Art
WHAT TO DO, WHAT TO DO… or YOU CAN’T QUARANTINE CREATIVITY
Your teenagers have been home-schooled for what seems like an eternity, now they are on spring break and it is not getting any easier. Not seeing their friends except for on Zoom, TicToc, and all the other apps that will let them keep a semblance of their social life, notwithstanding the new normal, is starting to grind on everyone. Moping is lurking in every corner and you ask yourself:
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What to do indeed …When you and your children are looking for a mental escape from this lockdown?
The short answer: Creativity works! They might be teenagers, but they still will get excited about getting to sparkle without any kind of adult expectation. If you just step back, their ingenuity and curiosity will take over and they’ll bring out from within themselves the joy of truly ‘making’ something lasting and valuable of their very own, their idea, their wish, their dream.
We have had the most amazing feedback roll in of kids—and families—who ‘just’ ordered pottery to paint at home but got so much more than that around their dining room table: unexpected warm, cheerful quality time for their kids, but also for themselves, while creating something very unique and precious during this lockdown. Old customers as well as people who had never before set foot in our big, open, studio, have been quick to discover these brand new to-go kits. Our high-quality ceramics that we buy and import directly from small family manufacturing plants in Northern Italy are now being made available for curbside pickup, delivered to front doors from Zurich to Winterthur and sent all over the region.
The kits come packed with everything that’s needed to paint your piece: the chosen piece itself, a paper palette, the paints, brushes, instructions and even a small surprise. We took care to design them for every skill level and to make it fun for everyone, from small children to grandparents, from busy moms-n-dads to techie nerds who just really want to wrap their heads around something else for a while. Our team has been busy creating and uploading to our homepage www.fire-works.ch a myriad of videos teaching the most popular techniques for experienced painters and newbies alike.
Last week, the mom of three vivacious teenage daughters ordered a set of breakfast plates for everyone: the girls set to work and out came a fabulous series! Each of the plates was painted relating to a book one of them had read, giving their series a theme, spanning from classics like Harry Potter to the Divergent Trilogy. Each daughter painted to her skill level, each plate is 100% unique. Seeing the pictures of the before and after-firing is simple proof of just how far and wide the minds of these three young women took wings. What a gift to a teenager! Such a valuable way to let them experience joy, fun and lightheartedness while being locked inside. Some of the kids we heard back from were actually parallel-painting their pottery with their BFF over Zoom, it turns out. Not to mention the great lockdown-birthday parties that have been celebrated with our pottery.
What makes this experience even more valuable? Once glazed and fired, the pottery is food safe and can go in the dishwasher. For anyone, being able to eat your breakfast or drink your hot cocoa from a plate or mug you painted yourself gives you a little joy-jolt every time. And that spaghetti dinner will never be the same now that you have your very own Corona platter. For so many of the kids who crowd our studio during normal times and now paint at home, painting pottery for a person they love (mother’s day? dad’s birthday? grandma’s visit? Christmas?) makes for such meaningful and valuable gifts! The pure and tangible joy that bubbles out of these teenage artists still awes us after all these years.
There clearly is magic happening in our minds* when we let a paintbrush go for a walk on a piece of pottery; the world around us opens wide and our focus lies solely on creating. Especially when the walls are starting to move in on us with no specific date when this will actually end. But: You can’t quarantine creativity.
About fire-works.ch pottery & arts:
fire-works.ch pottery & arts is ppa woman-owned paint-your-own pottery studio in Duebendorf, was founded 14+ years ago by dual citizen Rose Haechler Galle. We’re pretty certain that it has brought joy, laughter and happiness to a birthday party near you. Practically over night, the amazing studio team has turned our walk-in operations into an online business, helping people focus on a creative project in their hands, leaving behind the walls of self-confinement. In the process of creating, we are allowed to re-discover that sacred spark that keeps all of us alive. During this lockdown, fire-works.ch is providing free pottery painting kits to accompanied-living organizations for people with mental challenges.
www.fire-works.ch IG and fb: füürwärch/fire-works.ch #fireworkspottery
untere Geerenstr.2 studio@fire-works.ch
8600 Dübendorf + 41 76 55 90 118
*something science has backed us up on!
Comments of recent customers:
„It was delivered all the way to the Canton of Aargau!!! You truly are the best! We are excited to start painting!!!“ (translated from Swiss German) Ivonne Schmid-Spickmann on Facebook
„Many, many thanks, this helps against cabin fever. I am truly grateful that the kids and I can now paint at home“ (translated from German) Julia Krone, Zürich, via e-mail
„Awesome idea! We are truly creating something of lasting value while stuck at home! Thanks!“ Louise Gooding, telephone call
„I love this idea! Now my kids can make really creative gifts for everyone! Big thanks to the fireworks.ch team“ Carol Tomasciewicz, via e-mail
