sometimes shop pix ☺

Sometimes Shop has come and gone, and here are a handful of photos Kaye took from before we sold almost everything. I don't think the photos even do it justice (sorry Kaye), it was really a beautiful little store filled with everything we love. Thank you, thank you to everyone who came out to our opening party or over the weekend, it was amazing to meet you and show our work in person.

We're already planning our next pop-up for the holidays in December, and until then you can find my ceramics in my new shop, shop.leahgoren.com. I'll be listing unsold pieces from the pop-up and brand new pieces in early July. And now, I'm off to Mexico & California! xx

black floral

A few sketchbook florals I liked so much I tried out a little ceramic dish in the same style.

white girls

a couple girls I built from white stoneware last time around in ceramics. I'm eventually working toward building a "dollhouse" or at least a whole room, furnished with chairs and rugs and girls and cats hanging out. Off to class now, I just started the fall session at Choplet last week.

OUI & Me

I've been a big fan of Angela Hodgkinson's line of ceramic candles, OUI, for a long time, and when she emailed me and asked if I wanted to work together on a special collection of hand-painted candles I was thrilled. In April she shipped me 12 blank, bisqued teacups, and I painted them and shipped them back to her in Oklahoma City. Shortly after I sent off the box the devastating tornadoes struck. Angela and I are both devoted cat moms (I'm huge fans of Hazel and Jacques on her Instagram), and we decided to give all proceeds from the sale of this collection to the Central Oklahoma Humane Society for their work rescuing, saving, housing, and placing pets during and since the devastating May tornadoes.

The collection is for sale here.

blue cat dishes

Here are the dishes I made based on my drawings from a couple posts ago. I also made little figurine versions that I'm waiting to come out of the kiln. You can buy one of these guys, and other ceramic pieces, in my shop here.

blue cats and more ceramics

Nothing you haven't seen before here. These are some sketches for cat-shaped dishes I'm thinking of making in ceramics. I've figured out another glazing technique that works well for the painted detail I'm after with a delft-like blue wash over a milky white glaze. Here's a test tile I made in this method:

It was pretty exciting to have something that's high fired come out well after weeks of failed attempts. All the successful pieces I've been making are low fired, so it's easier to paint detail, as glazes and oxides tend to run or react unexpectedly when the kiln is super hot. But this is working! The feel of the ceramic after it's high fired is also so satisfying, the clay is stronger and has a nice "tink!" when you tap it.

Boogie, Pam, and Truffle

Boogie, Pam, and Truffle are my friend Courtney's dogs. She runs a handmade shop called Napkin and sent me one of her amazing pom banners so I made her these mini ceramic figures of her dogs.
If you don't follow Courtney on Instagram you should. I also recommend Pam's personal account.

More on my pom banner: it says RICH BITCH, and hangs above my desk to help me stay motivated even when I'm making cat dress after cat dress to pay my overpriced Bushwick rent. I moved into a new studio recently, and I'll post photos soon when it's all set up.

Ceramics

I finally got around to photographing most of the 18 ceramic pieces I made at my mom's house back in December. There are a bunch listed in my shop here, and the rest have become gifts for friends or objects I can't bear to part with. It was incredibly fun to make all these, so very hands-on in a way that the other things I do aren't, and the final product is so satisfyingly solid and real. I'm taking a handbuilding class next month and I can't wait to make more.