Alyssa Ettinger

So you are warned, this post is EXTREMELY image heavy (ha, yes more so than usual : P), but I dont know if anyone would be able to help themselves taking so many photos in Alyssa Ettinger’s inspiring Sunset Park studio…

Alyssa’s products are primarily slip cast porcelain. She started casting rare vintage milk bottles after discovering an abandoned dump site dating back to the early 20th century, the only items left were clay and these beautiful milk bottles, of course, they were begging to be cast!

She also casts knitting, which is how I discovered her – we are doing the Vogue knitting show together.

Alyssa finds most of her inspiration and ideas for her work while lying in bed, trying to sleep. I think this is familiar to a lot of people that work in creative industries, no? Im definitely a victim! She also has a small part of her studio where she pins images that she likes

She also spends as much time as she can by the sea, beach-combing for glass (remind you of Amy?!) and goes skip-diving for vintage ceramics

She has recently come into possession of a small collection of vintage buttons. I think her casts of these might just get a wee bit popular!

While browsing her shelves, I found this small bowl of beautiful ceramic objects. Apparently, they are leftovers from temperature testing on the kiln. The further the ceramic fin bends helps Alyssa determine the correct temperature. She was telling me that a few jewelry designers were really interested in working with these, I think she should let them, right? I would love to wear one.

Thanks for the insightful afternoon Alyssa!