I’d love to collect art, but I never feel I could justify the prices I’d have to pay to buy the things that most excite me. Which is why the only real ‘art objects’ I own are ceramics, which are a beautiful and affordable way to buy handmade works of craft and design. The time when I seem to be most receptive to this sort of thing is on holiday, and I’ve visited a number of art potters’ studios dotted over Britain.
Recently, though, I was in Barcelona, and stumbled across the shop and studio of Carmen Balada. In this tiny shop, she designs and makes a number of her pieces. Larger works are produced in a workshop outside the city.
The shop is a treasure trove, filled with designs and sketches for new works, half finished pieces, and completed objects on shelves, tables, the floor.
Ms Balada herself is charming. We had a fun chat about the new V&A Ceramic Galleries. She told me that she is an enormous fan of the Museum. One of the interesting areas she’s moved in to is the depiction of insects in her work, and not prettified up, either. They appear on pots, but I think are at their best on the white tiles she produces.
What is so appealing about Carmen’s work is her blending of European with Japanese traditions, and the tension between graphic and plastic within her work. I came away with two bowls and a tile. I’ll be returning for more.
medievalcurator 
Lovely! I wonder if her interest in insects has anything at all to do with the work of Lluis Masriera (although his insects were rather, well, prettier!)…