Meet Bengal girl with clay pot paintings hobby

A student of Shantiniketan, Sutapa Mondal, making clay pot paintings as part of garden beautification at Puri said it is a hobby to decorate clay pots and vases in various ways.

It is a very interesting hobby as the results are often quite diverse and creative. One does not even need to learn it from any one nor are there any hard and fast rules to be followed. This hobby is as old asthe art of pottery itself and nowadays it is gaining momentum and one can see various artisans selling painted pots on the roadsides, she said.

What is best about the hobby is that one need not learn it from anyone, as all it needs is creativity and, of course, some pots. Pot painting is not very expensive as most of the things needed such as clay pots, vases, paints, brushes, ribbon, tooth picks, macaroni, thread, stencils, plaster of Paris, glitter are mostly available at home.

These things can be bought from hardware shops or any arts and crafts store, she said further.

Once you get hold of these things the options are endless. You can make miniature drawings on pots and colour them, do collage work, try the thread, stamp effect, drip paint on the pot to create funky designs which is called the dripping effect, make the marble effect, decorate a cut work pot with laces and ribbons (which make excellent lamps), do stencil work on the vases and then fill them up with rice etc., make things out of Plaster of Paris and stick them on the pot with glue or you can even put some plain bajri mixed with paint onto it and sprinkled with glitter to give it a shimmering effect. You can even mix a lot of different effects together, she told.

After having finished decorating a pot one gets a great sense of satisfaction and pleasure which is far better than any gift.  These clay pots and vases not only decorate your house but they are also excellent gifts for people of all ages. Also if you are interested in other hobbies such as dry flower arrangement, you can arrange those flowers in these pots too, she said.