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Tag: Studio Visit

  • Danya Ahmed’s Gray Gardens Plant Studio: Stunning Hand-Crafted Concrete Planters by the Lebanese Artist

    Danya Ahmed’s Gray Gardens Plant Studio: Stunning Hand-Crafted Concrete Planters by the Lebanese Artist

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    I’ve been on the hunt for artful vases all summer—and I think I may have just found the perfect ones. When I spotted the work of artist Danya Ahmed, of Gray Gardens Plant Studio, I was immediately captivated and needed to learn more. Originally from the US, Danya relocated to her ancestral homeland of Lebanon, where she now handcrafts stunning sculptural vases, planters, and bowls that embrace raw and brutalist elements.

    Have a look with me.

    Photography courtesy of Gray Gardens Plant Studio.

    Above: You can choose between horizontal, vertical, or natural texture, as well as one of seven colors (pictured is Brick). All Vases hold water for fresh flowers; $190.

    While you might think these pieces are ceramic, they are, in fact, made from glass fiber reinforced concrete. This material allows for the added height and width, plus the weight of the material helps anchor taller and more unwieldy arrangements (think: branches).

    Danya
    Above: Danya’s background is in fine arts, with a BA in drawing and sculpture and an MFA in fibers and textiles. “While I wasn’t trained specifically in pottery, I guess you can say I had a strong training in motor-muscle creation, crafting things by hand.” These Bucket Planters start at $98.

    Danya approaches concrete much like one would with clay, forming and sculpting it by hand. “Combining the strength of the material, with the sensitivity of the hand, each piece is imbued with its own energy. The vases are a great example of this strength and sensitivity. They have the hand-formed, tactile marks of the maker and their softness is balanced by their weighted down, brute strength,” she says.

    Terra Planters are available in a host of sizes; from $398.
    Above: Terra Planters are available in a host of sizes; from $398.

    When Danya finally started Gray Gardens, she focused on potted plants. “I was making the planters and also planting in them, the pot and the plant were one entity. Creating the planters, playing with the material, texture, shape, proportion and color, as they all combined in relation to the plant was quite exciting for me. It was fun to create for, and respond to, a living thing—something already in existence and natural. Essentially combining my two favorite things, nature and plants, with hand-crafted sculpture; playing with the form of the tree in relation to the planter and vice versa.”

    Danya working on a custom oversized piece.
    Above: Danya working on a custom oversized piece.

    The color palette used in all the work is ten years in the making. After much experimenting and trying out new colors and putting them in context with plants, she still continues to explore. “I introduce new colors seasonally,” she says. “And these stay in production for shorter periods of time, as something fun to play with.”

    Danya
    Above: Danya’s planters can be used indoors or outdoors and each comes with drainage holes. Photograph by Tanya Traboulsi.

    You can find Danya’s wares online at www.graygardens.co/shop.

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  • Guy Wolff Pottery: A Glimpse into the Master Potter’s Studio and Shop in Bantam, CT

    Guy Wolff Pottery: A Glimpse into the Master Potter’s Studio and Shop in Bantam, CT

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    While Guy describes his work as “historical fiction” loosely inspired by the pottery from the past, with no two pots identical, Ben says he wanted to make simple, classic forms, and strives for almost machine-like consistency in his handmade pots; his signature clay hues are a minimalist gray and pure white. 

    Above: Ben Wolff’s grey clay pots on display.

    Through an open door at the back of the original 18th-century building, customers will glimpse the studio, where the Wolffs’ pots are thrown and fired. While Ben maintains his own studio in nearby Goshen, he comes to the Bantam shop and studio most days to throw pots there. “Otherwise, we’d never see each other,” he jokes. (The senior Wolff’s home sits just up the hill from the studio, so his commute is minimal.)

    Father and son, Ben Wolff (left) and Guy Wolff (right), stand outside their shop.
    Above: Father and son, Ben Wolff (left) and Guy Wolff (right), stand outside their shop.

    If you want to buy a pot thrown by Guy Wolff, you’ll have to purchase one in the shop on your visit, but as younger generations are wont to do, Ben has expanded his horizons, selling wholesale to over thirty shops, including Milton Market in Litchfield, CT, up the road and John Derian in New York City, and he also offers ready-to-ship pots directly to consumers (a pastime that bewilders his father). Ben and his wife, who is also a potter, have also experimented with casting in concrete, and customers will find whimsical concrete garden ornaments and minimalist votives for sale. Tucked on a shelf behind the register, you’ll even find small clay bowls thrown by one of Guy Wolff’s grandchildren, a third-generation potter in the making. 

    Wolff Pottery, 1249 Bantam Rd Bantam, CT  is open 12:00-5:00 Tuesday to Sunday.

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