Wednesday Decor: Plates With Little Messages

Every time I come across John A. Andrews' III new designs, I get extremely impressed. Whether it is a new window display he works on with his sister for their beautiful store, or his super-cool creation of hand-made Beetle’s No.1, he does not stop to surprise. He is incredibly talented, creative and unpredictable artist. These amazing plates are his latest project: look closer and read the little messages!

The idea behind his design (and I was totally wrong in my assumption) is not just a simple reminder about food portion control. There is a meaning behind it all and here is what Johnny explains:

The idea behind the plates really had to do with things that I had witnessed and gone through while growing up. I think that most of us say these kinds of things in our own minds on a daily basis even if we wish we didn't. No matter where you're from there's always that group of girls who are pretty and dress nicely that are mean. So in the end I knew I wanted to have plates with these pretty girls with hurtful sayings on them to make fun of them, but at the same time make fun of myself for letting them get to me.

Now, a lot of us have been there, I personally remember those mean girls. (I promise I was not one of them!) But mean things aside, those plates are terrific and I want each one of them.

I also asked Johnny to explain the process (for those of us who never took ceramics classes).

-I first measure out the clay so each plate will roughly be the same weight and size
-Then I throw them and measure them to make sure they look all the same
-I let them dry for a while and then trim them on the bottom so they have a foot
-Then they go into a bisque kiln and are fired
-Once they are bisque fired i apply a white underglaze on the entire plate
-After that I sketch out a face in pencil or I look at people I have already drawn from my notebooks and replicate it on the plate also i figure out what kind of saying i should put on it
-Then I go over the pencil with a blue underglaze
-After that I apply a clear glaze over top
-Finally they go back into the kiln for a glaze firing

Thank you so much for sharing these beautiful images and the story, Johnny!

(All of the flower vases on these images, photography and styling by John A. Andrews III)