Discovering Rekha Goyal, a ceramic artist based in Mumbai, happened by accident. And I’m glad I did because her work is a treat to one’s eyes. When objects of everyday use take a different form through creative uses of shape, texture and color, what you get are lovely creations such as these.

Wouldn’t you love to pour water from this jug?

Wouldn’t it be nice if such items were retailed widely? We need a bigger platform for eco-friendly products.

If you are a pottery and ceramic art lover, then do hop over to Studio Karva by Rashi Jain. A former student of The Golden Bridge Pottery, Pondicherry, she has some interesting posts on firing clay.

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Rekha Goyal

Good afternoon everybody! With the rains making a guest appearance only on Monday, I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. It has been a busy weekend at “dress your home”, in literal sense. I can’t remember the last time we were involved as a family in a rigorous DIY activity. Friday saw me returning home with cans of fresh, bright paint. By Saturday afternoon,  we were in our muddy clothes holed up in the kid’s bedroom with newspapers sprawled on the floor and paint brushes in the hand. The job is still far from done, so you will have to wait for pictures But, I promise it will be a long post full of pictures with a step-by-step guide (about what? keep guessing!)

Before I started on the BIG project, I hand painted a terracotta pot on Thursday in one of my favorite colors - Turquoise.  I love Turquoise because its bright, cheerful and is a head-turner. Don’t you agree? ever since I painted one of the pots in this electric color, it’s taken away the attention from my other pots. It’s picture time now.

This was how it was before I started.

Earthen pot

After a night of immersing the pot in a bucket of water, it was ready to be painted the next morning. Earthenware absorb less color when left in water for a few hours.

Painted in Turquoise

The pot has a metallic shine to it as I’ve used pearl acrylic colors.

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I sincerely believe some of the best talent in this country lies hidden in the rural parts - away from the world because of minimal marketing and almost zero online presence. Treasures like intricate terracotta pottery, blue and white ceramics, large wood carvings or paintings on silk are sold at exorbitant prices in famous handicraft shops such as Poompuhar in Tamil Nadu or Cauvery in Bangalore. One thing typical of these folks is they are content with what they create, at the price they sell totally oblivious of how much money their creations make in the cities. So, it’s a pleasant surprise when I come across someone business savvy enough to at least make an attempt to reach out to the world by hiring a basic web designer to let us know they exist. And, that helps. I know there are many companies in the Western belt (primarily Rajasthan) who make a killing because they export in bulk. That’s organized business for them. I’m talking more about the talented, unorganized ones all around the country who have a hard time making a living.

I spotted these terracotta candle stands from RM Terracotta and was impressed by his product line. I called up the gentleman for a price list.  Though he has an e-mail address listed on the website, he insisted on sending the price list by speed post.  Never mind, I loved what I saw and had to share it..so here you go.  Yea, I have a weakness for anything pottery, ceramics … bright ones at that.

Candle Stands

Wall Hanging Vases

Look at the detailing in these wall hanging pots.. it’s more folksy. I’m not sure if he customizes for you but it would be nice to create a entire scene around the pot - like Worli art.

Candle Stands

Some more cute li’l candle stands.

Image Courtesy:

RM Teracotta

The spotlight of this week is turning out to be pottery. While scouting for brilliant handmade pottery, I came across the ones by Sara Paloma and instantly fell in love with it.

Sara Paloma, a potter based in Southern California, has been creating an exquisite range with fine lines for homes from 1995. Muted colors in tall oblong shapes define her range. She runs an etsy shop called Sara Paloma pottery. Her shop is well stocked. I picked out a few from her etsy shop that are my favorites:

3 small nesting bowls

These stoneware vases in different sizes complete the look of the table, but I think there are too many of them.

Stoneware vases

Maybe something like this would work. Can we have some houseplants too, please ? Just kidding..

Vases

While we are on the topic of etsy exploring this beautiful shop, I’m wondering if we have an equivalent in India? We should, shouldn’t we ? A place for artists to come together and trade their beautiful creations.
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Etsy shop