I took Bebe ceramics painting at Brushstrokes in Berkeley.

For his first piece, since he was quick with the paintbrush, we did a collab and I tried to paint the rest of the piece with his initial paint splatter as my inspiration. We left the studio with a season pass and the intent to bring Bebe regularly to get some more painting time. He ended up painting an additional four pieces – one for each grandparent (for Christmas gifts!)

He painted a pair of mugs for one set of grandparents and a pair of bowls for the other. This time, Bebe painted the full pieces. We even got his handprint on a few of them.

On our visits, he also enjoyed looking at all the ceramic pieces, climbing up and down the studio steps, and exploring the studio environs. I would say he is a minimalist painter with a hint of Pollock.

Brushstrokes is a full service ceramics painting studio (they also have art classes and rental space) and I’ve been coming here for years. The studio fee, now at $16 a person, includes use of their space and materials, plus painting support from studio staff. They helped me get Bebe’s handprints on pieces! The cost of your ceramic piece includes glazing and firing in a week’s time.

This was so fun to do with Bebe. It was also great when friends came to paint together. Yes, for all those wondering, one ceramic piece was harmed during the making of this blog post, but Brushstrokes apparently adds that to the cost of running a business (we were not the first party to break a piece!) and all is well.

Here are the finished pieces. We’re excited to gift these to the grand-parentals; we’ll pair with some yummy treats, too. Shh, it’s a secret.

Bebe’s Summer 2022 ceramics collection:

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