Makers at Home is an Instagram series from The Frye Art Museum Store, giving us a peek into the lives and routines of some of our favorite designers stocked by the Store during this unusual time of isolation.
Each ceramic piece by Natasha Alphonse has a quiet and simplified design with beautiful natural tones, as if every handmade vessel has come directly from the earth. We've stocked her lovely wares in the Store for some time; customers love their quiet beauty. Natasha currently resides in Seattle, running a small ceramic studio where she works on home-wares, installation pieces, and teaching classes. Find some of her newer work on her Instagram @natashaalphonse and on her website.
Natasha invited us into her backyard studio for this post. Here are her thoughts, originally shared April 28, 2020:
The beginning of the quarantine was more of a struggle for me, with panic and fear taking over my thoughts. I feel like accepting the slowing down of everything, being gentle with myself and expectations of creativity have helped me find joy in the past couple of months. I have set up a backyard studio outside, I have only been making when I feel inspired to do so, and I think the honesty is showing with what is coming out.
I've been connecting more with my body which feels really great, doing more yoga than I have in the last many years, walking a lot, sewing, reading, we built a vegetable and flower garden. I am really enjoying my days, I feel energized, I'm doing things that I wished I made more time for in the past. The months ahead feel very uncertain, I am staying focused on creating/embracing beauty when it feels right and being thankful for everything in between.
Rachael Lang
Store Manager and Buyer