Student Projects in Porcelain. Manufactured by Bernardaud.

From the 18th to the 22nd this past April 2007, as part of the Milan Furniture Fair, the Fondation d’entreprise Bernardaud and the ECAL-Ecole cantonale d’art de Lausanne University of Art and Design Lausanne presented (at the Grand Hôtel et de Milan) projects in porcelain by students produced by the Bernardaud Factory.

These projects were selected following a workshop run by Alexis Georgacopoulos, head of the Industrial Design department of the ECAL, and Augustin Scott de Martinville, a professor at the ECAL.
 
“The idea initially was to look again at the traditional image of porcelain, which tends to be associated with tableware, by integrating it in different ways into the day-to-day environment,” explains Alexis Georgacopoulos. Students rose to the challenge by designing a range of varied and original objects: finely sculpted dominoes, a vase consisting of stacked plates, a chandelier with eight hundred small porcelain discs exploiting the material’s transparency, an enamelled cone in which to enjoy an ice-cream, four vases transformed into loudspeakers around an ingenious acoustic system… With humour, elegance, poetry and bravado, each piece questions lifestyles while subtly integrating the manufacturing constraints of porcelain.

The mission of the Fondation d’entreprise Bernardaud, set up in 2003 by Michel Bernardaud, is to renew the way porcelain is perceived. Based in Limoges, it invites designers of all nationalities from around the globe to re-invent this material, to generate bold interactions, to explore new territory and ultimately to find new uses for this material. “We have been delighted with this collaboration which combines innovation and know-how and greatly appreciated the fact that the ECAL, one of the most prestigious design schools, wished to conduct a study of this still largely unappreciated material…” explains Hélène Huret, the Fondation’s director.











“Carte Blanche”
Private viewing was Tuesday 17 April 2007 from 7pm “Au Grand Hôtel et de Milan”,
Sala Verdi, (1st floor), via Manzoni 29, 20121 Milan.
Exhibition ran from 18 to 22 April 2007 (11am to 8pm).

This exhibition is supported by the University of Applied Sciences Western Switzerland (HES-SO) and the Economic Development unit of the Vaud Canton
High-definition images available from the sites www.ecal.ch or www.bernardaud.fr, and on CD-ROM on request.

Information:
Ecole cantonale d’art de Lausanne
4, avenue de l’Elysée
CH-1006 Lausanne
Tel +41 (0)21 316 99 33
Fax +41 (0)21 616 39 91
E-mail pierre.keller@ecal.ch
www.ecal.ch

Fondation d’entreprise Bernardaud
11, rue Royale
F-75008 Paris
Tel +33(0)1 43 12 52 06
Fax +33 (0) 1 43 12 52 01
Press e-mail: sdufresne@bernardaud.fr
www.bernardaud.fr

Personal Porcelain Plates (My Private Sky): The Ultimate in Custom Gifting

Clemens Weisshaar and Reed Kram have designed a limited-edition set of parametric hand made and hand painted dinner plates for Porzellan Manufaktur Nymphenburg titled MY PRIVATE SKY. The project represents the ultimate in personalization: each set shows the night sky at the date and place of birth of the buyer.

When a buyer orders his set of plates he gives his date and place of birth. The buyer's personal night sky map is then calculated by a custom computer program and printed onto a set of blueprints followed by Nymphenburg's master porcelain painters. Each set of dinner plates involves the hand-painting of some 500 stars, nebulae, planets and constellations in gold and platinum.

A thorough analysis of the traditional methods at Nymphenburg, the Bavarian Kings' former porcelain manufacturer, turned the designers' attention towards utilizing and manipulating centuries old processes in a contemporary context. By designing a program rather than a single drawing, the designers combine the excellence of the master porcelain painters at Nymphenburg with the potential of custom-developed computer code.

Nymphenburg will issue an edition of 100+10 unique copies of MY PRIVATE SKY.

More images below:



You can view/download the press release here

It's White. It's Wood. It's Wonderful.

It's also long been known loosely as 'faux bois'. Belleek (the irish porcelain maker) had a series of glazed white tree trunk vases long before Roost was ever in business. But that doesn't stop these simulated trees, branches, bark and wood grain items from being in every hip tabletop and accessory store out there.


above: The Ted Muehling designed Bark vase for Nymphenburg Porcelain

The blending of inorganic materials into organic shapes is one of my favorite art forms.

Roost is company that has a log and driftwood collection (they have birds and leaves and mushrooms too) made of white porcelain.

And Nymphenburg Porcelain of Germany has Ted Muehling designed branch vases and candlesticks in white. Both are stunning and are available in different prices and sizes from the stores below.

As well as some other lesser known, but equally as beautiful, products.

From Jayson Home and Garden:



Click here to order

From Rose and Radish:

Nymphenburg's porcelain vase by Ted Meuhling available here.

Or Ted Muehling's Branch Vase with Moss, available at Moss, online for $845.00 USD:




And Roost makes a series of log vases and accessories:

Available by clicking here

And the Curiosity Shoppe seems to have the same log vase in size medium (Jayson carries the large and small):

Only 40.00 here.

And lovely white branch candlesticks by Ted Meuhling available at ER Butler:

Buy them here.

Porcelain driftwood votive from Sprout Home:

Only $15.75 here.

And Greener Grass Design also carries the driftwood vase and votive, but a bowl too!:

buy them here.

The Burls collection of subtle wood grain relief platters and dishes in Oyster are beautiful too!:



Buy them here.

Also commonly referred to as Faux Bois, this tableware is from Room Service:

buy it here.

And this faux bois bowl is on sale right now at Gumps for $34:

...and these faux bois votives are on sale for 19$ for the set of three:

buy them here.

And Ty Travis of Stonewater Studios on etsy has some faux bois products as well:


And lastly, more subtle, but still beautiful are Coe and Waito's Bark vases:

Buy them here.

Alice Mara combines Photography & Ceramics

Alice Mara creates earthenware or slip cast porcelain that then has digitally printed images upon it, making it both beautiful and functional.




Above: Blue Skyscraper Plate

In her own words:

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 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.

Here are just a few of her pieces:



Above: Her "Hanging People" Bowls

Above: Purple Bridge Plate




Alice Mara's contact details:
Archway Ceramics, 410 Haven Mews, 23 St Paul's Way, London E3 4AG
T: 020 8925 1706 M: 07841 574 699 E: alicemara@hotmail.com

the Dish on Dishes

As June gets closer, engaged couples are preparing their wedding registries and people everywhere start looking at dishes a little differently.

Perhaps I can help. Below are 54 different dishes that are all available for purchase. Ranging greatly in price and style, you just have to click on the image below to get more information and to buy them.

Some are limited editions, some are melamine, most are beautiful.

Happy clicking!

Just click on image above for more information and the place of purchase.

Not Your Grandmother's Lladro (Thank God)

above: Jaime Hayon's Clown lamp for Lladro.

I've been known to describe my own personal hell as having to spend eternity in a room decorated with LeRoy Neiman paintings and Lladro sculptures, as Dixieland music plays and I am made to to eat Ambrosia Fruit Salad.


above left: Ambrosia Fruit Salad, right: LeRoy Neiman's Tiger

But every once in awhile I am forced to reevaluate my own strongly stated opinions. Lladro's 2007 spring collection has me rethinking my previously formed opinion of this highly popular, ridiculously overpriced line of decorative figurines.

Below is a picture of Lladro's "A Grand Adventure", priced at $34,000.00


Now, don't get me wrong. I still can't stand the majority of their muted-colored elongated people frozen in sappy moments illustrating bygone stereotypes of professions and family roles. While I can respect the craftsmanship, I simply can't stand neither the style nor the subject of their 'collectibles'. You'd actually have to pay me MORE than the price tag to display their $34,000 "A Grand Adventure" train scene in my home.

But Bodo Sperlein's Re-cyclos Collection, new this spring, is not the Lladro I grew to know and hate. (By the way, Bodo Sperlein designed the ever-popular omnipresent blog favorite Red Berry China Collection, some pieces of which can be seen below):




The Lladro 2007 Re-cyclos Collection, to be released this Spring, is created in porcelain with matte white and/or black finishes. The pieces are fundamentally modern in their design and are functional as opposed to decorative. The bottle stoppers, hanging lights, wall sconces, bud vases, jewelry and candle holders are sensuous in form and feel, and frankly (dare I say it) attractive.

Don't believe me? See for yourself:


above: bird ring from Lladro's 2007 spring collection


above: candle holder from Lladro's 2007 spring collection


above: Buddha HeadII from Lladro's 2007 spring collection


above: Winged wall sconce from Lladro's 2007 spring collection


above: Butterfly chandelier from Lladro's 2007 spring collection

above: Bird cuff links, porcelain and sterling silver, from Lladro's 2007 spring collection

above: Flower tapestry bud vase from Lladro's 2007 spring collection

above: Butterfly pendant lamp from Lladro's 2007 spring collection

above: Open necklace, 18k over sterling and porcelain, from Lladro's 2007 spring collection


above: Bacchus Ram bottle stopper from Lladro's 2007 spring collection
So, I guess from this day forth I will have to describe my own personal hell as being forced to eat Ambrosia Fruit Salad while listening to Dixieland, held captive in a room decorated with LeRoy Neiman Paintings and.... Hummel Figurine


UPDATE:
Since this post, Lladro has continued to contemporize their line with the RE: Deco line and wonderful works by Jaime Hayon and other contemporary sculptors and designers:





Visit the entire collection of Lladro here.