Ceramics

Ceramics have always intrigued me.  In 1997 a girlfriend convinced me to take a beginner's course in clay and ceramics at a professional achool called the Keramik Art Studio in Hamburg, Germany.  I ended up staying for five years, completing several specialty areas -- object building, throwing on the wheel, glaze chemistry and development, scale and proportion.  The courses there led to my opening my first ceramic studio in Hamburg in 2000, and I am continuing that tradition with a fully equiped pottery studio here at the B&B.  

I have two different directions in my ceramic work: 

Vessels -- functional handmade stoneware glazed pieces for use in the kitchen.  These pieces are fired to stoneware temperatures of above 1220° Celcius.  Each piece is individually made, and the glazes are individually mixed.

Ceramic Art - decorative pieces, either sculpture or for wall art, using ceramics as an element of a whole.  I also make and hand glaze mosaic elements for table tops, mirrors and frames.

Art 

In addition, the rooms are filled with  art which I create from pigment, marble powder, plaster and sand. I see my art as a fuction of room design and completion. It has no other hidden meaning, other than to provide a environment which feels complete and comfortable. 

 In general, my themes in both ceramics and art invariably have to do with the home, something which is very important to me. I think it is important to see the creative hand in art and craft work. Perfectionism has never interested me.  I am much more interested in seeing the personality of the handcrafter come through the work.  I try to reflect this in every pot and piece I make -- so that people get the utmost enjoyment from touching or seeing these objects.  

-Diana Strinati Baur 

You can see more art and design, as well as read stories about our life here on my blog, A Certain Simplicity