I included these pieces in the exhibition that opened Sunday. The middle piece features the crackled, fragmented surface I wrote about a few weeks back. The two pieces on either end were formed with clay collected from a construction site in Sarasota County and are unglazed. Up close, you can see the grainy sediment including small, black fossil fragments. The Earth is its own document, leaving a record for us to decipher. #WildClay #alttext

Thinking about ancient people busying themselves by moving large stones and piles of earth, aligning them with major astrological events. #Equinox #busybusy

I just got back from installing pieces for an #art exhibition that opens this Sunday in Sarasota. If you've read any of my blog posts, you know that working with local materials has been a gateway for me to learn more about #Florida geology and Indigenous cultures. I've also gained a deeper relationship to #nature based on hands-on intimacy rather than intellectualism and the acquisition of scientific facts. I'm very excited to share this experience with other people who live here.

I just uploaded clips of #NestaNala (1940-2005) and her daughter #JabulileNala showing how they begin coil building a pot. The Nalas are the most renowned Zulu pottery family. Jabulile taught me her coil building technique and gave me more insight into Zulu culture when we spent three weeks together in the summer of 2022.

MakerTube

Nala Zulu Pottery Coil Building

This is an excerpt from a video shared with me by Susan Bernstein. It was shot by South African musician and poet Eugene Skeef in 2001 during a tri...

#pottery #ceramics #SouthAfrica #AfricanArt #culture #PeerTube

I'm going through images to fulfill a media request and wanted to share these with you. These are photos my talented friend Shoog McDaniel took of my #pottery underwater in 2022. Shoog mostly takes photos of people in #nature, focusing on fat bodies, often showing how buoyant and weightless they become under the clear, turquoise water of our #Florida springs. See more:

Shoog McDaniel

Shoog McDaniel

#UnderwaterPhotography #photography #QueerArt

We took a quick break to celebrate my husband’s birthday and visit some freshwater springs a couple of hours north. The springs remain a crisp 68-70°F year round. After a long hot summer, I needed to feel chilled to the core and refreshed. #nature #inspiration #UnderwaterPhotography #water #Florida #FloridaSprings #outdoors

I just posted a small batch of new pots in my shop. Please take a look:

Pottery by Osa

September Collection

Osa Atoe creates handmade pottery at her home studio in Sarasota, inspired by the natural landscape of Florida and her Nigerian heritage. She uses ...

The abstract leaf motif is painted with the clay I got from Ontario a few weeks ago and the rich brick-red comes from a Tennessee clay from the Smoky Mountain region. If you missed the post about how I create the background texture, go find it now :) It’s a pleasure to create these objects and share photos and a little bit of process with you all. Thanks & goodnight 🙏🏾🌝

Creating cups, bowls and vases intended for daily use is still a central aspect of my practice, but now I find myself using statement vessels as a mode of expression to reflect the current moment. I’ve posted these pieces before: the Hurricane Vase I made after last summer’s tumultuous storm season, A Prayer for Rain vase made near the end of a two-year drought, and the last vase (untitled) reflecting the rapid plant growth we had experienced this summer with consistent rainfall. #pottery