pine boughs in the snow

a winter wonderland

We are in Maine for the holiday.  This is the view out our front windows....everything is covered in a blanket of snow.  The tree is up and decorated.  Cookies have arrived from my in-laws , along with German chocolate fudge from my parents.  We're planning our holiday menus and looking forward to time spent reading by the wood stove.  Wishing you the happiest of holidays!

cricket and the rose

I took these photos a couple of weeks ago when I cut the last two roses from our rose bush in Brooklyn.   Today, while the wind chill seems to be close to zero degrees here in NYC, I thought it would be a good day to post these photos to remind me of a warmer day.

newest work: aqua, teal, white, seaweed and ocean

My newest batch of pieces have just been unloaded from the kiln.  Requests to buy my ceramics have been pouring in and I'm happily overwhelmed with the response!  As a result,  I've decided that I will start selling my work a little sooner than I originally planned.  I'll be aiming for the beginning of February and will keep you posted here when they are available.  For many reasons (mostly my sanity!) I'll only be selling them in small batches on my online store.  If you would like to receive an update for the day I post pieces for sale please sign up for my mailing list on here, or on my  website elephant ceramics.  Again, I'd like to thank everyone for their lovely comments and support!    

gio ponti's letters

Drawn letters by Gio Ponti

© G. Ponti archives/

S. Licitra – Milan

thank you bright.bazaar!

A lovely surprise seeing some of my pieces posted on bright.bazaar blog! If you love color (as I do) then you will really enjoy this charming blog devoted to interior design.

pin the tail on the donkey

it's my birthday!

The Red Balloon

with and without oysters

photo: Philip Ficks

Doing the photo shoot for my website was a lot of fun.  I asked our food stylist, Vivian Lui, if she would bring oysters to prop this particular platter.  I love oysters.  And the platter's glaze reminds me of the color of seaweed, so I thought oysters would be perfect.  With Philip's dark, moody lighting it makes this shot look quite glamorous.  End the end I chose the shot without the oysters for my website, but I still love this image and wanted to share it.

a day at the beach

inspiring work: bridget riley

Bridget Riley in the mid-1960's.  copyright John Goldblatt

High Sky 2, 1992.  copyright Bridget Riley

Bridget Riley in her studio, 1960's.  copyright Bridget Riley

Arrest 3, 1965.  copyright Bridget Riley

Blaze 1, 1962.  copyright Bridget Riley

 
Bridget Riley in her studio 1960.  copyright Bridget Riley

Recently I became aware of Bridget Riley's fantastic geometric paintings.  Born in London, she is known as one of the founding members of the Op Art movement.  Initially she worked in black, white and grey, introducing color in 1967.  In 1968 Riley represented Great Britain in the Venice biennale.  She was the first Bristish contemporary painter, and the first woman, to be awarded the prestigious International Prize for painting.  If you are in London you can see a show of her work at The National Gallery.



Bridget Riley:  Paintings and Related Work

The National Gallery

Trafalgar Square

London

November 24, 2010 - May 22, 2011

thank you nonchalant mom!

I have had a wonderful response to my new website, elephant ceramics, and my new blog!  Thank you to everyone for your lovely comments and feedback!  And thank you to Carina, at nonchalant mom blog, for including one of my pieces in her beautiful Holiday Gift Guide 2010 (pictured above!)  I have long been a fan of Carina's blog, even though I am not a mom! She has a gorgeous website, and blog, which includes all kinds of wonderful info about kids, life, food, fashion and art.  We seem to share a common concern about what kinds of food we should be eating and feeding to children (whole, healthy foods preferably raised by our local, organic farmers.)  And, we both seem to be fans of Dosa and Layla, as well! 

feels like home

Welcome to my blog!

This is a wonderful moment for me, introducing my ceramics to friends, family and colleagues.

I am making things with my hands, once again. 

One thing I learned very quickly while working in clay, nothing is predictable.  I think that’s what I love most about it.  This has proven to be a revelation to me.  Since all of my pieces are individually shaped and formed, no two pieces are alike.  You’ll notice that there are no perfect squares or circles in my tableware.  My glazes can look completely different from piece to piece.  Anyone that knows me might find this shocking.   But it is true.  I love the unpredictable nature of it!

I would like to say a special thank you to a few people who were essential in putting my website and blog together.  My dear friend, Kim Osborne, who does all the design work for Elephant Ceramics and Elephant Props.  Philip Ficks, a very talented photographer, who was kind enough to photograph my ceramics.  And, Vivian Lui, who did the food styling for some of these images.  Thank you, all!  

I’ll be posting my newest work here, along with people, places and things that inspire and influence me.  Please let me know what you think!