experimenting with layers of glaze

I recently mixed a very lovely semi-matte opaque glaze. It feels amazing. I’ve been layering it on top of my glossier glaze, and the results have been surprising, and exciting. Because of the difference in finish, the matte glaze seems to float on top of the gloss. I’m still figuring out the best layering technique, but have so much variation to choose from. I feel as if I am back in grad school, excited to open the kiln after each glaze firing.

This is what the pieces look like right before they are loaded into the glaze firing.

Here they are out of the glaze fire. Surprise!

I am experimenting on pieces that had cracked in the bisque fire, using them as test tiles. I am enjoying how the glaze is interacting with the cracks, as well. I love letting go of control, and seeing what happens to materials inside the kiln.

This is a more controlled glaze application. Each cup is dipped in the glossy, and then the matte is dipped on top. Not sure yet if I like the more horizontal stripes, or the free-form strokes of glaze. Maybe something in-between the two.

thank you, Puddingstone Post, for a lovely article

ny now january 2016

To get ready for the NY NOW market, I always set up booth 9145 in my studio a few weeks before the show. I have to admit, the January show is a tough one to gear up for. I am drained after the holidays, and would love a month of doing nothing. So perhaps it’s good that NY NOW comes so quickly in the new year, it gets me back to creating the week after New Year’s Eve. Having the set up in the studio allows me to think through the collection, move it around, fill in gaps, and edit until it’s time to pack the Prius. I keep my booth furniture simple so it’s easy for me to load, unload, set up, and most importantly, break down once the show is over. It also has to fit in the small hatchback, so over the years my system has evolved for maximum compactness, ease and quickness.

new this year are the cylinder vases, about 5" in height, 2.5" in diameter, perfect for spring blooms, a single flower or a bunch.

the roly soup bowls are my favorites, they are just so yummy, I reach for them at every meal: yogurt for breakfast, edamame for lunch, soup for dinner.

add a 7.5" side plate, a 12oz tumbler, and a shorty 10oz tumbler to the roly bowl for a beautiful breakfast or lunch setting. lilacs are my favorite blooms, grown by my grandmother at the family dacha outside of St. Petersburg, Russia. this glaze incorporates the blues and lavenders of that spring beauty.

a simple place setting in ivory and thunder: 10" dinner plate, 7.5" side plate, 5" shallow dish for bread or dessert.

add a set of spouted salt and pepper cellars for a unique touch at the dinner table.

a serving set in thunder, with bowls ranging from 2" to 7" in diameter, for a memorable wedding gift.

flowers in gleena, in the middle of a blizzard

I love it when friends share photos of how they use gleena. During this weekend’s blizzard, gleena was warming a few homes with flowers, and thoughts, of spring.

from the home of and photo by Agnethe: lanterns and boat vase with extraordinary poppies

from the home of Elizabeth: one of a kind, hand-built vessel overflowing with tulips

happy, and full, new year

2016 is off to an interesting start. I was back in the studio on January 3rd, working away on a few custom projects. One of them a set of dishes for a new graphic design office opening up in San Fransisco. Seems like it’s the year for handmade plates, even my mom ordered a set of dinner-sized ones. She likes the rose color, and I am looking forward to seeing her table set with ten of them. Here they are hanging out in their molds until it’s time to clean the edges.

I shape the edge with a surform tool, and finish by smoothing it with a very fine sponge. This gives a sculptural, unique, personality to each shape.

A table full of dishes, all from the first two weeks of the year. So excited to see what the rest of 2016 brings along. Happy New Year!

wishing you a joyful colorful holiday!

Holiday Open StudioSaturday, 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.

baby set in ocean blue glaze: 7.5" plate, baby bowl, wee tea cup

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