Taisto Kaasinen (1918–1980) was one of Finland’s leading ceramic artists in the 20th century. He was the son of Viljam Kaasinen and from 1941 married to Airi Lija Valtonen. Kaasinen first studied art on his own and then privately for Erkki Koponen and Uuno Eskola . He was trained as a ceramicist at the Arabia factory 1946-1952 and was employed as a ceramic artist at Upsala-Ekeby in 1952. He returned to Arabia in 1961 where he has his own studio in the art department. He participated in the exhibition Artium Exposé in Gothenburg in 1953 and in several exhibitions in Uppsala. He was part of the ..read more

I last featured the work of Illustrator Michael Robertson back in 2011. Since following one another on Instagram for the last couple of years, I thought it was a good time for an update and so fired a few questions over to Cleveland USA to discover a little more about the artist himself. Hi Michael, at what age did you first get interested in Art and did you get encouragement by anyone in particular (family, teacher etc) ? Craig hi there, I have been interested in art for as long as I can remember. I think my mom recognized my talent very early on because she saved one of my first drawings tha ..read more

Taisto Kaasinen (1918–1980) was one of Finland’s leading ceramic artists in the 20th century. He was the son of Viljam Kaasinen and from 1941 married to Airi Lija Valtonen. Kaasinen first studied art on his own and then privately for Erkki Koponen and Uuno Eskola . He was trained as a ceramicist at the Arabia factory 1946-1952 and was employed as a ceramic artist at Upsala-Ekeby in 1952. He returned to Arabia in 1961 where he has his own studio in the art department. He participated in the exhibition Artium Exposé in Gothenburg in 1953 and in several exhibitions in Uppsala. He was part of the ..read more

Birger Kaipiainen (1915-1988) was one of Finland’s best-known ceramic artists. After graduating from the Central School of Arts and Crafts he was offered a position at the art department of Arabia where he worked over fifty years, alongside Rut Bryk (more here). The talented artist was referred to as the “king of decorators” and the “prince of ceramics”. He received international fame at the Milano triennial in 1960 and Montreal Expo 67, where he won the Grand Prix. For the triennial, he had designed a series of birds made of ceramic beads. Montreal’s massive relief Orvokkimeri (Sea of Vio ..read more

Hi Everyone, I hope this finds you well and that you are enjoying a little of these lovely summery rays. I have a small sale on my stories over on Instagram so please head over and have a look here @fishinkblog Also I will be taking a short break from the blog of a couple of weeks off to concentrate on my artwork and have some time to read and enjoy the summer. If you are planning some time away, have a lovely break too. David Stone Martin was born June 13, 1913, in Chicago and attended evening classes at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. It’s been said that he was greatly influence ..read more

It has been a few years (for obvious reasons) since I’ve been to a local degree show. So I made the effort to go and see the Manchester School of Art Degree show which is on until the 22nd June 2022. I was thinking as I walked around the show how difficult it must have been in trying to organise yourself and work during all that has been going on in the last three years. I see it as a testament to the students pure determination, that they created the work and pulled a show off at this time. One of my favourite places to start at is always the Textiles in Practise area. Nasaybah Arshad has fo ..read more

Dorothy Clough (1930-) is one of the well-known representatives of the illustrious Swedish ceramic design of the 20th century. She was one of the leading designers for the Upsala-Ekeby and Gefle factories in the 1950s and 1960s. Growing up in the United Kingdom, she received her education at Edinburgh College of Art in Scotland between 1948-53. With the help of a travel scholarship, she moved to Sweden in 1954, receiving an internship at the Gefle Porcelain Factory in the central Sweden city of Upsala. Dorothy was hired as a designer at the factory Upsala – Ekeby the following year and stayed ..read more

Robert M. Peak (1927–1992) is an award-winning American illustrator , born in Denver, Colorado, Peak grew up in Wichita, Kansas. At an early age he displayed a talent for art, and had an interest in becoming a commercial illustrator. While attending Wichita State University, Peak took a part-time job in the art department of a local printing and graphics firm, McCormick-Armstrong. After serving in the Navy during the Korean War, he enrolled in the Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles, California, where he graduated in 1951. In 1953 Peak moved to New York City and worked on an Old Hic ..read more

At the end of last year, there was a new book released, celebrating the wonderful midcentury work of Ib Antoni. Written by Sara Alfort in collaboration with Antoni Legacy. It has been published in English with the title “The Man Who Drew Denmark”, also available in Danish, as an e-book, and an audiobook. It can be bought right here on the official Ib Antoni website. Ib Antoni was born in Esbjerg in Jutland, Denmark in 1929 and grew up in Aarhus, where he was educated as an advertising designer on the advertising agency “Buchtrup’s Klichéfabrik”, after which he was hired by the agency “Harlang ..read more

Hi everyone. Today I have some very exciting news for you. I am having an auction-style sale of some of my Lisa Larson figures. if like me you have always wanted to own one of her beautiful midcentury figures, well here is your chance. Starting tomorrow (i.e. Tuesday 1st March) at 10am GMT they will be available on my Instagram feed at www.instagram.com/fishinkblog If you are interested in bidding on anything, you can do so by leaving a comment below the photo and description of the piece of ceramic you like on my feed. That way, the most up to date bid will always be at the top of the comment ..read more