Sitting with some of my favourite items made by Helen Kainert at her boutique studio, Vävra Keramik that is located just before Marstrand along the Swedish westcoast.
JE Nilsson and CM Cordeiro Nilsson © 2011
Driving along the Swedish westcoast in the area of Kungälv towards Marstrand from Gothenburg, a red house with two flags at its door post with a friendly sign that said ‘pottery works’ loomed large, and we couldn’t help but pull into its sand filled driveway to check-out the creative assortment of ceramic pottery works inside, meeting with owner and artist herself, Helen Kainert.
Dark glazed bowls with wild coastal fauna flowers.
Helen’s boutique and work place is designed with light and clean Scandinavian lines.
Partially glazed pottery eggs were subtly decorative attention grabbers, near impossible to not pick them up and bring some home!
Several themes made themselves apparent as we browsed the boutique, hearts and marine life form, materialized in both functional and decorative artefacts.
Helens pieces, sometimes together with works of other artists in her circle, are displayed neatly against a backdrop of either white or black.
Helen’s place, located just hardly a kilometer to the sea, reverberates its surroundings where most objects are made to reflect the colours of the sea, reflecting various shades / hues of deep blue, foam green, and turquoise.
This oatmeal coloured coiled and pressed bowl is my absolute favourite item in the shop made by Helen. Love ♥!
Quixotic hearts… ceramic hearts made to adorn brown paper packages tied up with string.
Understanding sources of inspiration for Helen. Behind us on the wall, an assortment of ecological tea leaves can be found in the shop.
Heart forms are a motif that appears much in Helen’s work. Here a set of three blue bowls in the form of a heart that stack into one another neatly on the shelves for keeps.
Marine colours and marine life make a large part of Helen’s inspirations, transforming themselves into her pottery works for decorative items around the home. Pictured here, a seagreen starfish and small bowls to hold salt and various spices.
Works waiting to be glazed and fired.
Adrian Cordeiro and Helen Kainert, comparing notes on pottery.
Meeting with Helen that afternoon was a definite perk in the drive towards Marstrand for us. Relaxed, happy and bubbling over with enthusiasm for her work, she brought us farther into the house for a browse and view of her workshop and works in progress, in particular, a very large bowl that barely fit into to the walls of the kiln and therefore had to go unglazed.
Come autumn, she looks forward to holding 3 hour long pottery classes for all interested. And after seeing her works, her mugs marked with finger indents that is a Japanese inspiration she brought home in her years of studying pottery making, I could think of no better hobby to take up along the Swedish westcoast, than spend a couple of hours with her in her studio, putting into ceramic form, your life’s creative inspirations.
Thank You, Helen, for a wonderful afternoon at your place!