Tchochkes

A while back a reader complained that Israeli pottery is dull. It lacked the color and vibrancy of the ceramic artists from her original land. I made a mental note that day to track down the colorful artists I know and prove that person wrong. ‘Israeli’s are colorful’ I insisted. ‘You just don’t know where to look.’

Then life got in the way.

Tonight I remembered the complaint when I was contemplating what to write (I actually have 3 homes ready to be reviewed for house tours, but I need to re-size the photos and for that I need some software - the first should be up by next week).

Ceramic Artists Association of Israel has a website featuring a huge collection of ceramic artists and their work. I have to admit that the bulk of the work didn’t help my arguement any. In fact, the pieces you see in this post were the most colorful functional pieces I could find. However, these are not all of Israel’s ceramic artists.

The first and last pieces in this post are from Hizi Raya, a Tel Avivi artist who loves to make pots. I like her use of color and pattern.

The green and blue cannisters above are by Hakkert Sara, a Haifa artist who prefers to focus on functional pottery. This is more the type of thing I prefer in my kitchen. I like to use the art we collect.

Bell Julian created the vase and bowl, above. I like the fading color - but I will admit this is more subtle in it’s color.

Ok, I’ve given weak arguements for the color debate. Even though the red plate above is gorgeous and glossy, there was only one on the site out of a lot of artists. The problem is that some of the best artists live on moshavim or small cities and don’t do computers. Michal Beckman in Beit Lechem Ha Glilit for example or Galia Jackson of Zichron Yaakov.

Wait… there is one… and that will be my next post in 2 days…

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.