Guest Spotlight

Our amazing friend and guide in Cambodia, Yut, sharing information about the Churning of the Ocean of Milk bas relief at Angkor Wat.

Claudia’s pavilion. You’ll notice that each column has a different capital–palm fronds, nopalitos (cactus paddles), artichoke agave, and water lilies.

How does travel inspire you?

I have traveled quite a bit in my life and each place has had a transformational effect on me. My parents liked to travel and took all of us as kids with them.  We spent summers in Hawaii while our Dad was working at the East West Philosophers center. Christmases in Puerto Rico to get out of cold and dreary New England. They took us to Buenos Aires for a year, stopping in every Latin American country on the way there.  I was able to do a sister city student exchange in La Garde Freinet, France while in high school.

Since I’ve been on my own, I’ve been on a pottery tour to China, a residency at the International Institute of Ceramics in Keskemet, Hungary. I would walk around Budapest and Keskemet where the studio was, observing the people, then go back and create porcelain miniatures—busts, just shoulders and heads. Tiny, only about 3-4″ tall, so I could fit them in my suitcase. I also brought back dried porcelain clay from the Herrend Porcelain factory so maybe I’ll make some more of these little guys. 

Do you have a favorite memory from the Around the World trip?

Oh my, so many! I really like seeing what people in other cultures had done—and were still doing, and how it related to the work I do. I liked picking up a shard of fired clay at Saqqara in Egypt and knowing just how the potter had fashioned that bit. 

Meeting new friends who were in the group—and still getting together with them now—that has been enriching on many levels.  Seeing all the tremendous and varied sights on the itinerary, many of which I never would have gotten to see on my own; marveling at the natural beauty everywhere, and especially at the focused attention that it took to create so many enduring architectural and cultural masterpieces, many of which took generations to accomplish.

Do you have any favorite ‘travel gear’?

Eyeliner and an extra bag to pack with all the perfect souvenirs. And a baggie of laundry soap.

Ooh, what kind of eyeliner?

Whatever will stay put—I like the one you recommended. (The printing has been rubbed off the eyeliner stick, still using the same one from our trip!! It lasts a long time.)  (Edit: For those of you into waterproof liquid liner, this is the one I recommend.)

What’s next at Cera-Mix?

Right now I am cleaning up my studio and getting ready for more birds—I have become obsessed with crows, ravens, blackbirds, and grackles. Black and glistening, with hints of blue or green—these are clever birds, one minute soaring skyward and the next picking a lock. And they are vocal, creating a ruckus wherever they are. I like that.