Today, we bring you a giveaway from SouleMama Sponsor, Gleena Ceramics. In Asya's words:
"“gleena” means “clay” in Russian. All gleena tableware pieces are porcelain and are handmade from scratch by Asya Palatova in her studio in Pawtucket, RI. Asya mixes her own porcelain and glazes using non-toxic and food-safe minerals.
Originally from St. Petersburg, Russia, Asya spent her early childhood summers at her family dacha, a Russian country house. Surrounded by family, friends, and her grandmother’s carefully tended gardens and apple trees, the dacha is a source of endless inspiration for Asya’s organic shapes and colors. Here is a link to some of the photos from that time."
SouleMama: How long have you been in business?
Asya : I started taking evening ceramics classes while getting an undergraduate graphic design degree in the early 90’s. After practicing graphic design in NYC for about ten years, I decided to get a masters degree with a ceramics concentration at RISD. I still took on graphic design projects for about 6 years after graduating RISD, but ceramics became my full time business in 2010. This is my third year running my own business, and it slowly gets bigger and better every year.
SouleMama: Tell us what you envision and dream for the future of your business.
Asya: When I began taking classes in ceramics back in the 90’s, I was making sculptural forms, large hand-built pieces. My graduate thesis was primarily sculptural, and I would love to find time in the future to get back to making those forms. It will be interesting to see what kind of pieces will emerge as I start hand-building with coils again. Though I love the slip-casting process I use on my tableware, there is something very meditative about building large shapes with coils. It is a much slower process.
SouleMama: What inspires you?
Asya: I am constantly inspired by petals, leaves, seeds, pods, shells, stones, insects, birds, animals. I am concerned about how much damage humans inflict on the natural world, and my pieces are my small way of keeping humans aware of the creatures and plants we share our planet with.
SouleMama: If you could spend a day with any crafter/artist who would it be and why?
Asya: I would love to spend a day with Georgia O’Keefe in her studio, Ghost Ranch, in New Mexico. O’Keefe traveled throughout the southwest, and collected pieces of bone, stone, and plants for inspiration.
For today's giveaway, Gleena Ceramics is generously offering the following THREE gifts to today's winners:
Winner #1: pink giraffe tumbler: porcelain, holds 14oz of liquid, is great for coffee, tea or any other beverage, glazed inside and out, food and dishwasher safe.
Winner #2: blue hummingbird tumbler: porcelain, holds 16oz of liquid, is great for coffee, tea or any other beverage, glazed inside and out, food and dishwasher safe.
Winner #3: pink salt cellar: porcelain, glazed inside and out, food and dishwasher safe
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To
enter today's giveaway, please leave a comment (one entry per person,
please) in today's post. I'll close comments by 8:00am EST on Monday, and
announce the winners, chosen via Random Number Generator, shortly after. Comments closed! The winners are...
How perfectly beautiful .... i love the giraffe
Posted by: mamaWren
Such enchanting photos from Asya's childhood summers...obviously some of
that magic has been infused into her beautifully crafted ceramic
pieces.
Posted by: Trina-Lea Briggs
Oh, yes please. Yes, please!
Posted by: Notes From The Frugal Trenches
Thank you, Gleena Ceramics!
