a mug painting bender. From September-January, I painted and sold close to 400 ceramic mugs. I didn’t paint another mug for a long time. But now that the kinda-cooler season (I’m in Phoenix, where it is still in the 90s) has arrived, its awakened my love for these cups again!
I started with about 50 bisque mugs of all shapes and sizes. I like to work in batches of four-to-six mugs at a time. First I sketch them, then fill in the color.
So here is a funny story. Funny now, that is…when I was away on the ALEx13 Expedition last month, Maya and my mom-in-law volunteered to base coat the mugs for me. I just about tap danced with joy. I thought of how perfect it would be to come home to my mugs half-finished! I told Patrick on the way to the airport to have them “paint the insides, bottoms and handles.” I told him to make sure that they don’t paint the outsides of the mugs because I need those blank so I can add all the different colors without having to paint multiple layers over darker colors, etc.
“Got it!” he assured.
I came home, rested up, settled in to the groove of daily life again, and pulled out the mugs to paint them. Ahhhh, so relaxing, right? Well – Patrick forgot to tell Maya and my mom-in-law my specific details, and they painted all the mugs mostly yellow and dark blue, inside and out. I could have had a meltdown, or just accepted the situation and searched for a solution.
I took a deep breath and went for the latter. I watched a “Where Are They Now?” Oprah marathon and sanded off the paint from alllll the outsides. It was actually therapeutic! Maya walked in the art room to ask me a question and saw what I was doing. She must have felt guilty because she sat down and helped me sand them all off. Mother-daughter bonding time!
The silver lining was that I came up with some new designs thanks to the experience. And the mugs were pretty much halfway done, the insides, bases and bottoms were al painted, just like I asked!
Hello!
Your mugs are absolutely beautiful! I saw in your post that you use Duncan Concepts paints….do you like to use any other paint brands on ceramic? Also, do you use a specific sealer at the end?
Thank you!
Thank you! I use all Duncan underglazes and glazes for the mugs. I’m so glad you like them!
Kathy, my husband gave me an “Hola Cabrona” cup as a gift. His cousin from Texas would love to have one for her and one for her daughter. Is it possible to order theses? Thanks! ❤️❤️❤️