Fellow Etsian Sighting - Ellengant Creations

If you happen to be at the Downtown Arlington Management Corporation (DAMC) office, you should be able to see this cute ray from EllengantCreations in person. How did this come to be? DAMC partnered with 817ArtsAlliance to bring the community a unique holiday shopping opportunity last year in the form of the Happy Holidays Pop-Up Market (HHPM), held in the front portion of their space. It was filled with creations from fifteen local artisans. Ellen's whimsical polymer clay creatures were part of the assortment.

The admin at DAMC kept being drawn to Ellen's sand colored ray and finally decided it needed to join her family. As a token of appreciation for sharing space with HHPM however, 817ArtsAlliance would not let her purchase it but gifted it to her (after paying the artist for her work). I embellished a plain black stand with seashells to complement the ray. Last time I was in the office, the ray was hanging out as part of the decor. One of these years I imagine it might go home with the admin. Until then, you can see one of Ellen's creations in person. More whimsical creatures can be seen in her Etsy shop, EllengantCreations.

Fellow Etsian Sighting - ClayBabies

If you are a potter and you need a new backsplash in your kitchen that you are remodeling, what do you do? You make tiles of course! I got a chance to see the finished product earlier this year after having seen the tile pile grow from one visit to Cynthia's studio to the next. She had a lot of fun making a variety of tiles with different stamps and textures. The photos in this post show only a small portion of the varied tiles she made. The look is at once both uniform and individual. The colors of the tiles blend to give a unified palate and it is so much fun to look at all of the individual imagery on each tile. I don't think any two repeat exactly.

Tiles are a departure from the thrown pieces that comprise the bulk of the work Cynthia offers for sale. You can find her work on Etsy in her ClayBabies shop or at arts and crafts shows in the area and in some brick and mortar stores as CiCi House of Clay. You can see the bowl of hers that had to come home with me in an Artist Spotlight post from earlier this year. Most of Cynthia's pottery can be classified as functional art. She makes bowls, vases, teapots and much more.