Landscapes and Memory: The Inspiration Behind My Core Collection

The Year Begins: Tea Hills and Ocean Waves

The year began in India. In Munnar, I stood surrounded by tea-planted hills, their layered textures weaving themselves into my thoughts. Later, on a beach in Goa, where the sun set into the waves, painting the horizon in pink and grey hues, I felt the beginnings of something. These moments became the foundation for my Landscape Collection—a series of vases inspired by the gentle beauty of nature and the memories it evokes.

In this post, I’m reflecting on the places and moments that inspired this collection. Over the next few weeks, I’ll be sharing more about the journey behind my work this year—from the glaze techniques that bring these vases to life, to lessons from a Korean master potter, to what’s next for me as I dream bigger for 2024. Stay tuned for the chapters ahead!

The Sketchbook: Exploring Color and Tone

This year, I’ve embraced the sketchbook as a way to explore and loosen up. Returning to watercolor—my first medium as a child—helped me play with tones and textures that later found their way into my ceramics. The soft, sandy hues of pink and grey, layered with muted blues, became the foundation for the Landscape Collection. Sketching allowed me to explore the feeling of movement—waves lapping, hills rolling—and bring those ideas to life in clay.

Taking the Vase Back to the Beach

In August, on a trip back to Kenya, where I grew up, I took one of my Landscape vases to the beach. At sunrise, I placed it in the sand, watching gentle waves wash around it and the tones of the sky reflect down. This simple act felt like a homecoming for the vase and reinforced my deep connection to the beach—a place where I spent countless hours painting watercolors of the shore as a child. Those early sketches feel like a thread I’m picking up again, this time through clay.

Layers of Clay, Layers of Memory

In the studio, these memories come alive through the process of forming clay and layering glazes. The forms and textures of the Landscape vases echo waves lapping over sand or the rolling contours of the tea hills. The colors of sunrise and sunset—soft pinks, greys, and sandy hues—give the vases a sense of calm and connection. Each piece is unique, like a moment frozen in time, but they share a common rhythm, making them part of a core collection

Looking Ahead: Stories Still to Tell

This post is just the beginning of a series reflecting on my artistic journey this year. From glazing techniques and the unpredictable beauty of Raku firing to lessons learned from a Korean master potter, each story feeds into the collections I’ll share at my December 7th market and beyond. I hope you’ll follow along as I continue exploring, creating, and dreaming bigger.