hand-building tableware at risd

I was honored to be asked to teach tableware in the RISD Ceramics Department this semester. The first project was to pinch, coil, and/or slab-construct a breakfast set. The students' enthusiasm for working with clay is inspiring. The result is usable sculptural objects, unifying art and function, with each student having a distinct approach, a unique visual voice.

The students considered how they eat breakfast, or what kind of experience they would like to have at the table, and created forms to reflect those concepts. The hand is clearly visible in every object, creating a strong connection between the artist and the user.

The work shown below is in the leather-hard, or bone-dry stage (my favorite and most fragile). All about the purity of form and touch, unglazed clay shows off its folds, dimples, and wrinkles.

Wei Che

Jack Yu

Megan Wu

Cathy Lee

Elisabeth Zhang

Brianna Duffy

Abigail Griswold

Danielle Glynn

Brandon Saisho

Adriana Gallo

Abigail Heingartner

Will Jackson

new bowls on gleena.com

As an antidote to snow, I posted a lot of new colorful bowls to gleena.com, in stock and ready to ring in spring and warmth!

color inspiration

Providence houses glorious in blankets of snow...

when you least expect it...

something beautiful happens...

three feet of snow on the ground and giant icicles on my roof, but inside, my succulents are happily blooming.

what’s new at gleena

surrounded by snow and ice this year in New England, I have been experimenting with more sombre, grayer hues, mixing in ivories, striving for crisp coziness.

i love this place setting put together by a client: ivory 10" plate, deep grey 7.5" plate, dotted urchin bowl, and deep grey roly poly side bowl.

deep grey roly poly bowl and 7.5" side plate shown from above

a double-dipped tumbler, celadon mixed with deep grey

a cozy serving set: shallow beachstone bowl stacked with ocean jewelry dish and lilac roundie bowls

shallow beachstone, jewelry and roundie bowls set from the side

a mound of ivory, snowy bowls for a client in Canada

new roly poly soup bowl in an assortment of greys

condiment bowls in greys

condiment bowls lit up with tea lights, softly glowing

it’s been an eventful winter, stay warm and safe.

NY NOW show, winter 2015

A big thank you to the NY NOW show and to the retailers who braved freezing temperatures and rainy snowy icy slushy streets of NYC. It was another fun and informative show with many reunions, and new friendships formed.

I introduced new double-dipped glaze combos, to overall enthusiasm. I love when the two glazes overlap, an unexpected third color forms. I am looking forward to exploring this direction further.

happy new year...

Just now, in the second week of 2015, am I able to focus and look back on 2014. The holiday season was wonderful, and then some time is needed to regain strength and energy to dive back into creating. I am so grateful for all the support from customers and stores that helped gleena turn ten years old. Here are a few moments from the past year that warm my heart. Happy New Year everyone!

where to find gleena

2014 was a wonderful year for gleena, a very big thank you to the stores that carry our work. Here are a few, and the gleena collections they carry. ** For a full list please visit gleena.com.

at The Garden Gate in Arcata, CA

at BlackSheep General Store in Glencoe, IL

at Sparrow House in Plymouth, MA

at Corey&Co. in Portland, ME and O’Suzannah in Charlottesville, VA

at Kestrel in Northampton, MA

at Hudson Art in Hudson, MA

at Style Camp in Philadelphia, PA

at Ilan Dei Venice in Venice, CA

at RISD Museum Store in Providence, RI

at Marz in South Pasadena, CA

at The Gardener in San Francisco, CA

at Magpie in New York City

annual (unripe) green fig preserving

Last year, after I had just moved into my new home, I found that I owned a Black Jack fig tree. With a lot of figs that will never ripen in New England climate. To my surprise, it survived one of the worse winters ever (I wrapped it in burlap), to produce even more fruit than last year. I think it likes me.

Four times as much fruit, to be precise.
So I tackled boiling the figs, three times for fifteen minutes each...

Then simmered them in sugary water (2.5 cups of sugar to 5 cups of water) until syrupy, and canned them!

After about a week, the figs become more flavorful, you can eat them whole on top of yogurt or vanilla ice cream. I blended them to use as a spread.

Delicious on top of pumpkin seed bread from Seven Stars. Served on a gleena plate, of course. Yum! For a more formal recipe follow this link to NY Times.