wine.

I love to drink wine. It is my complete beverage of choice and brings me much pleasure. It is a social experience and it is a solitary meditative experience. It enhances food, mood and if not too indulgent, just really relaxes you at the end of the day.

I am so fortunate to live so near to many amazing wine regions here in California. I do not get to visit them nearly as much as I would like to, but do get to visit vicariously through my work.

I love bringing my work together with food and wine and the utilitarian relationship they all share-
as well as creating mementos for folks to take home with them that will always remind them of the pleasure and retreat they experience when visiting these amazing places. 

Over the past few years I have had the pleasure of creating what I call "high end curios" for the Silver Oak tasting room in Oakville, in the Napa Valley. These are one of a kind pieces using found and vintage objects with hand etched details--all with a wine region theme. These were just delivered:

This year I was asked to create platters riffing off the blue/white rustic chinoiserie line- for the retail shop at Auction Napa Valley 2014. It was great fun creating nearly 80 one of a kind pieces for this event that raised over 18 million dollars for community health care services.

And I recently shipped off pieces to the new LaFond Winery tasting room in Santa Barbara. They just opened a beautiful "in-town" tasting room showcasing their incredible wines as well as curated artisan pieces.

It is the enduring value of a curio when traveling. I always make sure to collect something when I am away, either a purchased object or something I find lying on the ground. This collection of things remains a big inspiration to me when conjuring up designs. It is the coming together of differing shapes, notions and elements of a culture- natural and ethnographic. Much of ancient pottery, besides its functional use as water and food vessels, evolved to incorporate more design and aesthetic elements as people began to collect it.It was traded and sold and re-sold. And often became incredibly valuable over time. But more importantly keeps memories alive and helps put perspective on where we have been.

dedicated to how the world entertains at home..

Countlan, a relatively new digital magazine, beautifully executed with a tag line that reads: "dedicated to how the world entertains at home".  Filled with luscious images of food, home supplies and wonderful commentary on the way we live today--oh and great recipes as well..

One of the features in their current issue no 7, is an essay on the value of an "interesting" plate, not just one that entirely reflects the food on it, but one that invites conversation and atmosphere as well. I loved the slant of this article as it is something I have promoted for years with my work. And it is what many restaurants are now jumping on.. the importance of the plate as well as the food when considering the intentional culture of a restaurant.
The feedback from customers I receive from some of the restaurant projects I have been involved with, does not ignore the food, but celebrates the presentation and when the food is cleared, a secondary appreciation and experience to enjoy the effort gone into creating a utilitarian piece of art.
A chef I have been working with recently commented on actually how similar the process of creating a beautiful meal and a special plate is-- creating from raw materials, a finished product that touches on many senses.
I am honored to be called out on my plateware in this article as well as thrilled that the culinary world is heading full on in this direction.
Read the full piece on "dishes that command curiosity" in Countlan here.

limited edition pieces online at anthropologie: coastal plate box set..

available online only at anthropologie:
Coastline plates 4 handmade plates depicting beach scenes, all encased in a handmade wooden box topped by a found beach object.

conjuring summertime..keep forever.

this is a very limited edition available on anthropologie's website.
all inspired by my daily beach ramblings...

street markings..

I am always taking notice of the subtleties around me as I walk or run around the city and the coast. There are so many amazing patterns casually juxtaposed on walls, sidewalks and trees. Some are naturally occurring while others quite deliberate and utilitarian perhaps unknowing of their aesthetic qualities. I love seeing these geometric and circular shapes and forms and try and snap them when I can and use later to inform plate designs.


such beauty and color and texture:

and shapes find their way to clay..

spring..finally

for most of you, the winter of 2013-14 has been one non stop polar vortex of cold snow and sleet. much like the winter of 1993-94..the winter that encouraged my move to the west coast from new york. it was enough for me..ruined shoes,cancelled plans. i was done.
but i still keep tabs on what's going on weather wise there and know it has been challenging. while we have had an unseasonably warm and sunny winter, we have our own vortex of drought to be concerned about.
but there are distractions from all this..fresh blooms on the trees, birds mating, scent of renewal, and just knowing a transition is afoot.

and new spring pieces are launched in two favorite shops: anthropologie and sundance.
available now online. limited editions..

deep black botanical platter at anthropologie:

creamy white and yellow- turquoise and gray serve bowl at sundance:

bringing a bit of light and air to the season.

giving back...

If you follow this blog or know that before I put all of my work energy into ceramics, I was an urban social worker, heavily involved in many different communities helping to create and support affordable housing in new york city and san francisco. When I ceased to work "professionally" as a social worker, I retained my sense of duty, service and the importance of giving back. It is something I feel strongly about and try and instill in my kids. you can give time, attention and of course money to causes, organizations you believe in. Even if you are not a philanthropist on a grand scale a la bill gates, you can still demonstrate your support in whatever way you can, and believe me, anything helps.
I have pledged to donate a portion of all of my annual income from my ceramics work to different community organizations spanning the arts, LGBT issues and community health. Some of the places I have supported this year:

San Francisco Food Bank
SFSPCA
Ali Forney Center in San Francisco: serving LGBT youth
Planned Parenthood- supporting affordable women's health
Various breast cancer organizations
NPR- my local station KQED and KCRW in Los Angeles
Abiquiu Public Library- serving a remote part of northern new mexico and preserving local history and culture
marsh theater- keeping one person plays going and youth programs in SF

I am hoping to carve out some time this year to do a bit more hands on work- but am proud to support where I can. I like to say that giving what you can annually "keeps you in shape" for future giving, involvement and general citizenry. Toiling away in my studio in a singular way, it is important to remain connected in this larger way.
That and walking my new pup at the beach to remind me how very small we really are..but that we can still imprint.