Featured Artist: Gina DeSantis

Tell us your name, your Etsy shop name, and what city you live in.
Gina DeSantis. My etsy shop is http://GinaDeSantis.etsy.com. Clever, huh? I live in Lakewood.

What is your first memory of your craft? Did someone teach you, or did you learn on your own?
I was always making something. As an only child I could always entertain myself. It was usually by turning my parents’ kitchen table into a craft zone. Both of my grandmothers are artists. Both were seamstresses. My dad’s mother was a painter and did beautiful portraiture. My mom’s mother is a quilter and is generally crafty. She was always letting me help with projects.

What is it that draws you to clay?
I like the different stages of clay and its changes through firings and glaze application. It’s nice on a day I don’t have the focus to throw that I can sit there and glaze. I also like that everytime I open the kiln I am greeted by a surprise, good or bad.

How would you describe the style of your work? Does it reflect your personal style?
I have always been drawn to simple, well-executed design. I don’t like a lot of bells and whistles. I like clean lines. I love black or white against rich saturated color.  If you look into my closet you will see my glaze colors.

What are your inspirations? How are they expressed in your work?
Artists I look to are Lucie Rie, Eva Zeisel, and Georgia O’Keefe. I am a visual merchandiser by day for a home furnishings store. It has helped me see vessels as they function as compared to works in progress in the studio. I tend to be far more inspired when I have classes going. The energy of the studio environment has always inspired me to take more chances than I do alone in my own studio.

Do you have an all-time favorite creation? What about it makes it your favorite?
I made a tray set in grad school. The tray was a matte black with crackled white patterns. It was not functional as far as food safety but looked great. The mugs were a brown clay with a white glaze that let the clay show through. The set looked like a landscape. Looking back it inspired my whole thesis show.

When did you realize that this was more than a hobby?
When I spent a lot of money to get a Master of Fine Arts degree in ceramics.

Describe your workspace.
My studio is in the Lake Erie Screw Factory. Its a cool building that houses artists and businesses. It was once the Templar Auto Plant. Something was always being made in this space and I think that lends to its charm. My space (aka my bubble) has great windows so the natural light is amazing. I have an area set up with shelves to display work. I have an accumulation of shelves, my wedging table, a glaze area, my wheel and two kilns. Its very dusty.

What is your favorite task related to your work? Your least favorite?
I love to thrown and trim. Its relaxing to me. I hate to wedge clay. It’s necessary yet boring.

What is your favorite tool? Why?
My friend gave me a Pampered Chef knife that she claimed was excellent for cutting clay. It is better than any clay knife I have tried.

Do you have artistic talents in other areas?
I painted through most of high school and then I got into jewelry design. But then I took a ceramics class in college and it was clear that this was my favorite medium. But I still miss painting and printmaking as well.

Tell us something about you that we might be surprised to hear.
I love to cook. I think it goes hand and hand with making vessels. I make dishes for dishes. But I can’t bake to save my life.

Where can we find your work?
www.ginadesantisceramics.com
Local Girl Gallery, Lakewood, OH
Planet Green, Rocky River, OH
Commotion!, Lexington, KY
Beehive Co-op, Cincinnati, OH
and of course Etsy!