Gingell Ceramics-Handbuilt fucntional ceramics with attitude.

Wow we’re in Cambridge! How fancy. We’re thrilled to announce we’d been added by the very prestigious team at Modern Designer Furnishings. These folks can get you setup with the very best hand selected high-end designed furnishings. Only the best is presented and available for purchase. Wow and we’re part of it.

MDF Modern Designer Furnishings
19 Brattle Street
Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138
(617) 491-2789

This week I’m thinking about cups and how we interact with them. One project that I’m a big fan of is the Artstream Library.

ARTSTREAM Library

Artstream Nomadic Gallery is a 30 foot 1967 Airstream travel trailer remodeled into an exhibition space. Created in 2002 by potter Allegheny Meadows, the project places art into both physically and conceptually accessible contexts. Artstream has traveled the country from Los Angeles to Providence, Houston to Minneapolis, bringing contemporary ceramic art to street-side locations at museums, universities, art centers, farmers markets and ceramics conferences. The airstream, a gleaming icon of mid-century American design, attracts people who might not otherwise venture into a traditional museum or gallery. Artstream is staffed by artists who are represented in the exhibition, enabling patrons direct interaction with the makers of the objects.

I think the biggest thrill for me, besides making ceramics, is seeing others use the things I make…So I guess I should spend some more time thinking about how I interact with ceramics. I think mugs and plates that are unique and fun. Sometimes though, I just like a basic white plate.

“Creativity takes courage.”
-Henri Matisse

Man-o-man is that true. Don’t confuse courage with being unwise. I went to school for a very long time with not much financial benefit to show for the efforts. Though I did love it and ended up with two BFA degrees and one BA in Art History, but all in the arts – meaning not much financial benefit, perhaps not the best financial choice.

I was always very active in the arts scene while in school, but after graduation, basic financial survival came first. Looking back, if I could live my life over, student loans are not a wise choice for an art student. It’s been over ten years and I’ve now finally paid off my student loans and can get going with my art. Hooray!!

Today Starbucks offered free drip coffee to anyone who brought their own mug in to the store. So even though I’ve been off the bean for one month now, I’m going to get a drip coffee at Starbucks with a handmade mug in hand…and I brought a big one. Ya know I make them. I know I didn’t have to get coffee, that I could have got something else…but nothing else was free so there you have it…back on the bean for one day…

It was nice seeing others with their handmade mugs in hand..more than usual I’d say…not that I’m a regular at Starbucks. Hey Eric..I just heard about this free coffee thing and had to see for myself, really.

I dream of all the folks at Starbucks with my handmade mugs, guess I ought to give it a few decades, huh? Maybe not, I think the my labor is just too much. People don’t value (good or bad) that it takes an hour to make one single mug the way I make them. Hand made, formed, etc… Do you value that? Would you value that?

Again delicious. I’m not a big fan of raw oysters but prepared this way. At this point I have to mention Vancouver, BC and all the great All You Can Eat affordable sushi joints. I do love food. I guess I’m blogging about food images as I’m currently thinking about food and presentation and the role that our dishware plays in this.