ny gift fair

A big storm put a bit of a damper on the NY Gift Fair, but I still had a wonderful time, and met great people. My neighbors at the fair kept my spirits up, and the five days flew by, even though retailer traffic was somewhat slow. Gleena was picked up by stores in Pittsburgh, Seattle, Chicago, and Canada, to name just a few new locations. I’m excited to get the collections out to them. Thank you for all your support. Your feedback is what encourages me to keep on showing my work.

sunday, october 24th, gleena at sowa

click here for details
weather will be mostly sunny, in the upper 50’s.
* don’t you just love their graphics?

going to the NY Gift Fair, my first time

Many of you know that I left my full time job two years ago to focus on a career in ceramics. I can't say it's been easy, as I did this just as the Great Recession set in. But I thought, if I can survive during these tough financial times, my business is worth pursuing. It hasn't been easy, and has not been ceramics all the time. I had to supplement with freelancing graphic design, which I enjoy of course. And I have to say, all the work is paying off. Gleena has grown slowly, but steadily, with wonderful commissions from private clients as well as new stores ordering pieces.

I finally decided to make a huge leap and invest in a large trade show. This is my way of saying to the universe, "I want to do ceramics all the time!" I chose The NY Gift Fair due to the variety of vendors and buyers that assemble there. And I'm pretty excited, and a bit scared, to be a part of it. If you are in NYC that weekend, stop by my booth, No. 9103, it's all the way in the back, on the corner. I'll have some pretty postcards...

gleena open studio plus 10 great things to do around Providence/Pawtucket, RI

1. gleena’s organic bowls  2. Josh Silverman’s “Pawtucket turns me on” T-shirts.  3. Cynthia Treen’s wrapping cloths  4. Chelsea Bird’s silver and enamel jewelry

Please stop by and say hello at:

545 Pawtucket Avenue
Studio B202 (second floor)
Pawtucket, RI 02860
401 952 6361

Thursday, December 17 to
Monday, December 21
11am to 6pm 
other studios will be open in the building on Saturday and Sunday

All gleena pieces will be 10-20% off the gleena.com prices.

Also featured in my studio:
• Josh Silverman’s super soft “Pawtucket turns me on” T-shirts.
• Cynthia Treen’s wrapping cloths, as seen in her book, Last Minute Fabric Gifts
• Chelsea Bird’s delicate silver and enamel jewelry

As an incentive for the out of town visitors,

I have put together an itinerary for a great day trip:

Providence/Pawtucket is just 1 hour from Boston, and 3.5 hours from NYC
Best travel times are Saturday and Sunday mornings

FOR BRUNCH:
1. The Modern Diner 364 East Ave, Pawtucket, RI
affordable and yummy with items like cream-cheese-stuffed french toast topped with blueberries
2. Seven Stars Bakery
the best decaf latte ever, and the best raspberry danish, plus oh so tasty locally baked bread to take back home with you

FOR AFTER BRUNCH:
3. Studio Hop, just up the street from Seven Stars,
810 Hope Street, Providence, RI
filled with local artists’ works, gorgeous jewelry, and very reasonably priced Danish Modern furniture
4. Krietelier, a few doors down from Studio Hop
run by two lovely talented ladies with a great eye for textiles, tell them I say hello
5. Hope Artiste Village Farmer’s Market
where all the locals get their local produce, including cheese and very tasty ice cream
6. Heir, downtown Providence,
a must visit for the pure aesthetic joy of being somewhere completely extraordinary
7. RISD Works, at the RISD museum galleries,
a beautiful showcase of the talent that RISD nurtures, the museum is good too

FOR DINNER:
9. Ran Zan
simple, good, Sushi, at the very best price
10. Chez Pasqal
my favorite restaurant where the service is always impeccable, the food is amazing, also great for a drink at the bar
The Blackstone Boulevard offers a lovely after-dinner walk right outside the door of both restaurants

astronomy plates, at the RISD Alumni Sale Saturday, Dec. 12th, 10am to 5pm

Visit me at the RISD Alumni Holiday Sale this Saturday, from 10am to 5pm. Among other gleena items, I will be showing my Astronomy, Math & Weather series, which first debuted at farm, in Wellfleet, this summer.

The Alumni sale is at the Providence Convention Center, Downtown Providence, RI. Click here for details.

big thank you to Martha Stewart Crafts for a fantastic sale event

This past Saturday I participated in the Martha Stewart Holiday Craft Sale. For the first time, Martha Stewart doors opened to the public. Organized by the talented crafters who create exquisite beauty in the magazine month after month, the event was a smashing success, filled with crowds until just about closing time. I wanted to share some of my favorite moments and vendors.

I loved this display of the December Living issue, blown up to life-size.

The Sweets Shop was enticing, the packaging lovely as usual.

The crowds kept coming, with a line snaking down W. 26th Street.

My favorite items from the sale, beautifully crafted pins and earrings by Athena Preston, a senior craft editor.

Marcie McGoldrick makes elegant, delicate porcelain tableware. You can see Marcie and Athena’s work this Sunday, Dec. 13th, at the Divine Studio Holiday Sale, 21 E. 4th St., 6th Floor, NYC, 11am-6pm.

These are fantastic! Hand assembled ornaments and figurines with sweet Victorian faces. Vintage by Crystal

My friends Liz and Quy have the most discerning, knowledgeable eyes when hunting for antique treasures. I am constantly inspired by ceramic pieces they find, like this beautiful silverware platter. Check out their freshly launched website for more inspiration: bowerantiques.com.

Perfect delicate hair ornaments, by Handle & Spout.

My lovely Holiday Sale neighbor, Sophie, makes these labor intensive, gorgeous button necklaces. Contact sophie.nicolay@gmail.com for details.

I had to purchase one of these sweet money purses from JeanOnJean, check out her blog for info: JeanOnJean.

My porcelain ornaments debuted, though everyone thought they were necklaces. Perhaps they should be?

It was a super fun day, filled with catching up with old friends, and meeting new ones, like Cindy from Quaint Handmade (yeay). Thank you everyone for stopping by, especially Leslie and Jen who bought lunch!

The Brooklyn Flea Gifted Show in Manhattan, a must visit

Click here to view a super fun Good Day NY TV segment about this wonderful event. You can catch a glimpse of my booth in the back right-hand corner when the news anchor models an A.S.I.S. knit hat: gleena's 1/2 second of TV fame! In case you blinked and missed it, here is a close up:

My new Circus Font plates debuted:

I highly recommend Gifted if you are in Manhattan. I got through half of my holiday shopping list, and did not spend a fortune. The show runs through Dec. 24th, Wed-Sun, noon-7pm. About twenty vendors are there for the whole month, and thirty vendors rotate in and out. So go back weekly to see new stuff!

risd alumni+student sale today

click here for directions and details

visit my brand new red tent at the brooklyn flea

Click here for directions.

under the brooklyn bridge

The Brooklyn Flea under the Brooklyn Bridge is my coolest sale location to date. The day was beautiful, and not too hot. The bridge was right above our heads, and there is also a fantastic view of the Manhattan Bridge, which does not get enough attention, I think.




A big thank you to Deb (in pics above with her beautiful jewelry) from Bonbon Oiseau for sharing her booth with me. The day flew by in excellent conversation and steady sales.




Deb made gorgeous necklaces with gleena porcelain pendants, and I am a proud owner of one. It has such a good weight to it, and the length is perfect. The necklaces will be posted on gleenashop shortly, and Deb and I will be giving one away in a few weeks. Stay tuned for details. And visit Deb's blog entry about our day here.

flowers and tents at rosecliff mansion

Flowers and foliage on exhibit at the Newport Flower Show.

The Newport Flower Show is being held at Rosecliff, in whose ballroom The Great Gatsby (1974) was filmed. The location is stunning, and my view from the booth is of white tents and the ocean. After a stormy Friday (lightning and thunder), today was gorgeous. The sun dried the lawn in the morning, and in the afternoon, the fog rolling in off the water cooled things off. A three day sale is tough, but this location makes it so much easier. I take frequent breaks to look at the many many incredible flowers and arrangements on display. Click on the images for a larger view of the loveliness.

The back lawn overlooking the ocean, dotted with vendor tents.



The facade of Rosecliff, designed by McKim, Meade and White


The ominous sky right before the thunderstorm on Friday.

a great day at the flea

It was the perfect day at The Brooklyn Flea in Fort Green yesterday. A little bit overcast, with the temperature hovering around 70. Again I was surrounded by wonderful neighbors, saw some old friends and made new ones. It was such a good collection of vendors, handmade items mixed in with traditional flea finds. The crowd seemed to be in the mood to shop, which always makes it fun.

Thank you to Rob and Eric, the super organized organizers of this must visit event, for a nice write up in the Brooklyn Flea blog. I had such great traffic at my table as a result.

I did a bit of shopping myself, and scored with this stunning necklace made of antique glass beads from Bonbon Oiseau.

I feel very fortunate that Deb, the talent behind the gorgeous jewelry, wanted to trade for some of my pieces. That is my favorite kind of shopping.

Here are some inspiring displays and pieces I saw during my walk around the Flea (click on each image for a larger view). I recommend a visit of your own.

I want the red Mary Janes in the top row.

Great metal storage bins.

I want a series of these haunting abandoned toy images.

A beautifully rusted cake pan.

Yummy blocks of soap in a gorgeous display.

Inspiring graphic tins.

Great pattern on vintage cups. I love the way they stack.

How fun would it be to do a business card this way?

Beautiful tinted milk glass, can ceramics be glazed like this?

a springy day for a spring sale

Yesterday ended up to be the perfect day for the annual RISD Alumni Spring Sale. Early morning threatened rain, but by noon, the sun peaked out and everyone's moods lifted. I very much enjoy these sales, they are so well organized by the ever patient Alan Tracy and his crew of helpful assistants. It is a time to catch up with old friends and to welcome repeat customers, many of whom tell me that they had breakfast or tea out of my pieces that morning. It makes me happy to hear that.

Cynthia Treen generously shared her table with me, and it was such a pleasure to spend the day in her cheerful company. Hours flew by in good conversation and steady selling. Cindy was selling her gorgeous skirts, her choice of patterns and color combinations are just stunning. I walked away with three that were on sale, a deal of the season. Here are a few tasty samples of Cindy's work.




Claudia Middendorf stopped by (check out her new Etsy store, Mathilde!), purchased a French-inspired skirt from Cindy, and brought us lunch. It was a completely delightful day, tainted only by my cell phone walking away with someone who took a liking to it. Oh well.

at the brooklyn flea

This past Saturday I was one of the vendors at the Brooklyn Flea, which takes place every weekend in Fort Green and Dumbo. It was a gorgeous first warm day of spring, and New Yorkers came out in droves. It was prime people watching as well as sun worshiping. I saw many carrying cool looking old things under their arms. The lines for food snaked through the market. Many hung out on the school steps and socialized. Kids were everywhere.

I think a lot of shoppers were surprised to see me there. One woman asked me where did all this ceramics come from, and when I told her I make it, her eyebrows shot up. Because it is technically a "flea" market, most don't expect handmade new things there. Everyone is looking for a bargain, and as one British gentleman told me, my price for one cup was beyond his budget. I liked his accent, though.

At the same time I met so many wonderful people and received many compliments. Over a hundred people took my card. One customer, who lives in the neighborhood, saw me in the morning, and then after looking up my website, came back in the afternoon and purchased two bowls. She told me she thought of me as she was gardening and had to come back.

I also had super nice neighbors: Deb from Bon Bon Oiseau, whose necklaces I adore, on one side, and Ashley and Jim selling great old finds on the other. They cheered me and helped me throughout the day. My best sellers were the small bowls and the dessert bowls, which I will bring more of when I come again in May. I saw old friends, met new ones, and got a little bit of a tan. I'm bummed that I forgot my camera, Alec and I rushed out of the house in the morning to set up, but there will be a next time.

despite the economy

I just finished with my rounds of holiday sales. I was expecting sales to be not so good, planning on worse case scenarios like moving in with my parents. Thankfully, those plans will have to wait. I sold enough of my work to carry me through for another month. In these uncertain times, another month is about all one can plan for.

I have to say that since quitting my full-time job, time has slowed way down. Weeks used to fly by at Body+Soul. We worked three months ahead, designing the Christmas Holiday issue in August, creating a wacky time-warp. By the time actual holidays would arrive, I felt like I celebrated them three months ago. I was never living in the present. I guess that's why time seems slower, now that I am dealing with real time events. I like it.

Overall the sales were a lot of fun. Lots of friends stopped by, and great friends helped me out. Claudia Middendorf was kind enough to lend a hand at the RISD Alumni sale. Claudia is a Renaissance woman: an incredible graphic designer, as well as an inspiring painter, drawer, collage maker, and fashionista. Here she is modeling my wares:


After packing up the RISD sale, bright and early on Sunday morning I headed to NYC, taking part in the Annual Holiday Craft Sale at Divine Studios. Talented style editors from Martha Stewart display their creations alongside many other local crafters. It is such an inspiring collection of work, and many Martha Stewart ex-pats as well as current employees stop by. It is a day filled with reunions and visits. Here is what my table looked like:


Deciding on some down time, I spent Monday browsing around NYC, looking for gifts. I received an email from Lotta Jansdotter's studio, inviting me to stop by her workspace. Everything was marked 50% off. Since I was in Brooklyn already, I drove to the Gawanus area to check out Lotta's studio and her work, which I have admired for years. Lotta herself was there, ever cheerful and friendly, and we compared notes on the sale at Divine Studios, where she was also selling. She was a bit disappointed with her sales that day, but it looked like she was making up for it. There was a tower of boxes being shipped out after a rain of online orders. I purchased a very pretty pillow, a gorgeous bag, and a baby bib and doggy. Overall it was an encouraging holiday sales season, despite the economy.