Holiday Open Studio
Saturday, December 19th, noon-6pm



The address is 560 Mineral Spring Ave, Unit HA105, Pawtucket, RI, 02860. The studio mill complex is across from Lorraine Fabrics.

YOU WILL NEED THESE directions when you arrive at the mill (it is a maze!):
As you are facing the 560 building, go into the driveway on the far right of it. Look for B&F Gym and CMI (Colonial Mills Rugs) signs.

The rug show room will be to your left as you turn in, and go a little bit behind the main building.

Immediately after the stop sign, there is a very narrow alley on your left, behind the rug showroom.

Park opposite the alley, and walk down it to the studio. The alleyway dead ends with gleena studio.

If you come to the B&F Gym, and a wide alleyway on your left, you have gone a little bit too far.

Hope to see you!

love and peace

As the holiday season begins with Thanksgiving, and I look forward to sitting down to dinner and toasting to good food with friends, I think of all that is happening in the world. I am so grateful for all the love that surrounds me, and the comfort and peace that I enjoy every day. This found peace I so treasure because my family left Soviet Russia as Jewish refugees in November of 1979. The three-month journey was a hard one, and I am forever grateful to my adopted country for welcoming us and for helping us in so many ways upon our arrival. My hope is that fear does not close the hearts that welcomed me and my family. I am sending love and peace to all families, everywhere.

'tis the season for color

Autumn is my favorite season, such delicious smells, crisp air, and all the color enjoyed daily on walks with dog. The colors coming out of my kiln have been very satisfying as well. I've introduced a few darker grays, and have been enjoying how they round out the collection.


fleeting beauty

So much of the ceramic making process is ethereal yet fleeting. If I was not not in the field, I would never get to see these brief moments of loveliness. For me it’s not the end result that drives and feeds my creativity, it is the process. I feel fortunate that it is the making that I find inspiring. Porcelain transforming through its many stages is my muse.
fresh out of a mould, the edges are raw and sculptural
a stack of greenware bowls, ready to be shaped and cleaned up
one by one I shape the edge
bone dry porcelain is stunning. this is when ceramics is the most fragile, and has to be handled with much care. after this stage, kiln firings begin with bisque.

thank you ny now

Thank you for another wonderful show, NY NOW. So nice to catch up with repeat customers. I am grateful for all the re-orders and for the new (very exciting) accounts. More on those later. And once again, my neighbors make the five days super fun. Always an inspiration to be surrounded by such talented, kind, and supportive individuals.
this season I have been focusing on form and color. moody grays mixed in with soft garden-inspired colors.
2015 colors, shown on the noodle bowls.
from the top: ocean, thunder, lilac, slate, dusk
serving platter and roly-poly bowl in aqua.
my favorite things: classic ivory, beachstone and gourd-inspired shapes, fern botanical, typography, and salt.
place seting: pasta bowl, soup bowl, noodle bowl, sake cup
gleena cereal bowls. bangles, by Vanessa Gade.

morning inspiration


this lovely still life of a gleena milk pitcher and backyard zinnias was taken by Forrest Elliott. To view more of Forrest’s inspiring photography, please visit his Instagram feed.

little compton’s secret beach full of treasures


color, form, glazing, and toes inspiration in Little Compton, RI

happy morning garden after rain


so good to see the front garden happy after yesterday’s rains

backyard harvest


it’s been a good year already for tomatoes in the backyard, the colors are incredible.

morning inspiration


photo sent by a dear friend: a beautiful shot of local eggs in a gleena rose beachstone bowl.

MID-SUMMER SALE gleena studio is open
Saturday July 11th and Sunday July 12th:
1pm to 5pm

gleena studio is OPEN for a mid-summer SALE this coming Saturday and Sunday, July 11th and 12th, from 1pm to 5pm.



The address is 560 Mineral Spring Ave, Unit HA105, Pawtucket, RI, 02860. The studio mill complex is across from Lorraine Fabrics.

YOU WILL NEED THESE directions when you arrive at the mill (it is a maze!):
As you are facing the 560 building, go into the driveway on the far right of it. Look for B&F Gym and CMI (Colonial Mills Rugs) signs.

The rug show room will be to your left as you turn in, and go a little bit behind the main building.

Immediately after the stop sign, there is a very narrow alley on your left, behind the rug showroom.

Park opposite the alley, and walk down it to the studio. The alleyway dead ends with gleena studio.

 If you come to the B&F Gym, and a wide alleyway on your left, you have gone a little bit too far.

Hope to see you!

final presentations from risd students,
a feast for the senses

For their final project, my tableware students had to create dinner place settings for at least four people. Each setting had to have at least three pieces, and the table had to have a centerpiece. These parameters were open to interpretation to fit the theme of their dinner setting.

The sets could be hand-built, thrown, or slip-cast; the techniques we covered during the semester. The finals were presented at Ewing House, a small cozy building on RISD’s campus. What an incredible time we had presenting, eating, talking. It was the most satisfying critique I have attended. Perhaps because I saw the students grow so much in their knowledge of clay and tableware production process? Here are five presentations that show the variety of ceramic production techniques used in the class, so much for the eye to feast on.




^Abigail Heingartner carved the originals for her shapes out of plaster, made molds, then slip-cast her pieces in porcelain. The texture on the bowls and tumblers was created by carving into the slip-cast piece. Abby baked delicious cheese biscuits presented in the oval serving dish, accompanied by a thrown on the wheel butter crock. Abby hand-built the votive candles for the centerpiece, and filled them with wax.





^Adriana Gallo worked with porcelain to hand-form the Italian feast serving plates and platters. The organic shapes were slumped over found beach rocks, and the rims pinched for a lovely undulating edge. Serving utensils were also hand-formed. Adriana made a whole lot of anti-pasta, presented on a striped tablecloth, transporting us to southern Italy. We ate this set up outside, of course.





^Brandon Saisho threw his bowls and cups on the wheel, then built the table to hold the pieces in the centerpiece/storage cabinet. Each piece had a walnut lid, which could also be used as a coaster. Brandon made black sesame pudding, rice, and red bean soup to serve to the class. A very meditative set up, we spent a lot of time exploring the table/cabinet, cradling the dishes, experiencing the exotic flavors of the food, and talking.







^Briana Duffy’s set was formed out of found objects and sculpted plasticine. Bree then made molds of the models, and slip-cast four plate shapes. Her centerpiece was assembled out of found shells held together with plasticine. This model was made into a plaster mold, and then cast in porcelain. Inspired by the ocean, the shapes and glazes evoke wave-washed stones, bits of sand dollars, and shells found on a beach walk. Picking up on the flows of the slip-cast porcelain, the glaze shows off the one-piece mold process. Bree served spring rolls with her dishes.





^Abigail Griswald threw her shapes on the wheel, made molds of them out of plaster, and used the molds to press in slabs of porcelain. The result is a gorgeous set of rustic dishes, with a satisfying weight, satiny glazes, and an inviting personality. The edges are exquisitely formed, creating a sculptural effect when stacked. Abby also made a tiled/mosaic tray, and woven matching place mats to complete her extensive set.

So much talent in one class.