Grandparents, aunties and uncles are in for a treat this Christmas when more than 200 Durham mums and dads will be giving out a lasting and unique gift to treasure forever.
Lorna Watkinson of Warkworth runs Rainbow Pottery Painting and the Northumberland mum has just delivered more than 500 pieces of pottery to Dragonflies Durham Soft Play Centre in Belmont Durham.
The pieces, which include Christmas baubles, coasters, plates and mugs are all hand drawn and fired in Lorna’s kiln but what makes them unique is that every design is based on a child’s hand or foot prints.
Lorna teamed up with Dragonflies Durham Soft Play Centre to deliver the special workshops for parents. In total, more than 500 pieces of pottery were created over the two-day sessions and then distributed to parents to keep as a lasting memory or to give out as an ideal and thoughtful Christmas present.
Lorna began Rainbow Pottery Painting in 2012 after taking her redundancy after working for 17 years for Procter and Gamble in the media-advertising department. Her mobile pottery-painting studio goes wherever her customers need her and recently she has worked extensively with schools in the region, corporate businesses to help them focus on targets and goals and running craft sessions for care homes. She has also been commissioned to produce bespoke artwork including a welcome sign for a school.
The partnership with Dragonflies was welcomed by Lorna.
“Dragonflies is an ideal place to do my creative workshops. They aren’t simply a Soft Play Centre, they also offer a variety of activities aimed at Babies & Toddlers ranging from Baby Massage, Baby Yoga, Sensory for Babies and Baby Sign to name a few. They have a special room where the sessions can take place making it an ideal location with the right balance between creative art and play.”
The centre is co-owned by Kate Horner and Katy Fraser-Howe and is primarily aimed at children up to eight years old. Established in 2016, demand for the pair’s services meant that they quickly outgrew their previous premises. In August 2017, the new location at Belmont was opened with bigger and better facilities allowing the entrepreneurial pair to provide much more than just Soft Play.
Kate was delighted with the pottery paining sessions.
“Everyone loved painting the pottery and what made it all the more special was the fact that the main part of the artwork was their children’s hands and feet. It really is a great way to capture memories forever and it’s good fun too.”
With Christmas just around the corner, Lorna is now planning ahead for next year by looking for more venues to run her unique courses.
“`The Christmas demand has exceeded all of my expectations, “she said.” I’m already looking for sessions leading up to Mother’s Day anywhere in the region. Little foot and hand prints last forever, they are a great talking point and you can’t put a price on a memory.”
Rainbow Pottery Painting can be found at http://www.rainbowpotterypainting.co.uk
ENDS
Photo shows: Lorna and Kate with some of the Christmas pottery
Photo Credit Highlights PR
More information from Keith Newman Highlights PR 07814 397951