“Thousands of times, tens of thousands of times, it is this repetition that frees their hand from thought. It is this freedom that is the mother of all creation.”
Beauty of Everyday Things, Soetsu Yanagi
About my creative process.
I am driven to design pieces for different gestures and moods. I create with the principle “form follows function” in mind, but certainly I am also guided by my own “form follows a whim” principle. This means that my creative process is very intuitive and serendipitous. Ideas flow when my hands are immersed in clay, when I am thinking with my hands.
As a result of this, most of my favourite projects and pieces started as something entirely different. It is as if my brain produces more creative juices when I diverge from the path I was following initially. Here I want to highlight some examples of this and the story behind them.
From teapot to urn to biscuit jar.
A teapot pursuit was the origin of this piece. I thought the lid was too wide to make a functional teapot (a large area for the heat to escape from), so I decided to make it into a container of some sort. To my horror, I thought clay gods were suggesting I made an urn for a fluffy creature, but in denial I kept working on it (I am an obedient servant). My husband was the one who suggested I was making a biscuit jar. Of course, this chubby acorn-like vessel had to be an object of joy.
Criaturitas.
A cup with a very thin base—to which I decided I would add some legs and ears—gave me the opportunity to immerse myself in the world of these Criaturitas. It started with the idea of making a cat, and looking for images that would inspire the details of this creature, other animals followed: a bird, a fox, a bear, a zebra. All very minimalistic so to form a family, although, they all belong to different landscapes.
Orphaned plunger.
An orphaned coffee plunger from a broken French press became the spark to make this piece. It was an exciting challenge because so far, I had never had to calculate the shrinkage of a pot so it would fit once fired a metal component.
I am still waiting to come across another orphaned plunger to keep experimenting.
About my love for teapots.
I am driven to design pieces for different gestures and moods. I create with the principle “form follows function” in mind, but certainly I am also guided by “form follows a whim of my heart” principle. This means that my creative process is very intuitive and serendipitous. Ideas flow when my hands are immerse in medium, when I am thinking with my hands.
As a result of this, most of my favourite projects and pieces started being something entirely different. It is as if my brain produces more creative juices when for some reason, I need to diverge from the path I was following or external factors add exciting challenges. Here I want to highlight some examples of this and the story behind them.
The first one.
This was my first teapot and, up to this day, still a favourite of mine.
Genie lamp.
A carved rim to hold the lid it is probably the most intricate detail I have given to a teapot so far.
Scandinavian at heart.
I designed this teapot as a tribute to Scandinavian design.