Artefice Atelier
Sicilian Folklore, Hand Painted And Gloriously Glazed.
Sicily has never been a place of quiet good taste, and thank heavens for that. The work coming out of this Ragusa atelier takes the island's puppets, paladins, prickly pears and painted carts and puts them through the hands of the artist Gloria Di Modica, who studied painting before she came anywhere near a kiln and has clearly never quite put the brush down. The results are vivid, slightly theatrical and entirely at ease in a room full of restrained furniture, where they tend to behave like the most interesting guest at the party.
Every Piece Made By Hand.
Each work is modelled, glazed and painted by hand by Gloria and a small team of artisans who work alongside her, which is why no two ever match. The maiolica glazes go on in brushstrokes rather than dips, so colours pool and shift across the surface and the piece you receive carries its own small evidence of the hand that made it. If you like your ceramics uniform, this is the wrong shelf, and rather gloriously so.
Sicily, Retold With A Straight Face.
The subjects come straight from the island: the Sicilian puppets and their armoured paladins, the painted carts, the fichi d'india that grow out of every roadside, and a run of sculptural busts drawn from Greek myth, which Sicily has been living alongside for roughly three thousand years and shows no sign of tiring of. Have a browse through the pottery and ceramic artists, the home decor, the wall art, or the gifts if someone you like is about to have a birthday.
A Baroque Corner Of Sicily.
The story starts on Corso Umberto in Modica in August 2008, in a small shop opened on the strength of an idea that serious artistic craft still had a place in a Sicilian high street. It did. The atelier has since moved to a larger home in Ragusa, the collections are carried by shops across Sicily and well beyond it, and the studio now runs pottery classes for anyone brave enough to try it themselves. Very much the spirit of the small batch artisans and women led brands we go looking for.
For more in the same key, have a browse through brands from Europe, the home furnishings, the lighting, our newest brands, or the full list of independent brands.
