This is a sponsored guest post by Julia from UncommonGoods.
Theres something beckoning about fresh clay. So much potential. This month at UncommonGoods, were hosting a Ceramics Design Challenge“”a chance for you to show us and our customers your potential for clay, porcelain and ceramic art.
One winner will receive $500 plus the opportunity to sell their work or license their design to UncommonGoods. Our guest judges, Jono Pandolfi and Alice Goldsmith are both skilled ceramic artists, and are looking forward to seeing your work.
Jono Pandolfi was inspired to design the luxurious pillow plate while working with Chef Daniel Humm of Eleven Madison Park. He knew right away what he wanted it to look like. But the path he took to get there was certainly unusual.”In order to create my original model, I filled a plastic bag with hardening plaster and let it set up completely, which gave me the realistic folds and creases,” he explains. “It took a few tries, but was much easier than carving a form like that out of clay.”Jono then used that model to create a delicate, almost airy, plate.
“I love the unpredictability of [the design process],” Jono says. “Especially when you are talking about ceramics. Clay as a medium offers some unexpected twists and turns. These can be infuriating, but they can also take you places you never thought youd go.”
Speaking of twists and turns, Alice Goldsmith is the perfect example of how theres no right way to become an artist. She started her career as a nurse, then entered the fashion industry. For a while she was a chef. And from there discovered her calling as a potter. Her pieces have a timeless quality to them”” you can use them every day and never outgrow their style. Alice plays with texture and experiments with handmade glazes. Each time you pick up one of her mugs, plates or bowls, you might notice a new facet of her design.
Alice and Jono, along with our Product Development Associate Sarah Stenseng, will select one ceramic artist to win the $500 prize and opportunity to sell on UncommonGoods. If youd like a chance to share your work with the UncommonGoods community, enter by October 31, 2011 at 11:59 PM ET.
About the author: Julia Marden is the Community Organizer at UncommonGoods. Find UncommonGoods on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.
