(Modern) Ceramics & Co.

Whenever I inevitably stumble onto Etsy, their "featured" page is often hit or miss for me. Just because I think every artist has a voice in the back of their head that mumbles, "you could make that yourself," and mine really tends to pipe up at that point. Not that I ever would sit down and make those things, or that I even could, my inner creative just gets a little stubborn, which ends up being extremely good for my wallet. So when I see something on there that makes me ready to empty my paypal, I know it's awesome. That something this week was the JeezVanilla shop. 

Well, it's actually unclear to me whether the shop is called a). JeezVanilla or b). (Modern) Ceramics & Co. Either way, it's great. JeezVanilla is the moniker used by shop owner Adriana. I stalked her just a wee bit on her blog and even though I can't read a thing (all in Spanish) she has the cutest engagement pictures I've ever seen. Seriously. I just showed them to Sean and we both felt extremely jealous.

Adriana makes a variety of goods, including various printed cramics, notebooks, and some textile goods. I was drawn to the shop because of the "Retro People" series she prints onto her items. These consist of faceless portrait illustrations that are all labeled with a date and titled things like "The Charming Man" and, "The Flapper Girl." Upon further investigation, I found Adriana's explanation of this series:

Read on for more about JeezVanilla after the jump!

"I once found in a flea market a box of photographs. In it was contained the whole life of a pair of twin sisters, from their black and white childhood to their 90s granny haircuts. 

Regretfully that day I did not take them home with me, and when I went back a few days later I failed to find the vendor. Ever since, I scout around every flea market and thrift store wherever I go in search of other forgotten pictures to add to the Retro People family. I make a portrait of them and transfer it onto modern ceramics so that when you have them at home they can have a new place and a whole new set of past adventures."

Geez, I just love that. These random people become a family and find new life and meaning in Adriana's creations. And they're sweet illustrations, to boot. So even though these are so great I wish I'd made them, the little artist in my head concedes: I'd be content to own them. A great idea and a great shop! -hil