Downtown Laurel was full of life Saturday as the Mississippi Made event took place with local talent specializing in arts, crafts, and anything “Mississippi Made.”
One of the booths highlighted was MeMaw’s Ceramics, owned by Dora Thornton.
Thornton has been painting since she was 14, and has been making homemade ceramic art for several decades.
“Everything is handmade. We pour all of the ceramics ourselves. We clean, we put it to the fire, I do the glazing and painting, and my husband does the glazing of the Christmas trees. We have friends that help. We all get in there and have a great time,” said Thornton.
One of Dora Thornton's handmade art pieces.
She also discussed the process that it takes to create a piece of unique art.
“We have to pour the mold a certain way. That takes time in and of itself. We have to dump the mold and let it sit for a day or two. We take it out, clean the seams, put the fire to it, and something like a larger piece here, we put acrylics on it. We use a dry brush and acrylics, with a varnish and finish to create it,” explained Thornton.
“I’ve been doing ceramics for about 2 years,” said Thornton. “As a business, it has probably been 15 to 18 years. We are located in Ellisville. I’ve been painting since I was 14. I started on canvas with oils. I moved into acrylics on canvas and wood. I wanted to move onto something new and I saw a ceramic shop and said ‘I want to try that,’” smiled Thornton.
Thornton explained that she didn’t know exactly what drew her to start creating art as a teenager, but that she loves the process and “will paint anything that holds still.”
You can find MeMaw’s Ceramics on Facebook at facebook.com/memawsceramics.