ANDRE PELLERIN explains a little bit about his craft.

How do I make my pots and paintings?

	When making pots, I mostly use stoneware, a clay that is usually brown. It can tolerate high temperatures. I like to fire my pots in the gas kiln. Most of the glazes I use are earth tone colors. I love these kinds of colors because they look related to nature. But now I use bright color glazes which require an electric kiln to fire them. After a few years of firing pots in the gas kiln, most of my pots had earth tone colors. Then people kept telling me that they prefer bright colors. I started experimenting with underglaze colors and a clear glaze on top in the summer of 2006. The more I practiced with colors, the more I became creative with them and started to enjoy them. My pots now have both glaze and color. I also like to make big pots. Sometimes I will make two or three pieces and then put them together once they harden to create bigger pots. I try to challenge myself to create new shapes and looks. Not one of my pots are the same, just like no two snowflakes are the same.
	When I paint, it’s more for fun than for being a serious painter. I was watching this painting show called “One-Stroke Painting” by Donna Dewberry on PBS few years ago. As I watched that program, I thought that would not be so hard to do so I went to the art supply store and got what I needed. As I looked around in the store, I found Donna Dewberry’s how-to book. Once I got home, I started following the book’s directions which took me about three months to master. Then I tried painting different ways on different colored papers. Some were colorful, some were all the same colors. I kept that up for a year, and then I happen to see the same painting program on PBS again one day. Donna Dewberry was doing something different with a similar painting method by cutting out the flowers and making bookmarks with them. With that, my 3-D paintings was born. First I paint each flower and leaf separately. Once they dry, I cut out each one of them and lay them out on the poster board where I want them. I cut up small squares of another posterboard and glue those on the back of flowers and leaves to make them hop out of the painting.
	Although I can do both pots and paintings, I find myself more attracted to the craft of creating beautiful pots.