just in case...

you were wondering where I have gone, really not far, just holed up in my studio making cups and vases and bowls and then more cups, vases and bowls. I am in full on production mode from now until December. It's been nine hour days, filled with casting, forming, drawing, painting, glazing. My knuckles ache and at the moment my back is not being terribly cooperative . I am trying to keep paced and focused so if my posts are spotty it's only because I am too pooped at the end of the day to type. Though I will try and do my best to keep you all posted as things progress. Oh and one exciting bit of news...some the pieces in this photo will soon be going off to Heath Ceramics for sale in their shop. I couldn't be more thrilled 'cause you all know how much I love Heath.

4 sale

8oz, 10oz & 12oz cups


They are available for purchase here.

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happy weekend!

while we are waiting...

There are birthdays to celebrate, guest blogs to anticipate and a perfect San Francisco day to enjoy. So why don't you all come on over to my place for a little apricot cake! We can sit outside in my garden, eat cake and drink tea from handmade cups.

welcome back

After a very long hiatus my canteen vases are finally back! I was separated from my molds all of last year and since I have been back in San Francisco all of my attempts to get these guys done have been ill fated (er, no pun intended). So they have returned...The lovely, curvaceous, two sided canteen vase. These sweeties are soon to be sent to a very special store in Los Angeles called Show.

canteen vases red & ice blue

In the studio, I am having a bit of problem with my glazes crawling and underglazes peeling. I am coming to the conclusion that I might be working with an inferior product and that it is not remediable. Or it is just my greasy little fingers contaminating the surfaces...most likely not the latter as I am constantly washing my hands. I have had a lot of losses lately which really frustrates me (and the people who are waiting on orders).


8oz cups, gray green, orange & natural

The good news is that I do have some more of these guys for sale. New colors too! These are a little smaller than the last cups I posted, 8oz and they have a lovely sprig flower on them. I have a handful of them available in flame orange, gray green(sold), and natural (sold) and they are $30. Pop me an email at diana@dianafayt.com if you would like one.
There are still a few orange ones left!

For some weekend fun check out the adventures of the little people of Sandwich Mountain. (ahhh, the the great minds of ceramic artists!)

A late breaking (but not too late) tidbit. My friend and fellow potter, Ayumi has some gorgeous work for sale at Akar. Check it out here! One of each for me please! Love, love, love, what Ayumi does!

cups for sale!

1. eszter tea cups small 3oz $27
2-taller 2-shorter

2. eszter tea cups medium 5oz $29
11 total

3. estzer cups large 11oz $34
3 total

So here is my compromise for not having my shop page up and running on my website...

All of the cups are handmade by moi. They are cast from an original mold and then I embellish each cup by hand. The interiors of the small cups are green and the large cups are all natural. They are made with a stoneware clay so they are very durable, dishwasher safe and microwavable if you are so inclined.

Please email me here with your request and I will respond with an email to confirm your order and how to proceed with payment (paypal). Orders will be granted on a first come first serve basis. If you would specify your order by the proceeding number I have given each cup and the size that would be very helpful. Thanks!

Also I will be posting a few different styles on Sunday so if you miss out on these there will be more to come.

winter thoughts

I have been experimenting with this new technique lately and the result is relief patterns. I love the idea of the painted surface, the etched into surface and the relief surface combined (You might be seeing those pieces in the near future). I have been trying to figure out a way to make models of things (smaller more utilitarian things) that I can make molds of and cast and have them be finished pieces. As it stands now the etching process I developed and use on my work is enormously time consuming. It takes thirteen steps to get the final result. It makes it impossible to make the pieces any faster than I already do. They take the time that they do and that is that.

Lately I have been getting many requests from shops and galleries that would like to carry my work and I am suddenly having to really think before I say yes. How much can I produce myself? There is a limit to how much I can make. I do it all myself, no assistants, no interns, though I am seriously thinking it is time I do get some help. It is so exciting to be busy and that people are responding so positively to my work. On the flip side it is also very stressful when I get overwhelmed and feel like I am falling short of my commitments. This holiday season that became very clear to me. So many things can and do go wrong with ceramics. It is something that anyone who is thinking about making ceramics for a living must factor in. Problems are inevitable. It goes hand in hand with the medium.

I have been working with clay since I was twenty-two. I am now forty-two. The first ten years were spent learning and the past twelve I have been making and selling my work professionally. In so many ways I feel like I am just starting out. I really don't see a future for myself without clay. No matter where I am or what I am doing with the other parts of my life it is a given, in my mind, that I will be making ceramics. Back breaking as it is. I am just trying to get smart about it. I have so many ideas for projects and products. Many which just sit on my shelves waiting for me to give them some attention. It is not a bad thing to be this busy. It is a great thing. Truly a dream come true for me. It is so nice to be closing out this year feeling like my dreams are being realized and that I am moving into a new year with new things to consider and think about. After all isn't that what it is all about?

sold out & hold out

It is official, the calendars are sold out! WOW! I can't believe it. I have about fifty backed up emails for calendar requests which I need to respond to some time in between being in the studio from morning until night. My annual Holiday Home Sale is this Saturday and I am not feeling very ready. I have orders to finish and send, an apartment to clean and set up, I have to glaze fifty seven cups and about twenty-five vases. Beni (my studio mate) and I are negotiating firing slots as he is having his sale on Saturday too. I bribe him with cookies to distract him so I can sneak firings in between his. He bribes me as well...It has been a veritable cookie fest in the studio. I've listened to more NPR in the past month than I care to admit and I have glaze crusted on my head set cord to my phone. I have to scurry off now and get a show invite together to email out to folks. Oh and if I haven't answered your email please bear with me. I am getting to things as fast as I can. Thank you everyone for buying my calendars and all your kind and generous comments. It has been such a joy coming home to such nice email. I'm not sure which gave me more pleasure, making them or sending them off to all their new homes. Some very exotic places, I might add...Ecuador, Germany, England, Sweden, France, Canada, Brazil and of course the United States. Thank you, Thank you!!

Still waiting to hear word on whether or not they have found James (the husband and father of the Kim family). Holding out with fingers crossed that it will be a happy ending.