small talk with flowers
Notes on Practice + Inspiration
••Free Shipping over $250••
Notes on Practice + Inspiration
Oh man, welcome back! Thank you all for an incredible 2015! It was a huge year for Unurth and myself. Unurth became my main gig. Taking that leap is a scary thing for a ton of reasons! But, what I put in, I got out, and my little company is growing.
I am back in the studio, cleaning (hah! Because yeah, the holidays were like a tornado in my studio!), dreaming, planning, and I have a nice little path mapped out with room for serendipity to make an appearance. Here's what's coming up-
Shop Restock!: January 25th I'll have a fresh baked round of ready to ship wares in the shop. I'm loading up on all styles of my mugs, planters, and new favorite serving bowls.
Adventure: To reconnect with my muse and the earth, I have two little retreats planned in the coming weeks. To the desert and to the forest. The theme for January: Find the line. This is a technical month for me as I am reconnecting with my hand drawn work and watercolor painting. This work is close to my heart. I am eager to explore ways to bring this into Unurth.
This Year: Dig deeper. Looking back on 2015, I explored new textures + forms + designs. This year calls for pushing down those paths further. Explore new textures, new techniques to bring my line work and drawings in and keep pushing my vision further along its path! I am excited to reconnect with my drawings and bring those into Unurth's offerings. A collection of prints are on the horizon. My watercolors have been hollering from the corner at me for too long!
And more connection here. Some structured, some sketch notes, some poetry. Unurth is really a way to focus a huge passion and a wild muse. I am excited to share more of that with you, because this is a journey and it's only so fun without company!
Cheers to an amazing year ahead!
The studio is starting to shape up in a major way. We are just about moved in and now just fine-tuning it to get it ready for movement. Very exciting indeed.
GOOD STUFF TO SEE:
For your inspiration + perusal:
A-Roma, by Common Studio: The elegantly executed natural environmental project about the flora + fauna in Rome. The excavated and researched, distilling the essence of the place down to a scent.
If you haven't gone, you must see:
Pierre Huyghe at LACMA: A "living" retrospective of this artists work that uses installation, video, live environments, and much more to create a rhythmic experience of the art. Incredible. Take your time!
Working as an artist and designer requires consistent pushing forward in both concept + skill + efficiency. A couple things that I'm am absolutely loving:
There is so much on the immediate horizon. Unurth is moving studios to a much larger space + new equipment is on its way! Stay in touch on instagram to follow the journey: @unurthwonder
So, getting married is sort of a thing. It's an amazing thing- a little bit like a black hole in ways. It swirls and whirls and soon, that is all you can see as you get pulled into the vortex (of love, of course!).
We had an itsy bitsy budget, but gathered everyone we love around us to bring it together. It was truly a communal effort and I couldn't imagine it happening any other way.
Yes those are dinos + yes, I made those!
The result? An absolutely magical experience with all the best things and nothing forced. Best day ever. You can view a few more pics over on my photographer's blog: Shurie Jenai
.....
The summer has been quite light here at Unurth, but I am back in the saddle (or pottery stool as it were). I've got weekly shop updates on the horizon.
Are you on instagram? Check me out for everyday inspiration, studio insights, and shop updates! @unurthwonder
Light and love to all of you!
Serendipity was my friend on a recent trip to the bay area. I happened by a show with the gorgeous work of Katherine Rutter. Can I tell you, this is such delicate and lovely work. I am completely in love. She is an artist working out of Arkansas. Take a look!
Show unfortunately has passed, but you can view the rest of the work from the show here: Le Quivive Gallery. You can find her at her website + on instagram @kitrutter.
A couple weeks ago, I joined up with the amazing Alyson Iwamoto and we did our rounds of a couple local ceramic shows. It is so refreshing to get out of the studio and see art with friends. It always gets my wheels churning and I come back to my work with new eyes.
There is some great work to check out right now! Here are a few of the works that really resonated with me. It tended to be the work that was textural, told a story, or didn't necessarily fit in usual ceramic mold.
Scripps Annual : On view through April 6 in the Williamson Gallery at Scripps College
Gallery View, Multiple Artists
.....
AMOCA: In the Vault exhibit on view through March 30
There are many more great works to see- do go check them out if you are in the neighborhood! Both of these shows are very close to one another.
Caught in the action! I love to see my pieces in action. With my pieces, the finished objects are just a part of the story- the plant, the latte, the sweet sorbet that fill them bring the pieces to life in a truly magical way.
Check out these sent to me from happy owners of Unurth pieces:
Are you a happy Unurth owner? I would love to see where they ended up! Send me your photos to hello (at) unurthhome.com for a special discount on your next piece.
Have you come across Jill Aiko Yee's beautiful things yet? I met her at the Unique LA Holiday show this past year, although I have been eyeing her work for some time now. Jill is a fashion designer here in Los Angeles and fellow Otis alum. She cuts, sews, dyes all of her work in small batches.
She started her studio a couple years ago after a job with a local fashion designer came to end and has been making ever since. Connecting with her is both refreshing and inspiring. Her work shares similar color stories with my ceramic pieces and may be inspired by the same sunsets.
Her pieces, are full of light, life, and color. My favorites are her floating ombre dyed silks and her everyday creative work wear. Take a peek:
I could wear this piece everyday in the studio!
You can see more of Jill around the web:
Twitter: @jillaikoyee
Instagram: @jillaikoyee
This TED talk popped up on my radar and it struck a chord. While Modernism has its place and the style influences the creation of so many beautiful things, I feel it can hold object creation hostage. Objects are storytellers and have been throughout history. With every object I create for Unurth, the aim is to tell a little bit more of the story between ourselves and the earth- to create useful, yet evocative objects.
This curator's struggle to see the purpose in objects created purely for fancy led him to a realization-- Don't just live your fantasy life in front of screens.
Check it out>>
What role do objects play in your world? Are they purely utilitarian? Tell a larger part of your story? A sticking point?
The clearest way into the Universe is through a forest wilderness. -- John Muir
Everyone is picking words for their year- things to do better, do more of, or just be present for. Sure, the new year is just another day. There isn't really anything to differentiate it from any other, except the meaning we imbue it with. It could be the new year or the start of a month, but it is really just a line in the sand. My word is distill. Focus the vision, distill the ideas into a collection, un-distracted by each shiny object that passes.
This line always feels like a clean slate for me. Fresh air, fresh books, fresh season and the best..... fresh collection.
In a couple weeks Im off on retreat. Into the woods, with my clean slate a fresh sketchbook to go deep into the new object magic Unurth will be offering.
...
I am deliberately not doing a ton of prep as I lead to this, just starting to loosely define object parameters based on context of use and technique. But things keep popping across my path that I just can't ignore:
...Like this great article about creating a collection, or when not to create one by the creator of Bonobos, Andy Dunn:
"A great brand is a privilege, and it’s a privilege best earned through an item, not through a collection."
Interestingly relevant to my goals for the year, this article reinforces for me the notion to narrow, focus, and target.
Read more: https://medium.com/p/89390244c553
...These incredible images via Still blog. True to the aim of Unurth, Mary Jo Hoffman finds wonder and magic in the most everyday little things:
This old piece I have in my home and the pretty pattern play...
while visions of jewelry dances in my head....
What is getting you going in 2014? Are you focusing or expanding or neither? Happy Happy New Years!!
