PORCELAIN STUDIO BUTTONS
By Jeanie
Hand-rolled, hand cut/printed, hand sanded & hand glazed. A pallet of approximately 100 buttons will take anywhere up to 12+ hours of hands on time, not to mention the actual two firing time in any of Eva’s kilns.
In my teens I began dreaming and, thinking of making buttons and at the same time became aware of clothing that had unusual buttons affixed. Then later in my early 30’s I began working with textiles (knitting, sewing, crocheting, waving and felting). Buttons made of pewter, metal, plastic, glass, enamel, ceramic and wood had caught my eye and I dreamed of how I could create buttons of my own.
Eva, my friend, who makes beautiful, clever, and unique pottery art (probably got tired of me talking about my dream) suggested, well actually pushed me into trying, to make ceramic clay buttons.
At first I made rather large, square, ceramic buttons, which looked great as a one-of-a-kind adornment on purses & pillows some of my textile group were creating. However these were almost too large or heavy to go on their knitted sweaters.
Right after that I made smaller buttons out of porcelain clay, which sold at yarn shops to be placed on jackets & hand knitted sweaters. I went out to the used clothing shops & purchased three or four sweaters and jackets and put my buttons on them, for show-and-tell. This really got me moving….
More porcelain buttons seemed to be in demand so I went even smaller. All this time trying out different manufactures, types and colors of glazes.
Seeing my dream become reality has been very rewarding. Every time Eva & I pull a new group of buttons from her kilns it’s like opening a birthday or Christmas present. Oh, seeing the colors that stood out and how each pattern was somewhat more or less detailed is a thrill. We usually pick up each button, almost like it was a child and then placing them back on the tray and going to the next one. Again, some few would stand out and some few would look a little less then what we anticipated.
Sometimes the color or texture just doesn’t “get” me and Eva would suggest trying something to soften, highlight or change them.
Once the buttons have been created I move onto packaging. Packaging each time changes. (Who knows why?)?? The 1st packaging was a cream tag, with the buttons sewed onto a piece of felt. The back contained numerous ways to use these big buttons. The 2nd set of buttons had a map of Brookings on the back and the front was stamped lightly (leaving no room for any information about the artist). On the latest set the tags have information on the process and the artist on the back and the buttons are glued to the front of the tag. The whole piece packaged in cellophane. Who know how many changes I’ll go through before I am ever completely satisfied with the finished look?
What’s in the future for buttons and me? Well, I’ve been dreaming of glass and metal buttons. Glass can be very expensive (but not necessarily hard to make, since I’ve taken classes in both fused glass and torched glass). These buttons would be equally or more time consuming in the making, but what the heck, maybe I’ll quit dreaming and get there. Regarding metal buttons, my son Curtis tells me, a stamping procedure should probably be used. I could always get some designs together and find someone with a CNC system and try it out, huh? Both glass and metal would be much more expensive to make and, hence to sell. For the time being these two processes are still in the “dreaming” stage and that is fine with me.
Thank God for Eva’s experience and creative endeavors, my buttons are constantly taking on yet another new dimension. It’s such fun. If not for Eva, I would still be dreaming of making buttons. Thank you, thank you, thank you Eva, for being there for me.
