Ceramics – The Goods

Design

The Ceramics Design Champion

November 15, 2011

Our judges met at Flatbush Farm last week to take a look at the five finalists from the Ceramics Design Challenge.

Alice Goldsmith, known for her handmade flatware series, and Jono Pandolfi known for his iconic Pillow Plate joined Product Designer Sarah Stenseng to look at some very impressive work:

Kathy Gorg’s Calla Lily collection won the customer vote.

Jennifer Fisher’s Pocket Planters charmed everyone with their bright colors and potential to become tiny terrariums or jewelry trays.

Romi Hefetz’s Mini Bowls stacked perfectly in the judges hands and showed off beautiful glaze work.

Kyla Toomey’s Button Series wowed everyone. Nobody could believe how much work and detail went into making each woven mug or button bowl.

But Tasha McKelvey’s Birdie Mini Dish stole the show.

The judges agreed these handmade dishes were great gifts for moms, aunts, grandmas, sisters, daughters and best friends who dye their hair pink and collect kitschy relics of the fifties. (That last idea was from Judge Alice Goldsmith.)

The judges were particularly impressed with the dish’s construction. Each dish is handpressed with a weathered piece of antique barn siding to give it a look of rustic wood. Each hand-sculpted bird is glazed separately and then added to the lip of the dish.

While the judges wished the birdie mini dishes were a bit larger, they all agreed that Tasha McKelvey’s creative work was a perfect fit for UncommonGoods.

Tasha wins $500 plus a chance to sell her dishes at UncommonGoods. Sign up to be notified when her dishes become available!

And let us know– should we bring in Tasha’s mushroom dish as well? Leave a comment to let us know what you think.

Design

Comments of the Week

October 14, 2011

This week our top comments come from voters telling us what they think of a little book that lets kids have fun with food, porcelain bowls that look good enough to eat, a kit that’s sure to be a cup of tea, and special pillows to celebrate new babies.

We’re glad you love Melanie Mckenney’s Salsa Bowl Trio, Karen! Although we don’t have a bell pepper bowl up for voting, we do have another scrumptious design– her Cantaloupe Bowl Set.

Speaking of scrumptious, another item up for voting this week, My Food Passport , makes trying new foods fun. But Kimberley isn’t so sure it would do the trick.

If it were full of foods like ice cream and pizza, you probably wouldn’t need the passport. Although some of the foods may seem strange to kids, they’re worth a try! We think this handy book might just help your picky eater discover that they love mangoes, mushrooms, or avocado. We’re glad to see that Liane and Cassandra agree.

Since we’re on the topic of having fun with food, we’ll also take a look at a comment from Patricia, who’s ready to have fun with a drink.

Thanks for the comment, Patricia! We want to see your vote as well. If you love the Tea Leaf Reading Kit don’t forget to give it a “Thumbs Up” in our voting app. You can also leave your email address, if you’d like, and we’ll let you know if we decide to carry this product.

We offer the notify feature on all of the products up for voting, but Summer isn’t interested in an announcement.

It didn’t take long for Jana to step in and explain why these Birth Announcement Pillows would make great gifts.

Which of our top commenters do you agree with? We’d love to hear your opinions on these (and many more) potential products up for voting in our community voting app this week!

Design

Fresh, Clean Style

October 5, 2011

Artist Bo Jia developed an admiration for smooth lines and understated beauty by taking in traditional Chinese architecture and landscapes while spending time in the Chinese countryside as a youth. While living in China, he studied fine arts, learning both traditional Chinese decorative arts and Western painting techniques. These influences are clear in his latest designs, Porcelain Dish and Laundry Detergent Vases

These designs are a collaboration with his wife, Alison, who studied Chinese culture extensively. The couple aims to create designs that emphasis the beautiful craftsmanship involved in creating traditional Chinese ceramics, while bringing the art form to a new generation through modern design.

These striking vases are the perfect example of this modern execution of a traditional craft. The bold, colorful pieces are cast from actual detergent bottles. Although the vases are unique porcelain sculptures and have a coarse, unrefined texture–quite opposite of the texture of a plastic bottle–they embody well-known shapes.

Handmade in the Washington, D.C. area, Porcelain Dish and Laundry Detergent vases are now up for voting in our community voting app. If you love Bo and Alison’s ceramic bottles vote now.

Design

Quiz: What’s Your Design Style?

October 4, 2011

Sure, over the years you’ve developed your unique fashion sense.

But do you know what your interior design style is? These six images represent the work of some of our favorite pottery and ceramics designers. Pick the one that best matches your aesthetic, and see if you can match each picture with the designers and their signature styles, listed below!

Match each image with the corresponding description. Need a hint? Click on each artist to see more of their work.

1. Sleek and modern (Elan McPherson)
2. Organic and sculptural (Daina Platais)
3. Layered and mysterious (Whitney Smith)
4. Quirky and natural (Michael Terra)
5. Textural and timeless (Alice Goldsmith)
6. Subtle and clever (Jono Pandolfi)

So what’s your design style?

Maker Stories

Udon Noodles and Buddha Bowls

September 30, 2011

Our first ever Uncommon Ceramics Design Challenge is underway! You can enter your unique creations by Oct. 31 for a chance to win $500 and a vendor contract with UncommonGoods.

Since we’re so excited to see all of your entries, we couldn’t wait to start talking ceramics! Copywriter Nina Mozes got the conversation going with Élan McPherson to learn more about how the designer develops her sleek, functional pieces.

It’s immediately apparent to anyone who encounters Élan McPherson that she is an inspired artist who looks at lemons and sees lemonade. And if you’ve ever held one of her bowls and felt how perfectly it fits in your hands, you know that Élan’s artistic goal is to take ordinary objects and bring out the beauty and utility in them.

Maker Stories

Terra-bly Delightful Design

September 22, 2011

Ed. note: Next month we’re hosting a ceramics design challenge here at UncommonGoods, and we can’t wait to see all your beautiful, clever and unique creations. But ceramics can be a somewhat broad category. If you’re wondering what sorts of product entries we’re looking for– well, would it be fair to say everything? We love pottery and ceramics– plates, cups, vases, decorative objects, all of it. Especially pieces that make you start talking. And there’s no doubt that Michael Terra’s designs are conversation starters.

If you’re a frequent reader of our blog, check out our product stories, or subscribe to our emails, you’ve probably noticed that we don’t shy away from wordplay. So, when we heard that ceramicist Michael Terra’s new products were taking puns to the another level–the third dimension–we couldn’t resist.

“I like looking at what everyone else is doing and then look in another direction and look at what no one else is looking at,” Michael explains. “I love puns at any time, and as I was thinking about word conversions I realized that there was a multiple way of seeing/hearing the sounds of language that we use everyday.”

His Writer’s Block and Ceramic “Reading” Glasses play on the multiple ways we see and hear language.

Maker Stories

Pillow Talk

September 19, 2011

Ed. note. We’re pleased and excited to announce that Jono Pandolfi will be a guest judge for our Ceramics Design Challenge, coming soon. If you have dreams of selling your pottery or ceramics on UncommonGoods.com, get ready to enter!

A few years ago, Jono Pandolfi was working with Chef Daniel Humm at Eleven Madison Park, an upscale restaurant on Madison Avenue in New York City, collaborating on ways to present the food to accentuate its delicate nature. Although he was hard at work on some abstract designs, when the Pillow Plate popped into his head, he knew he was on to something.

“I pretty much abandoned all of the other ideas at that point, because I knew that the pillow would be perfect for what he wanted to do,” says Jono, who works in porcelain, ceramic, and silver in his New Jersey studio.

The Uncommon Life

What a Crock…of Compost!

April 14, 2011

Earth Month is in full swing, and we’re excited to see so many of our readers pledging to make positive changes!

The response to our Compost Crock Giveaway was fantastic, and we want to thank everyone who entered. Congratulations to our winners:

Jennifer, who won the Simplify crock with her Facebook pledge, says that she “Just started composting!!”

Candra posted her comment, “I already compost, and pledge to continue! I am really getting interested in vermiculture, and plan to start later this year, too” and won the Grow crock.

Speaking of vermiculture, take a look at our Worm Factory, and check out FindWorms.com to learn more!

Or go worm hunting on a rainy day with the help of the Blunt Umbrella. Not able to venture outdoors at the moment? Read up on some of the talented UncommonGoods artists helping to keep the planet green, like Beth Mueller, creator of the compost crocks, and Marty Stevens-Heebner, who’s recycled paper handbags are environmentally friendly and fashionable!

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