Did you know? Peter Harrison builds art-inspired furniture out of concrete, metal and wood in his studio a few miles outside of Saratoga Springs, N.Y. His Lavassa Line has been his business since he graduated from RIT with a degree in woodworking and furniture design in 1996. Peter is a daily Uncommon Grounds home-brewer who claims he’s a “House (Blend) Man” – starting every day off with a couple of cups of our coffee at home. We recently visited his impressive work-studio to find out about his work, what it was like to build his studio from ground up, and how he finds customers in a sea of over-exposure to media and advertising.

Uncommon Grounds (UG) : Tell us about the inspiration behind your work.

Peter Harrison (PH) : I am inspired by modern materials and have developed a language of construction based on the materials. I use this language to push the limits of furniture. My goal is to create a beautiful piece of furniture which is fresh and intriguing.

UG : What brought you to Saratoga Springs?

PH : My wife and I love the town and it is almost perfectly between our families who live in New York City and Potsdam.

UG : When did you end up in this particular location?

PH : We closed on this place in January 2007. The week we closed we got 30 inches of snow. I didn’t know how much oil was in the oil tank so it was like “Okay, let’s figure out how to do this!”, searching frantically to get someone to snow plow – worried that the house was going to freeze up. We broke ground that April for the studio which was crucial because for me to live here I need to be able to build my work. So I spent 2007 commuting to my old shop in the Hudson Valley and building the studio here. I did most of the construction on the building myself save for excavation, concrete, insulation and drywall but everything else was pretty much me. I got my Certificate of Occupancy in January 2008 and moved February 1st, 2008. In two-and-a-half days we moved 40,000 pounds of equipment. It was pretty brutal; tough days. So by April 1st I was set up and building work.

Peter assembling prototype new work.

UG : How do you sell your work? Is it in stores anywhere?

PH : I’m generally represented by about ten stores and galleries across the country, including Sundari Fine Art in Saratoga Springs. I do high-end craft shows where you rent space at a convention center for three or four days. I do about four of those per year. Upcoming this spring I have one in Baltimore, MD which is the American Craft Council show. Then I have one in (Washington) DC which is the Smithsonian Craft Show which is a hard one to get in to but I’ve been fortunate to get in the last two years.

UG : What is difficult about getting into the Smithsonian show? Is it a crazy application process?

PH : It’s very competitive, same old application but a lot of people apply to it and it is only 100 or so exhibitors.

UG : That sounds like great exposure for your work. What are your ideal customers like?

PH : I need two things to find clients. I need people who love the work and people who can afford to pay a couple thousand dollars for a piece of furniture. Finding them both together has always been a difficult thing, so selling nationally has been important.

UG : I can imagine. What other ways do you connect with customers and potential customers?

PH : I do a design show in New York City called the ICFF, which is the International Contemporary Furniture Fair. This one happens every May. I’ve also been advertising in the back of Dwell Magazine.

UG : Oh, wow! How has that been for you since magazines have been seemingly going the way of the dinosaur?

PH : It was really good my first couple of years, and then last year it wasn’t as good. I think it might have crested. I don’t think it’s all about the (bad) economy. It’s definitely a changing world on a lot of levels right now. For me it’s really important to be riding the wave and not being washed by the wave. I’m into looking to see the new directions and bringing my work along for the ride.

Decorative plate by Allison Petroski.

This profile could be half art archive, half “Where Are They Now?” post since artist Allison Petroski is a long-time alumnus of Uncommon Grounds in Saratoga Springs. A quiet, sweet woman, Allison is blessing our front window with her beautiful ceramic works. Her profile on Fine Art America details a heavily spiritual personal view of artwork. It was eye-opening to find out that some her intimately intricate designed vessels are intended to hold the remains of pets and loved ones.

We sat down with her today in her studio in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. to find out a bit more about her work:

Uncommon Grounds (UG) : What lead you to the specific media of thrown ceramic?

Allison Petroski (AP) : I taught art at the Charlton School for Girls and when they had an excess in the budget I asked, “Hey could we get a wheel?” and I started throwing every day. I just love it. Love it, love it, love it! It became my passion immediately.

UG : Oh! Interesting. Did you have any formal training with it?

AP : I went to Skidmore and did their community program for two years, and then went back to school at Burlington College to finish my degree in ceramics.

UG : A-ha! So, how do you feel your work has progressed? Did you have a vision of what you wanted to make before you started working with ceramics?

AP : Certainly as you learn, you’re always adding to your toolbox. As soon as I got good enough to start throwing lidded vessels, that’s all I wanted to do. Someone came up to me and said “Ohh, you make urns!” and I thought “No, I don’t make urns.” But then I fell in love with the idea and I realized that it was such an amazing place to hold someone’s remains. And now I’m trying to market a lot of these as funereal urns. The decorative ones like the pieces in the window at Uncommon are simply decorative, like you could put them up on your mantle as a beautiful piece of pottery. Whereas some of the new work, I’ll be marketing more as pet urns and hopefully people urns eventually.

UG : How often are you here in your studio? Are you here every day?

Horse-hair raku fired vessel.

AP : In general yeah, I’m here all the time, trying to build up an inventory. If I’m not here I’m actually trying to work on the business aspect of by working on the Shringar Pottery website. I’m calling it Shringar Pottery because it’s an Indian word that honors the beauty of the creativity of a woman.

UG : So where do you fire all your pottery?

AP : Here! There’s a kiln here. I also do raku out back which is an alternative firing method. I used horse-hairs in this piece [picks up vessel similar to pic on right]. You lay horse-hairs on it when it reaches 1800 degrees. You take it out of the kiln with special tongs and you put horse hairs or feathers or whatever you want to use. It leaves this imprint.

UG : Ohh! Wow, interesting! What’s next for you?

Mantra pot.

AP : I’m starting this new line of “mantra” pots. One of them is in the window show at Uncommon. I put mantras on them so that people can use them as devotional pots. I’m very into the spiritual aspect of art. I’m looking for more art galleries to show my work and more opportunities for people to appreciate it.