New Essentials Exhibit: The Making of Caballo

 "My house is pretty empty; only what I need is in it." —Georgia O'Keeffe    

When the call for designers for a new exhibit New Essentials in Seattle came, we immediately signed up and got accepted - *take a gander at  the essay bellow that propelled the exhibit by Lauren Gallow. What we surround ourselves with and choose to interact with in our daily lives gives us a sensory experience, whether it is joy, a chance at personalization, or comfort in our space, our main goal for what we design has always been for the items we make to harmonize with their environment.

                                       Photo Credit: Amanda Ringstad

What led to the design of Caballo is a culmination of previous experiences leading up to this tiny horse. Luis' fascination with horses started as a kid, and spent days as a kid drawing them. When I asked him why, he explained a little more. And even though I have been married to him for 7 years I still didn’t know why he chose horses as his painting subject, until we made this project. I learned that horses are a vehicle to personify stories, experiences, and people through Luis' eyes.

                                 Photo Credit: Amanda Ringstad

In the form of Caballo, you can see there are elements of realism, and an exaggeration of the form. We had initially made a larger size caballo as a piggy bank, but realized that a larger scale sculpture doesn't necessarily mean "great". We wanted to make them more intimate in the sense that they are statement pieces but they shouldn't overpower a living space.

 Luis  initially was drawn to create an elongated form for the first prototype which for him had translated as elegant in animals, but we have an unspoken policy in the studio. Luis starts an object from 0%-70%, I take the rest of the 30% to adjust, refine, and finalize an object we are prototyping. When It came down to my 30% of finalizing the initial Caballo we figured we wanted to change the initial form to a more compact, robust shape to create something that seems elegant with exaggerated features, and also includes a bold clay body and bright color. We ended up loving the final result, and saw that when you put these details together such as material, combination of color, as well as a robust form we really enjoyed created together that much more as a team. 

 These Caballos are a continuation of Luis and I working together, as painters we are self driven, but even though Luis had made his undergrad portfolio by making horses that personified stories and people, this particular horse was "Us". Sometimes to get to our destination it requires learning curves, and this Caballo is a result of us coming together and creating something with both of our ideas. The Caballos are part of a very limited collection, and we will making a small quantity. They are available in our seasonal glazes, Organdy White, Cerati Blue, and Blush. Thank you for your support. 

Essay by Lauren Gallow

"We have many reasons for selecting the things that surround us in the gloriously personal universe we call “home.” Here, in our private quarters, away from watchful eyes and free from the weight of the world, we get to choose which items to place in arm’s reach and what artifacts to use in animating our daily private lives. Whatever our relationship to “home,” it’s often objects that bring color and comfort to our domestic worlds.

As years have passed and pandemics have waxed and waned, the articles of domesticity have taken on new meaning. Quarantining, working from home, or simply seeking refuge, it’s likely that most of us have spent more time at home over the last few years than ever before. As we’ve found ourselves housebound, new essentials have emerged – those objects and tools for living that today we wake up to find are absolutely necessary for shoring up the scaffolding of our daily existence.

Small or large, soft or hard, commanding or slight, functional or simply nice to look at, these new essentials are the things we cannot live without. Not because they’re life-and-death, but because they speak to our souls in a way that reminds us we’re human. Each of us is capable of experiencing joy and satisfaction, and although there is plenty just outside our doors or even in the next room that might steal those emotions away, inside these four walls, with our personal objects d’art, we are alive and we are ourselves. These are the new essentials for a life well lived at home."