My Love for Handmade Ceramics

I think I have always had a fondness for handmade pottery. Or maybe it came about by the fact that my brother, Gordon, has been making handmade ceramic tiles for over 30 years in Pt. Reyes California. He has a company called www.blueslidearttile.com  where he creates beautiful hand glazed tiles for the kitchen and bath. I have used his tiles in the bathrooms, kitchens and fireplaces in my various homes over the years.  Each time I move it is one of the most difficult things to part with! From a NYC apartment, to an old house in Greenwich Ct, to our newest beach house in the Hamptons, I have enjoyed being surrounded by his tiles for many years. (See my post last year under”BEACH” titled “The New Hamptons Cottage” to see the tiles in my kitchen and bath)

Lately Gordon has been turning his attention towards making some beautiful hand-built vases and containers. The forms and shapes are organic and distinctive, inspired by nature. Each one is unique, and can stand on it’s own in a special place, but they also work well in a small grouping. I love how the hand painted glazes are applied in light layers which gives each of them a wonderful watercolor feel.

Here are the open shelves in my new kitchen with a variety of ceramics and wooden object I have collected over the years.

Below is a close up of four of the vases that Gordon made which are on the top shelf.

Below are some of the vases in little still life vignettes that I created.

I love, love, love the beautiful watercolor aqua glaze and the fluid organic shape of this vase above.

This is the tallest vase above which has botanical elements that I think are so cool. Here is the vase in the late afternoon light of the kitchen.

This is one of the vases above incorporated into a photo of my lunch!

I love the “hand scribbling” on the base of this nubby vase.

Here is another nubby vase above against the backdrop of blueside art tiles near the kitchen window.

You can see the hand applied glazes on these two vases that are lightly rubbed to show some of the terracotta underneath.

These beautiful hand-built vases can be purchased through www.blueslidearttile.com