In search of Indian Pottery

After enrolling myself in the pottery class, I started searching for similar outlets in India and where could I possibly continue this interest. I found a school in Puducherry, TN. They some of the most wonderful creations of functional pottery that I have seen. Here are some pieces from the Mandala Pottery, which you can also check out on the website.

I made a similar bowl, this is a reminder I need to post about my bowls

Loved the inter-laced bowls

I simply love bowls

one day.. this would be in my collection

miniature vases

serving platter

This is my fav set of tea cups

someday my perfection would reflect the piece above

You get these in terrra-cotta colors, w/o the glaze which looks simply chic

How do you even get a shape like this... !!

Pondicherry is on my must go list!

this is what I was talking abt, terra cotta wind chimes.

Tea Cups 101

Recently the swiss arts council held an exhibition portraying the 'tea cup' traditions around the world. And guess what it featured our very own 'kulhad'. Lot of Indian artists participated in the exhibition. All the tea cups featured in this exhibition were handle-less. Aah! I adding handles as most painful task in pottery, I think that is why I am more fascinated with bowls rather than cups. Something to improve on. Check out some of the pictures from the exhibition. A link to the exhibition can be found here.

The Indian potter demonstrating the "throwing off the hump" technique

Tracy Porter

Another of my inspiration is Tracy Porter's amazing tabletop collection. She makes use of lovely vibrant colors red and green and juxtaposing those to white. I love her artesian road collection. You can find more of her treasures here. I love the way she uses animals in her platters, teapots and most importantly salt and pepper shaker. Enjoy the while it lasts. You can catch her entire collection here


A little history about the fascinating dinnerware -

Tracy Porter grew up on Artesian Road in the countryside of Wisconsin. Her parents were collectors of sorts, all kinds of interesting things and quite a menagerie of animals to boot ... including peacocks. (It's all coming together for you now isn't it?) In their house there was this cool little room that was dubbed "The Chinese Room." Tracy used to sit in there for hours reading and listening to Billie Holiday and Etta James.

All of these wonderful memories came together in this pattern ... A hand-painted blend of European and Oriental motifs in bold and vibrant colors. Sculpted bamboo trim and sculptural peacocks bring out the exotic nature of this gorgeous and elegant ceramic pattern. The extensive collection includes dinnerware, accessories and bakeware. 

From the Artesian Road Collection, i love the handle on the lidded bowl

Platter, love the bamboo detailing

Love the chip and dip set, I want one!!!

Simply adore this one!! I love her use of peacocks

The animals and the salt and pepper

doggy dog salt and pepper

My most fav Salt and Pepper

Bowls are by far my most fav in any given collection. Look at the colors on this bowl.

This is a teapot over a cup, 3D butterfiles.. are uber cool

Wish bowls.. truly awesome

another one of her magic

Soaps

Although this blog is about pottery and everything earthen, I had to mention this awesome soaps sold in downtown Savannah, GA. Robin Lynne of Savannah Soap Kitchen, the creator of these soaps, started this in mid 2008 and looks really promising. She will soon release her kit about making soap at home. I am looking forward to that. Here are some of the pics of her soaps. You can catch more of that on her flicker stream

Would love to try this one

What a cool impression

Reminds me of the tutti-fruiti bread

I don't care what's inside, this is my favorite packaging

Some more soaps

reminds me of jigsaw puzzle

Why would anyone use these soaps

My first mosaic tray

Looking at design sponge's DIY ideas, I stumbled upon an incredible tray made of mosaic. One of my decoupage boxes went horribly wrong, hence I re-did it using mosaic. I got those mosaics from a local crafts store. 

After the mosaics, used a terra cotta colored grout

to hold the mosaics in place

Wipe off the grout when it is still wet.

Will publish more pictures of this as soon as it is dry. 

Here are some more pictures.. taken when there was sunlight

dhoop aur parchayi ka khel

aur ek khel

standing tall against the wind

along with my decoupaged tray and Ikea center piece

Salt n Peppa

Once while searching for an inspiration for clay, I stumbled upon innovative salt and pepper shakers. Clay Art is a San Fransisco based company which makes some of the craziest salt and pepper shakers you can ever find.

The bowling pin and ball, simply love it

Look at the detailing, a small handle and the base has a ring,

I can picture the skewers

My most favorite of them all. I just love it.

They are out of stock of this one ~sigh~

Great gift to a golfer

From the wild wild west - Rodeo and Barrel

Another great detail, the beach ware has a string attached!!!

I think they have stopped manufacturing most of those now. Have to lay my hands on whatever I get through the ebay.

Julie

My journey as a potter began with Clayworks, a pottery school in downtown Charlotte. I am still polishing my skills as a potter. Today, I am posting about my instructor Julie Wiggins who first taught me art of spinning the wheel. She specializes in wheel thrown ceramic pottery using porcelain as her clay body. She has mastered the art of ceramic inlay design. Here are some of her creations. You can check out her website for more information. Here are some of her creations

A flower pot

I love the little birds she adds to the tea pot lid

I would love to have her creation in my collection.

In one of her sugar and coffee set, she added small bells inside the lid, which would make a melodious sound when you lift it.

Bowls are my eternal favorite.

I will post about some of the bowls that I created in the past.