On a recent trip
to Italy, Marc and I made a special stop in the town of Faenza to meet the
Vignoli sisters, Saura and Ivana. They are ceramic artists who create pieces in
the traditional “Faience” style, with a twist. “Faience” refers to pottery that
incorporates a tin oxide glaze on white earthenware pottery, but they are
using copper oxides instead of tin. The results are AMAZING!
When we arrived
in Faenza, we walked in the rain from the train station to their studio, not
fully aware just how far it was from the station. Saura and Ivana greeted us
with such a warm welcome that we forgot we were cold and wet.
Ivana demonstrated
her painting skills as we watched her create her beautiful fish on a small bowl.
We knew right then we would be going home with some of those fish.
Saura gave us a
tour of the studio and workshop, explaining all the processes and techniques.
Then we went upstairs to the showroom. It was like the Holy Grail of pottery…one
beautiful amazing fabulous piece after another! We were drooling and wanted to
take everything home with us. The only thing that brought us back to reality
was when Saura told us they didn’t accept credit cards. We figured out how much
cash we had in our pockets and decided on one large piece. This is Saura
holding our new fish vase. What do you think?
Saura carefully
packed and shipped the vase for us, then gave us a ride back to the train
station. Two weeks later, our package arrived at our home without a scratch.
You can see more
of this unique pottery at Bottega Vignoli.
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