Functional Elegance ~ Handmade Pottery ~ Ceramic Design
Handmade Pottery by Gina Rubin
Pottery | Ceramic Sculpture | Design
About
I am a studio ceramicist based in Southern New England making handmade pottery and ceramic designs for the home and table. I also work with printmaking and photography designs for interiors.
Beauty in a piece of pottery is in its' form and surface design, as well as its' function. The idea that our ancestors originally made vessels of clay as a way to bring together families and communities, to cook and celebrate with, resonates with me. I enjoy making pottery that will connect with someone on a sensory level and that begs to be picked up. I want my pottery to invite someone to want to see, feel, touch and use it to enjoy in their home as conversational pieces of beauty, as well as functional pottery for solitary moments, with loved ones, or to give as a thoughtful gift.
When a glance at a pottery piece I made by hand catches someone's eye enough to be taken home and given a forever home, it's meaningful to me as an artist.
Statement
After growing up in Colorado surrounded by the Rocky Mountains, one day I decided to leave my secure corporate job to live by the ocean and soon after pursued my dream of working with clay. This dream has been with me since my first ceramics class in college.
Both the strength of the Rocky Mountains and the movement of the ocean influence my work. Simple beauty and function found in my natural environment inspires my process. I am drawn to softly defined contour lines and textures seen in every day life. Organic forms such as a leaf, sand, water movement and flow, a shell, flowers, and sea life, to name a few, seem to catch my eye often.
It's a great feeling when someone finds my clay work both pleasing to the eye and useful in their home. Functional elegance drives my work.
You can follow my work on InstaGram and Facebook @GinaRubinDesign. Thank you for following my clay journey.
"Have nothing in your home that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful~ William Morris
www.ArtBeatMagazine.com
Sculpture
Gina creates unique hand built forms in porcelain and stoneware clay. These sculptural forms are unique, one of a kind forms: centerpieces, serving dishes/bowls, chalices, and vases all begin with a small pinch pot or slab for a base that is created from a ball of clay. Each piece of texture is attached one at a time.
Pottery
Gina makes mugs, bowls, vases and other functional forms for the home from stoneware and porcelain clay.
Firing
All work is high fired and only non-toxic, food safe glazes are used.
Care:
All mugs, cups, bowls, and serving ware are dishwasher safe, though gentle hand washing in warm soapy water is suggested.
Sculpture work is gentle hand wash only.
BIO
Gina took 2 wheel throwing classes in college for the first time and fell in love with clay her senior year at University of Northern Colorado. She decided to enter a ceramic sculpture in the juried student art show on a whim that year. She unexpectedly won First Place in Show. Gina's undergraduate education in Psychology is from the University of Northern Colorado with a minor in visual arts (1990). And her graduate education is from the University of Colorado, School of Education (2000-2005). After graduating spring 1990, Gina didn't touch clay again for 20 years, but still the dream persisted.
Shortly after moving to CT., in 2014 Gina started throwing clay in her spare time and was invited later that Summer to join the Waterford Farmers' Market, in Waterford, CT.
In 2016, Gina decided to enter her ceramic sculptures for the first time into art shows at 2 museums: Mystic Museum of Art (Mystic, CT. "Black & White Show") and Slater Memorial Museum (Norwich, CT. "72nd Annual Connecticut Artist Exhibition"). She was Juried into both. Gina continued making pottery and porcelain sculptures and exhibiting her work locally. In addition, she began exhibiting her printmaking and photography.
In 2017, Gina was published in ArtBeat Magazine as their "Mercury Rising Artist" and continued exhibiting her ceramics locally in CT. and in Denver, Colorado.
In 2018 Gina acheived the designation of Elected Artist status with Mystic Museum of Art, in the seaport village of Mystic, CT. Gina continues to grow as an Artist through clay and learn more about form, function and surface design.
An online Store is coming in 2019~ Until then, Gina's work can be found locally in the Slater Memorial Museum Gift Shop in Norwich, CT., the Spectrum Art Gallery in Centerbrook, CT. (online and in the Artisan Store), Ivy's Simply Homemade in Waterford, CT. Mystic Museum of Art Shows and CURATED.World located in Mystic, CT.
Over the last 4 years, Gina has exhibited her work in Galleries, Museums and local art festivals in CT. She has also exhibited her work in Galleries in Provincetown, MA. (PTOWN), Rockland County/Nyack, New York, and Denver, CO.
Gina is on FB & InstaGram as:
Gina Rubin Design.
Copyright 2017 Gina Rubin Design. All rights reserved.