still life saturday with berries

photograph by Sang An


painting by Severin Roesen


photograph by Gennadiy Shin


photographs by Maria Robledo


painting by Fedor Petrovich Tolstoy


painting by Willem Dolphin

veggie goodness

Inspired by Deb's blog entry on veggies from her garden and the farmer's market, I decided to show off some lovelies from yesterday's CSA pick up. And to point you toward Mark Bittman's blog in The New York Times called 101 Simple Salads for the Season. A must read, save and pass on (which many did as it is the No. 1 emailed article for a few days now). Now go forth and eat some veggies this weekend, and send me pics! asya@gleena.com

photograph by Francesco Tonelli for The New York Times

daily alphabet dose of inspiration

I have been featured on a lovely blog, the design alphabet, under the letter P (for Palatova). A new day brings a new letter of design and art inspiration. I am in great company, featured alongside with PomLove (gorgeous paper flowers) from Oregon and Pinkflor (sweet embroidery and illustration) from Buenos Aires. Visit the rest of the alphabet here.


photograph from PomLove


photograph from Pinkflor

a new way of seeing

May Tveit, an installation artist, makes me see things I have seen a million times in a new way. May's bales of hay, painted in solid bright colors, have an unexpected monumental quality. The paint accentuates the spiral and makes the bales heroic, sculptural.

May Tveit's work is now on exhibit at farm in Wellfleet, Cape Cod. May is giving a lecture at the Wellfleet Public Library this evening at 8pm.

all photographs courtesy of farm

embroidered table runners, from jakarta

all photographs courtesy of kainkain

In my search for table linens inspiration, I happened upon this gorgeous embroidery on table runners from the Etsy seller Kainkain. Kainkain means fabric in Indonesian, where the shop is based in Jakarta.

Kainkain is a small shop run by local women, embroidering on a manual sewing machine. Besides runners, the shop also makes pillows, napkins, sachets, place mats, and take on custom orders. I love the organic, modern delicacy of their work.

morning light

This morning I woke up to a subdued gray light after days of sunshine. This light has a darkness to it that is very soothing, and irresistible.

under the brooklyn bridge

The Brooklyn Flea under the Brooklyn Bridge is my coolest sale location to date. The day was beautiful, and not too hot. The bridge was right above our heads, and there is also a fantastic view of the Manhattan Bridge, which does not get enough attention, I think.




A big thank you to Deb (in pics above with her beautiful jewelry) from Bonbon Oiseau for sharing her booth with me. The day flew by in excellent conversation and steady sales.




Deb made gorgeous necklaces with gleena porcelain pendants, and I am a proud owner of one. It has such a good weight to it, and the length is perfect. The necklaces will be posted on gleenashop shortly, and Deb and I will be giving one away in a few weeks. Stay tuned for details. And visit Deb's blog entry about our day here.

some lovely bon bons

The talented Deb from Bonbon Oiseau and I collaborated on a necklace: the pendant is gleena porcelain, and everything else is Bonbon Oiseau. I love what Deb has created, her work elevates mine to a whole new level.

the magic middle kingdom

photography by Gentl and Hyers, styled by Ayesha Patel for Body+Soul
photography by Sang An, styled by Ayesha Patel for Body+Soul

There are a few pieces (like the red and the blue bowls shown above) in the photo prop house that always made it to one of my shoots. The pieces were fine, pure white porcelain, incredibly thin, with delicate, fluid lines. This particular collection consisted of bowls of various sizes and vases, glazed in bright, saturated colors. Every time I saw one of the pieces, I picked it up, admiring the perfect craftsmanship. And I did not know the maker.

About a month ago I received an email from Alison Jia, who together with her husband Bo creates the line of ceramics I have admired for so long. Alison saw my posting on the 4x5 polaroids I have kept from my photoshoots, and noticed her ceramic pieces which appeared in quite a few. Hurray for blogging, one mystery solved.

Alison and Bo's comapany is called Middle Kingdom, and everything about it, from their story, to the photography of the pieces, is pure joy and magic. Seeped in classical and elegant Chinese porcelain tradition from the Song and Ming eras, Middle Kingdom's forms are fresh, modern and timeless. Click here for a list of stores that carry Middle Kingdom's creations.

artist in her home: no. 6

all photographs are from The New York Times

I found this fairy tale (which hapens to be a true story) in The New York Times today. Hope Sandrow encountered an unexpected muse while taking a walk in the woods, a Paduan chicken. Ms. Sandrow is a mixed media artist, whose work is in permanent collections at the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney and the Met. After a long period of not producing any work, she met Shinnecock, a large blond confident rooster, and began to create again, mostly chicken-related art.

Even the eggs laid by her now numerous chickens, are looked upon as sculptural installations. You just never know where inspiration will come from. More fowl-inspired art, including a video, can be seen at hopesandrow.com, there is even a live web cam. I love it.

fog linen

Yumiko Sekine is the designer whose simple, natural aesthetic makes Fog Linen irresistible. Yumiko produces her designs in Lithuania, bringing a modern sensibility to a country known for beautiful classic linen work. Fog carries everything linen for the home, as well as linen clothing, which I just found out I can purchase at Pod, in Brookline, MA. I just emailed with Yumiko, and she will be sending me her catalogue. Can't wait.

Here is a link to other shops that carry Fog Linen products.

glazed type

The typographical tray finally came out of the kiln. I had to fire it twice because the first time the glaze did not melt enough. I decided to experiment and fire to a lower cone, it was not successful. I should just stick to what I know works.

I am happy with the final result. The glaze pools gently in the letters, creating a subtle pattern. Some have expressed concern that food will be hard to clean out of the letters. The glaze filled in the indentations, so I don't think it will be a problem.

the farm affair

above photographs by Alec

Last week I spent several days on a farm, helping Alec weed, dig and plant in an organic veggie garden. Alec is spending the summer creating a large garden for his friends, who own a farm in Navarre, Ohio.

It was such a treat to wake up to a big sky, birds chirping, trees swaying, and have my tea and breakfast on a small porch overlooking the fields where cows grazed peacefully. Did you know that cows are super curious, yet shy, have a cowlick and really long eyelashes?


It is hard work to tend a garden, and to dig up new beds, but it is oh so satisfying to walk down to one of the beds and pick fresh spinach and lettuce for that night's dinner. There was so much spinach that we had to think hard of dishes to use it all up. Alec made a spinach lasagna, I made a spinach pie, and I also froze some of it. All you have to do is blanch the spinach before throwing it into the freezer in a plastic bag. Way better than buying a bag of it at the grocery store.

I live in an industrial area in Pawtucket, RI, where putting your hand in the dirt could be a health hazard. I came back from the farm completely refreshed and energized, appreciating the hard work it takes to raise food for the table, and wanting to do more of it.

and the new owners are...

Thank you everyone for your kind comments. This giveaway was so fun for me, and I will definitely do one again.

Dear Diane, Lazysundae, and Michelle, I am so pleased that these pieces will be a part of your homes. Please send me an email at asya@gleena.com and let me know your address.