Reasons to Buy Handmade Pottery: Rachel Brask

About Rachel:
"I am a Rhode Island abstract painter creating contemporary oil paintings of my impressions rainy days."
 
Do you collect handmade pottery?
​"I used to think that I only had a few pieces of handmade pottery, purchased from here and there. Then I actually collected all of them in one place and found that I now have to admit I have a habit: I collect handmade pottery."

Why do you buy handmade pottery?
"I’ve always had a compulsion to buy mugs, I love mugs. Back in college when I first knew artists that could make these beautiful ceramic mugs, I was always excited to make art trades with them for mugs, or buy direct from them to support them. Amongst my collection I have pottery by Lisa York, Paul Christiansen, and Cameo Lussier-Lawrence. I enjoy  buying handmade pottery for a few reasons. I appreciate how handcrafted mugs usually have more detail into the mold of how a person more comfortably holds the handle.  There’s something about certain ceramic mug that will spark something in me to want to take it home:  a color, texture, or the way it’s shaped.
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I also love to purchase pottery directly from the artist because then I get to know their story, and the story of the mug or bowl they create. Then when I drink my tea or coffee from these vessels, they remind me of a fellow artist, a friend, and I’ll wonder how they are now and what they’re up to today.  Since I am a visual artist, my painting sessions in the studio always start with a cup of black tea in one of my artisanal mugs, because I feel like the creativity that went into the making of that mug then sparks my own creativity in my next painting."
 

How did you acquire a Lisa York piece of pottery?
​"I met Lisa in college where we were both art majors and we became friends. I think I obtained some of my first few Lisa York originals through some small art trades, and in later years through her online shop or social media. It has been wonderful to keep in touch and to see where her beautiful handcrafted ceramic artistry is going, as well as to keep an eye on what else I want to buy of hers in the future.
I often like to start my fall mornings on the porch with a cup of tea in a Lisa York ceramic mug."

Learn more about Rachel check out her:
website, instagram, and facebook page. 

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