Thanks to Prairie Mud Studio for including me in her lovely prairie-themed treasury! It’s an honor to be included along with such lovely pieces.
If you’ve never explored the treasury feature of etsy.com, you’re in for a treat (or new addiction, if you’re like me). Etsy users post collections of their favorite handmade items, often centered around some sort of theme or color scheme. It’s a great way to shop — almost like having a curator for your shopping experience!
Last weekend I picked up a set of invitations that had been drying in the studio for the previous week. A couple decided my tablescape design would be perfect for their engagement dinner — and I have to agree!
Professor and pottery instructor at several colleges in St. Louis, Rachel is an exceedingly talented ceramicist. She is classically trained with a BFA from the Kansas City Art Institute and MFA from Ohio University in 2006.
Her softly curved thrown vessels are accentuated and decorated with soft lines of glaze or texture. The pieces are then finished in soft colors, which she hopes will “allow people to slow down, carefully examine and be peaceful.”
Throughout the historic parts of New Orleans, the streets are labeled with ceramic tiles embedded into the sidewalk. These beautiful antique tiles are the inspiration for Chris & Nicolle Psilos of nolatiles.com. The duo specializes in home decor items that bring a little bit of NOLA anywhere!
They agreed to share a bit about the business:
This whole thing really evolved out of our love for New Orleans. Using such a unique piece of the city as a basis for our work makes it extremely enjoyable to create our pieces.
Getting started was an extremely intimidating process because we really never considered ourselves “artists” and basically taught ourselves everything through trial and error. We spent lots of time researching many different processes until we decided on our final items: coasters, magnets, plaques and ornaments/displays.
Everything is created in our home and all “raw materials” (with the exception of the heavy duty magnet paper) is purchased over the counter at stores/markets around the city. The most crucial ingredient is the actual picture of the letter or number that we’re using at the time. We literally took thousands of pictures and filtered them down to about 50 or so different images that we use.
Even though we’ve only been at this for less than a year, I can say with confidence that we now do feel like “artists” and are working tirelessly to improve our items that we create!
Self-described as creepy and whimsical, Colleen of Loopy Boopy creates art dolls that are eerily beautiful. Each polymer clay piece is sculpted individually and only once — Colleen doesn’t even sketch them out first! She then adds embellishments, often vintage textiles, and finishes them with a little paint. Her inspiration comes from within — whatever her mood is that day — and from all around her — the amazing characters that make up New Orleans.
622 press | LETTERPRESS GOODS MADE BY HAND 