My students and I molded a huge batch of hearts at the end of this past school year. We were able to stamp most of them with the word HOPE, but some dried out before we got to them. Actually, I didn't even know they were in the bin. We had layered damp paper towels and plastic over them to keep them fresh. I discovered them in the bin about 2 weeks ago. Thing is, we never got around to stamping them. After staining the bottom of the hearts with a red-brown engobe, I thought about it for a few minutes, then decided to paint the word Haiti in a brilliant turquoise blue on top. A bright color seemed appropriate. When Ted Frankel, proprieter of The Sideshow (the Visionary Art Museum's gift shop where the hearts are sold) returned from Jacmel recently, he described the houses on the coast, which were painted in a tremendous array of bright colors. "Paint companies send all their leftover colors down there. So all the houses are painted bright yellows, blues, reds...you name it". At least pre-fire, the turquoise is such a strong contrast to the red-brown that the letters seem to shimmer.
I will be firing a huge batch of hearts tomorrow. I can't wait to see how they turn out!!
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