I am obsessed with vintage ceramics and my latest obsession is Swedish ceramic designer Lisa Larson.  Lisa has been producing her ceramics since 1954, many of which are now in private collections and museums. Luckily she is still producing her work so it’s possible for young collectors like moi to get in the game.  Some of the most well known pieces are from her cat collection and her Nordic Zoo collection.  Her shop has many of these pieces available as does the Japanese website Vivo, Va which also carries some of her vintage work.  And of course ebay is always a great place to find vintage ceramics too.

Lisa and her cats 1959

I spotted these lovelies from Villarreal Ceramics on Neawear.  Vanessa Villarreal is a community arts teacher (yay teachers!) in Tuscon, AZ. I’m guessing her desert surroundings influence her use of feathers and llamas on her pieces.  Her designs are so pretty.  See more plates, bowls and cups from Vanessa on her Etsy shop.

I love this happy pottery from Kelim Pottery out of Israel.  The simple shapes and sunny colors make these a great gift idea. Not to mention most of the items are $40 and under.  See more from Kelim Pottery on Etsy.

Such simple, pretty and useful porcelain from atelier Halo.

(via From Sthlm on Pinterest)

Only one day left until the Handmade for Japan auction! The brainchild of ceramic artist Ayumi Horie, this is one of the more creative ways I’ve heard about to help the victims of the Japanese earthquake and tsunami.  Beginning March 24th at 8pm ET and lasting until March 27th you can visit the Handmade for Japan eBay auction site to bid on over 100 items donated by concerned artists. 100% of the proceeds will be donated to Global Giving’s Earth and Tsunami Relief Fund. Here are just a few of the stunning items that will be available for auction:

Munemitsu Taguchi Serving Bowl, Justin Rothshank
Sea Life Jar, Yoko Sekino-Bové
“Village expert” teapot, Jana Evans Bowl

Jen Allen Celadon Pitcher, Michael Connelly Pitcher, Steven Young Lee
Cups, Shoko Teruyama
Tumbler with Purple Horse

It’s been ages since I’ve given a shout out to one of my all time favorite ceramic artists Diana Fayt.  Diana was one of the very first artists I blogged about way back in August 2006 and she’ll always have a soft spot in my pottery loving heart.  These days I’ve been keeping up with her creativity via her Facebook page and I noticed that she’s been a very busy bee.  She has recently added some new bowls etched with her signature motifs to her Etsy shop. I have a bowl, a plate, a platter and a tumbler from Diana but I think I might need another bowl to add, but not complete, my collection. A pottery lover can never have enough of Diana’s beautiful creations.

The oh so talented design editor and prop stylist Michele Michael of the fantastic Elephant Props has finally opened up an online shop of her homespun porcelain collection called Elephant Ceramics.  I love her sea inspired palette and the organic shapes of her serving pieces and bowls.  The shop will only be open for a limited time (until Monday the 28th @ noon). So hurry on over and find your perfect piece before someone else (me) buys them all!

I love, love, love Molly Hatch ceramics! I almost bought a vase of hers for a friend but couldn’t do it because I knew if I did I wouldn’t be able to part with it. Bad friend, bad! She is on my wish list for Christmas this year.  If you’d like to add her to your wish list, a few of her pieces can be found at Lola in Berkeley, CA, Schaller Gallery in Red Lodge, MT and she has an Etsy site where you can purchase her drawings.

Preppy.

This pretty preppy link pattern on Jill Rosenwald’s pottery is making me want to put on some Lilly Pulitzer and have all of my linens monogrammed!  Seriously though, this summer I have been having a love affair with all things preppy. My enthusiasm for all that is pink and green was inspired by the release of True Prep, the follow-up book to The Official Preppy Handbook, which I already own.  I bought some preppy flops from Vineyard Vines, the official clothing brand of Martha’s Vineyard and purchased some monogrammed melamine plates from La Plates.  Now it looks like I’ll need one of these vases to complete my induction into preppy-land.

Can’t decide what to do with that blank wall in your living room? One of my favorite ideas is using interesting plates to jazz up your space.  I’ve seen some awesome examples of this idea lately that I wanted to share with you.

This first image is from Living Etc. magazine and definitely doesn’t fit under the heading “affordable options” as they are Hermes plates but I love it still:

Now this one is much more affordable and comes from Perch in New Orleans. They grouped a series of French Bull melamine plates together to create this kaleidoscope of patterns and colors.

Check out these rehabilitated plates from Brooklyn designer Sarah Cihat to create your own bold design.