Digitally Printed Ceramics And Porcelain By Alice Mara.

The next time you find yourself eating over the kitchen sink, the stove, dishwasher or washing machine, you may find that you're actually dining on one of Alice Mara's digitally printed ceramic plates.

She takes computer enhanced photographs of the urban landscape and objects and digitally prints them upon slip cast porcelain, ceramics and earthenware. The results are wonderful, witty and unique.

Available for purchase:

Plates (27cm x 27cm):







Matching Coasters:



Mugs:


Buy the above Alice Mara Ceramics here

Hanging People (porcelain tableware):





See the complete collection of her Hanging People tableware printed on fine bone china (and buy it if you like) at the Hidden Art Shop

Other pieces (no longer available for purchase, but of which I have long been a fan):










"My work is about the urban landscape.
Having lived in London most of my life I enjoy walking around the place and taking pictures of buildings that interest me. I recently completed a body of work depicting my local environment, Walthamstow, which involved cataloguing (sic) a nostalgic journey of familiar landmarks.

Using a computer, I enhanced the photographs to give them a fantastical, surreal appeal. I like the viewer to be able to recognise the environment that I choose to decorate the plates with, either through a sense of having visited the place or a general recognition of the London theme.

By placing these images onto plates, I transform the identity, function and value of the plate into a decorative work of art which becomes readable for the viewer." -Alice Mara


above: Alice Mara

In 2003 Alice successfully completed her Masters in Ceramics at the prestigious Royal College of Art. Since then she has shown work at many galleries including Canary Wharf, crafts council and the Richard Denis Gallery.

Ms. Mara has also been awarded the Queensbury Hunt prize for innovative use of ceramics and the Ella Doran prize for best new designer at ELDS.

Alice Mara
Archway Ceramics
410 Haven Mews
23 St Paul's Way
London
E3 4AG

Denmark's Anne Black Launches Her Ceramics & Jewelry In The U.S.

Copenhagen-based ceramist Anne Black graduated from Kolding School of Design in 1996 and was told to "go find a real job." Fifteen years later, she and her husband Jesper heads up a multi-million kroner enterprise with production facilities in Vietnam and a porcelain brand that's second only to Royal Copenhagen. Except Anne Black's contemporary and playful designs are entirely crafted by hand, using natural materials, and the company's approach is decidedly personal, fair trade and earth-friendly.



Now Denmark's top independent ceramic artist and designer, Anne Black has become a household brand name in Scandinavia and renowned across Europe. And so she is ready to take on the U.S.A.




With simple forms and delicate, understated graphical decorations, Anne Black creates unique and personal collections that are contemporary, yet classic, clean and distinctive. A product of the minimalist Scandinavian design tradition, the Anne Black collection includes jewelry, vases, cups, bowls, trays, knobs, and other home decor. Entirely manufactured by hand, using natural materials, each product reflects the designer’s respect for a classical material, porcelain, as well as an earth-friendly approach to production.

A few of her tabletop pieces from her varied collections:










And a glimpse at some of her jewelry which includes finger rings, earrings, necklaces and bracelets:





All design and concept development takes place in Copenhagen, where Anne Black is based. Today, products are manufactured by hand in Hanoi, Vietnam in a workshop developed in partnership with DANIDA, the Danish International Development Agency, and in accordance with fair trade agreements.

Shop Anne Black

For U.S. Sales and Marketing Contact: Tina Vennegaard, Terra Firma/Los Angeles at 310-745-1040 or by email at tina@terrafirmaagency.com.

The Hippest Gifts In Every Category For Everybody This Holiday Season.

Let me be your personal shopper this Holiday Season. Seriously.

I have spent the past several years creating specific shopping lists on the community shopcasting website This Next. The lists I have painstakingly compiled include images of the items, a description and a link to purchase, making it very easy for you to find and buy the perfect gift for just about anyone this holiday season.

My Christmas Gift To You.
You can benefit from the fact that I've already scoured the online (and offline) stores for the hippest items in tons of specific categories. The coolest products for designers, kids, pets, friends, fish-lovers, art-lovers, buddha-lovers, dog-lovers, gun-lovers, tattoo-lovers, graffiti-lovers, luxury lovers, casual acquaintances, signficant others and more. Home decor and furniture, technology and gadgets, piggy banks and jewelry... whatever you need, if it's hip, it's here.



From $10 items to $100,000 items, from trendy items to classic items, there's a total of 4,643 items to choose from, starting with the hippest holiday home decor.

Here's how it works. Click on the category below that interests you and you'll be taken to that list of items. Click on the name of the item that interests you and the screen will change to display that item. Lower down on that page it says : shop for this 'here' and you just click on that! Easy, peasy.

• MODERN CHRISTMAS DECOR (wreaths, trees, ornaments, etc) -205 items

Now, for the selections of gifts:

• PANTONE AND PANTONE-INSPIRED PRODUCTS (great for designers) -30 items

• SALUTING DESIGN: An Army Of Military Inspired Items - 35 items

• AQUARIUMS THAT ROCK: the coolest fish tanks - 40 items

• BUDDHA BOUNTY: All Things Buddha - 76 items

• MODERN DOLLHOUSES & ARCHITECTURAL MODELS - 44 items

• THE COOLEST WAYS TO WARM UP (candles, radiators, towel racks) - 131 items

• THE DISH ON DISHES (hip dinnerware and tableware) - 229 items

• EARTH-FRIENDLY AND ECO/ GREEN PRODUCTS - 87 items

• DIVINE DAMASK (home decor and products with damask patterns) - 72 items

• TAG, YOU'RE IT! (Graffiti inspired and related products) - 74 items

• WOOD WONDERLAND (wood furniture, toys and more) - 156 items

• GREAT GIFTS FOR GEEKS - 20 items

• REALLY ROMANTIC GIFTS -104 items

• FOR THE HIP BABY OR CHILD - 250 ITEMS

• LIST FOR LEGO LOVERS (Lego® everything) -50 items

• LIGHTEN UP (The best lighting and lamps) - 160 items

• MONDRIAN MADNESS (products inspired by Piet Mondrian) - 46 items

• ALVAR AALTO INSPIRED ITEMS - 14 items

• CHAIRS THAT ROCK (modern rocking chairs) - 56 items

• OBSCENELY DECADENT GIFTS (luxury products)- 60 items

• DEATH BECOMES YOU (over 160 things with Skulls) - 164 items

• FANCY FRIGGEN FLOORING AND RADICAL RUGS -163 items

• OUTDOOR ITEMS (from furniture to birdhouses) - 142 items

• HEDGEHOG HEYDAY (items inspired by Hedgehogs) - 33 items

• IF IT'S HIP & STICKS TO THE WALL (art and more home decor) - 180 items

• READY, SET...GLOW! (illuminated items and furniture) - 77 items

• CONTEMPORARY ART I WISH I COULD AFFORD - 117 items

• THE HIPPEST ANIMAL/PET STUFF (for both people and their pets) - 203 items

• TECHNOLOGY THAT ROCKS - 215 items

• TATTOO YOU. AND THIS. AND THAT. (tons of tattoo-related products) - 77 items

• HIP JEWELRY FOR MEN AND WOMEN - 216 items

• MODERN PIGGY BANKS OR MONEY BOXES - 65 items

• DIY STUFF FOR FRUSTRATED ARTISTS - 96 items

• PUT THAT DOWN, THAT'S MY GRANDMA! (modern cremation urns) - 27 items

• SHOP OR I'LL SHOOT! (gun-shaped products of all kinds) - 71 items

and lastly, many of the items that have been featured in this blog :

• IF IT'S HIP IT'S HERE - A list of items that celebrate design, functionality and art. Things to appreciate and admire. - 2056 items


Now, you have no excuse not to have found the perfect, or at the least the hippest, gift.

Palace Porcelain Stacking Tableware by Seletti's Selab + Alessandro Zambelli.

Fun and functional, this porcelain tableware is a collaboration between Seletti's Selab and Allessandro Zambelli.

When not in use the modular dinner plates, salad plates, soup bowls and smaller bowls stack up to create buildings, complete with roofs. Take them apart and they are six table settings of square dishes perfectly suited for eating upon.








* Size (individual dishes--all dishes are square):
* Dinner Plate: 8.6" dia x 1" t
* Small Plate: 6" dia x .8" t
* Soup Bowl: 7" dia x 1.6" t
* Small Bowl: 4.3" dia x 2" t
* Salt+Pepper 5" dia x 2.5" t

Buy them here