YogaGoat Pottery - New for your Trunk at Red Elephant Gallery!

A couple of friends and I were in Manhattan the end of September with a compact list of places to go during the short time we had. The new Museum of Art and Design at 2 Columbus Circle had finally opened and it was at the top of our list. Unfortunately we hadn’t planned far enough ahead so there was no way we were getting in to see the new facility but once the crowds cleared I was able to get a peak into the museum store. There, among all the gorgeous art glass, clay, wood and metal sat a beautiful red hyacinth bowl from YogaGoat Pottery.

Even though it would have stood out had I not been familiar with Amanda Ryznar’s work, we started carrying YogaGoat Pottery this summer, seeing it in this prestigious venue was a nice surprise. We first met Amanda this spring and once we saw what she was doing with bowls, plates, platters, and beautiful handcrafted vases—the exquisite design, the unique color, and the enticing texture – we knew we had to offer her functional handmade pottery to our customers. Here’s how Amanda explains the process:

First, the pieces are thrown on the wheel, either from white stoneware or porcelain. Any trimming is done, and attachments such as handles made, when the piece is "leather-hard". The colored slips are also applied at this stage. When the slips dry a little, Amanda draws through the slip down to the clay underneath. The excess slip is carved away. The piece is fired to 1800 degrees Fahrenheit, then coated in a clear glaze and fired again to 2380 degrees.

The process is rigorous, but the results are simply gorgeous. Please have a look at our YogaGoat inventory then try to decide which piece is your favorite. It’s excellent work and we hope you enjoy it.

Unique Gift ideas for this holiday season

We headed out to a show in Connecticut just as the sun was coming up over the river near our house. I put the mini-van in drive and pulled forward out of the driveway for three feet then stopped. I couldn’t see a thing. What I thought was dew on the windshield was in fact frost. The scraping windshield wipers’ telltale winter’s sound burrowed into my psyche that we are heading for winter here in the Northeast and it’s time to get prepared both physically and mentally.

The frost was gone in a few minutes time under pressure from the de-froster (clever name that) and we were on our way. But the frost started me thinking about Christmas and the timing of gift-buying. I am a practicing procrastinator so for me to be thinking about Christmas gifts before Halloween, is unheard of. The fact remains, however, that I was thinking about Christmas gifts as we unloaded our wares in New London. We bring a pretty good sample of what we have to offer to shows such as these and yes, the selection included great Christmas gifts.

Ornaments: We’ve got amazing ornaments from blown glass to ceramic. From see-through to opaque. From small to large. Click here and take a look!

Banks: These aren’t just any banks, these are the coolest, cutest, ceramic banks ever. Hippos, sheep, dinosaurs, aardvarks, and yes, of course, piggies.

Sushi sets: We have ceramic and glass versions of this popular gift item. They are cool and quite unique being individually handmade.

These are just a small sample of what’s available at the Red Elephant Gallery for you to buy for your family and friends this holiday season. We hope to see you on the site.

“Flying Buttress” Rattles from J. Davis Studio - Sometimes you just have to laugh.

There are many different factors to consider when shopping for the Red Elephant Gallery. Is the work exciting and creative, is it by a new or established artist, does it fit into one of the categories we focus on – Glass, Ceramics or Handcrafted Jewelry. While all of those are important things to consider in operating a profitable business, sometimes the reason to add an artist is somewhat less tangible. For instance, I know that if we decide not to purchase something but I am still thinking about the artist weeks or months later there was something special about the work and we just take the risk and add that artist. This was the case with the handcrafted jewelry by Willy Scholten of WillyWare. I had seen her collection at the Buyers Market but we were already over budget (no surprise) so we ooohed and aaaaahed but walked away empty handed. But I kept thinking about how ingenious it was to create jewelry out of materials that Silicon Valley discards every day and how gorgeous the pieces looked as jewelry. The next show she was one of the first new artists to be added to the gallery.

Also, it is rare that I will walk away from something that makes me burst out laughing…hence the addition of the “Flying Buttress” ceramic rattles from J. Davis Studio. Those little cellulite filled butts just made me laugh. So I bought them on the spot, no thought what so ever about the budget or if someone else would actually buy them. I didn’t really care. The fact that my girlfriends and I got to share a bottle of wine and many laughs while naming the little ladies was just icing on the cake.

Hope they make you laugh too!