Arrow + Sage and Ike & Stella

Designed exclusively for L.A. based pet lifestyle brand, Ike & Stella, new dog bowls!

Available in three styles.

Visit Ike&Stella to purchase!

 

Clyde Oak + A Giveaway

Thrilled to share that the North Carolina based brand, Clyde Oak, has launched a new website and shop.  Hillman and Rebekah Ball recently purchased and revamped the Clyde Oak brand, to bring you beautifully created, American made products.  Hillman reached out to me about designing an exclusive line of ceramic products for Clyde Oak a few months ago, and I was so excited to make something just for them.

These ceramic, essential oil diffusers are now available for purchase on their website.

Clyde Oak is also hosting a giveaway for anyone who purchases from their shop now through 10/19!  Any order placed by 10/19 will be entered to win this Special Edition Ceramic Diffuser Set.

Visit ClydeOak.com for more info on their shop and brand.

Vogue + Elle Decoration

Honored to see my work on the pages of some incredible magazines over the past few months.  Arrow + Sage hit the pages of the October issue of Elle Decoration, and the November issue of Vogue.

Thank you Elle Decoration + Vogue!

Arrow + Sage and Tending the Table

Sasha Swerdloff and I connected across the U.S. via Instagram. Sasha is a Seattle based food stylist, photographer, and blogger.  She writes over at Tending the Table and, well, just get ready to drool!

I was thrilled to share some of my Sylvan plates with her for a collaboration post as we head into the cooler, Autumn months.  She whipped up a gorgeous spread and recipe: Honey Roasted Pears with Quinoa Nut Crunch.  

Sasha has been featured in numerous online publications, such as Woven Magazine and Food 52.  Visit Sasha’s site for this recipe and more.

*Photo Credit, Sasha Swerdloff | Tending the Table.

Arrow + Sage at Madewell

Super excited to share that Madewell has offered to host a pop-up event for Arrow + Sage!  I’ll be selling old favorites and new ceramics out of their Raleigh location at Crabtree off Glenwood Ave. on Saturday, September 26th!  Details below!

 

Arrow + Sage at Madewell

Saturday, September 26th

1-5 pm

Sips, sweets, and deals provided by Madewell!

Come say hi!

Anna | Arrow + Sage

The third day.

There’s a t-shirt out there that reads: “The third day changes everything.”  Waking up this morning the image of that shirt came swimming into view, along with a verse from Mark.

In the verse, Jesus is speaking to His disciples, His friends.  He’s letting them know what’s about to happen to Him before it happens, so that when it does they’ll know He is truly the Son of God.  He speaks in the third person, and says:

“‘They (the people of Israel) will condemn him (Jesus) to death and will hand him over to the Gentiles, who will mock him and spit on him, flog him and kill him. Three days later he will rise.’” // Mark 10:33-34

Three days later He will rise.  The third day changes everything.

I saw picture of a beautiful pot.  It was cracked and broken, but put back together.  The cracks in the vessel were filled with gold, holding the pot together.  So I googled, because, a pot with gold-filled cracks.  This mending with gold is called “kintsugi” or “kintsukuroiI” and it’s a Japanese art form in which the artist repairs ceramic faults with a resin containing gold powder.  The idea is that the pot is more beautiful after it’s been broken and repaired.

That’s us, right?  Broken.  The whole world spiraling in a seemingly hopeless, chaotic mess.  Fragments that can’t possibly be mended or fixed or put back together in any type of orderly fashion.  But the third day changes that.  Beautiful mercy comes.  Broken things don’t have to remain broken anymore.  The pieces get put back together with power and healing.  There’s promise.  Hope.  Life.

The Son of God, perfect and holy, dies and is broken for us.

And on the third day, He rises.

He lives.  And that’s the beginning.  Our broken lives can be filled with hope, with healing if we’ll take it.  And while we live on this earth, messing up, trying to put ourselves back together, mend our own cracks, and build our own paradise, He gives us grace.  Relentless grace to live and walk with Him; broken pots with our cracks filled with Him.  His perfect love washes away our mess.  Mends our brokenness.  Gives us a new beginning.

The third day changes everything.  

Studio Recap | 2014

Coffee in hand.  Sitting here thinking: what a year. My first year working with clay.  Creating, making, and selling my work.  A year can seem like forever, but in reality, it flew by.  Bam.  Gone. So much has happened in such a short amount of time, and it’s been amazing.  From my first wholesale orders and stockists (Pine State Flowers + Pigeonhole Home Store) to press and articles with The {well} Studio and Deeply Rooted Magazine.  Then the rush and thrill of my first holiday season.  And can we just take a minute and talk about all of the love and support on Instagram?  You guys.  You blow my mind.  You’re all so inspiring and supportive. It’s been a wild and wonderful first year!  I’m so grateful for the gift of time.  With it I’ve had the space to breathe and to work and develop my style.  To put my ideas into my hands and yours. It’s crazy to think that my original, early work (in February of 2014) was rustic succulent pots and little garden markers.  Sweet, simple little things that I still treasure.  It’s wonderful to look back and see how my style as a potter has changed over the past several months. To close out the year, I wanted to share some of my 2014 work.  Some of my favorites, and your favorites.  I plan to make this a habit moving forward, documenting my growth and change as an artist and potter. (Those espresso colored mugs are making their debut in early 2015  This winter!)

Thank you all for the constant support.  So much of this I owe to so many.  But two in particular have been the most supportive and deserve an extra thank you. My husband.  You gave me this gift of time.  Of freedom to get away from a regular 9-5, away from a desk and computer.  The gift you’ve given me of breathing room, creative space, and the encouragement you’ve given me as an artist has been unspeakable.  Unimaginable.  Unreal.  Thank you.  For the everyday and the extraordinary.   You paved the way that allowed this to happen.  God has used you to do more than you know.  Thank you. My mom.  Early in 2014 you offered your time, your knowledge, your studio, your glaze, and your kilns so that I could explore.  In the fall of 2014 you provided me with my own kiln, and tools for my own studio space.  A kiln vent.  Physical, tangible things I needed, and countless hours on the phone discussing ideas and problems.  And let’s not forget kiln repair.  For my whole life you’ve always made sure I had the tools to create and do.  To make and learn.  To grow and change.  Thank you.  The hours spent learning and celebrating and crying together over broken pots have been the foundation of something I’ll take with me throughout my entire life as a woman and as an artist. I’ve learned so much through this process about letting go.  About living fully, dependently on our Savior.  About coming back to earth each time I feel myself becoming my own little god.  A broken pot can humble you more than a lot of things.  And for all of the frustration that produced perseverance, that produced reliance and trust, that broke through my outer shell of perfectionism, for that I am so thankful to our Lord. “But now, O LORD, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand.” Isaiah 64:8 Thank you all.  My family, my friends, for all of the orders, the feedback, stockists, future stockists, Instagram friends turned real friends, and all of you out there who inspire me to create and make with my hands. What a wonderful 2014, and what a bright, full, exciting year is ahead in 2015! In Him, who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, (from Ephesians 3:20) Anna

Featured | The {well} Studio

You guys.

I’m so honored (and, yes) very excited to share today that I’m featured over at The {well} Studio!  WELL stands for: Women Entrepreneurs Loving the Lord.  Yes.  Amen.

I’ve loved reading some of the other Featured {well} Girl interviews.  When we get real with others and share what’s really going on behind the scenes, behind our smiles and websites and blogs, our beginnings, our excitements, what we’ve lost, where we’ve let go, what we’ve learned from our Almighty Father, how He’s grown and strengthened us, we help and love others, and we open up our hearts to be helped.  God has so often used those times of raw, real life honesty, whether sharing face-to-face or via a blog or website, to reveal something to me about myself.  He’s shown me my strengths, and my utter weakness in all of my broken humanness.  Weaknesses where I can ask Him to come, to teach me, and grow me to become more like Him.

The gift of community is that Jesus lets us know that we are not alone.  Someone else has been there.  Felt that.  Worried about that.  Felt happy and excited about that.  We are human, all made in His image.  And to be a connected, honest, real, loving body of believers following Him, and leaning on Him and on one another through the journey, well, that is a most beautiful thing.

I’m happy to be a part of that today.  Sharing my (pretty short) journey so far into this small business world as a follower of The Most High, amongst other women who love Him and pursue Him with their hearts, souls, minds, and hands.

You can read my interview here!

 

In Him,

Anna

Studio | Works in progress

Cold. Rain.

Autumn is making a dreary entrance this year, but it’s cozy indoors.

The garden is starting to wind down, and around this time every year I get the urge to purge and yank out annuals. Put the garden to bed for the winter. But in reality, it’s too early for that and all the zinnias are still so lovely.

My small studio space has been a comfortable, warm place to create with the rain and cold outside.

In other news. I’m getting a kiln this Saturday! I’ve had the incredible opportunity to use my mom’s kilns for the past several months, and now I’ll have one here. She’s practically giving me her first kiln and I could not be happier or more grateful. My mom has been such a vital part of this whole pottery thing for me. From teaching me how to hand build, and sharing her studio space and kilns with me, to encouraging me, learning new things alongside me, and enabling me to make a space to create in my own home. So here I am, with a fully operational home studio, and my own kiln on the way.

The past several months have been such a journey. Working with clay has pushed my controlling nature around, with some force. I’ve grown so much. There’s so much loss and letting go in this art form. Things that go wrong, pieces that crack, glazes that don’t fit.

Try something new and sometimes you get magic, sometimes you get epic fail.

I’m thankful that the Lord has used this season to teach me things, to stretch me, mold me, much like clay in His hands.

OK, time for another cup of joe. This rain!

Anna

Garden | Summer fades.

Fading to fall.

Summer gardens, harvest.

A collection of inspiring things that have caught my eye and iPhone lens, lately.

Zinnias. Freshly picked.

Late summer harvest.

Arranging.

Mexican sunflower city. Zinnias too.

Obedient plant.

Enjoy your weekend!

Anna