Photo by Frances Palmer from LIFE IN THE STUDIO by Frances Palmer (Artisan, 2020)
An arrangement used to discuss contrast in photography
Frances Palmer knows how to create magic at her potter’s wheel, but she applies that same passion to her cutting gardens (especially dahlias), floral arrangements, and photography. Her new book Life in the Studio: Inspiration and Lessons on Creativity (Artisan, 2020) left us breathless with delight. It is instructional, gorgeous, and generous—Frances shares her very personal journey with us, giving a true understanding of her craft and process and happily embracing the unpredictability of her chosen pursuits.
(Left) The artist in her happy place doing what she loves. (Right) LIFE IN THE STUDIO is available wherever books are sold.
Her goal is to “encourage others to follow their own artistic paths.” Frances readily admits that her approach is not the only way: “It is my hope that in distilling strategies developed over nearly three decades of creative pursuits, I will be able to offer insight anyone can adapt for their own imaginative adventures.” She accomplishes this in spades and in prose as graceful as her pottery and lifestyle. With some favorite recipes and beekeeping tips thrown in for good measure, Life in the Studio is indeed a treasure.
Photo by Frances Palmer from LIFE IN THE STUDIO by Frances Palmer (Artisan, 2020).
“On the morning of a recent open studio, the second floor of the barn was filled with new pots. Customers were happy to see the work firsthand, and because there are often multiple versions of the same shape, it allowed them to understand the one-of-a-kind nature of each pot,” Frances Palmer writes in the chapter about opening her studio to her clientele.
More Ceramics and Flowers from Frances’s Studio.
Click any image to enlarge
Photo by Frances Palmer from LIFE IN THE STUDIO by Frances Palmer (Artisan, 2020).
From the chapter "Ten Lessons in Arranging," Frances demonstrates how to “branch out from flowers” with a compote of dahlias embellished with grapes, pomegranates, tomatoes, berried vines, and figs still attached to their leafy branches.
Photo by Frances Palmer from LIFE IN THE STUDIO by Frances Palmer (Artisan, 2020).
But don't underestimate the statement you can make when you choose to "keep it simple"—another of her floral design tenets.
Photo by Frances Palmer from LIFE IN THE STUDIO by Frances Palmer (Artisan, 2020).
Holiday-favorite amaryllis flowers, including a showy “spider” variety, show off their bulbs in an open-sided, footed terra-cotta bowl, which appears in an informative chapter for aspiring ceramicists, "Building a Pot, Step-by-Step."
Photo by Frances Palmer from LIFE IN THE STUDIO by Frances Palmer (Artisan, 2020).
The artist presses blooms of various forms into wet plaster to make molds.
One of her compotes, styled here with tomatoes and winter squash, bears the fruits of her flower molds.
November December 2020 Scene column: (c) LIFE IN THE STUDIO by Frances Palmer (Artisan, 2020).
Photo by Frances Palmer from LIFE IN THE STUDIO by Frances Palmer (Artisan, 2020).
Beneath a vase of Frances’s beloved dahlias, we catch a glimpse of two titles from her personal library: Things of Beauty Growing: British Studio Pottery (2017) and Mrs. Delany & Her Circle by Mark Laird (2009), both from Yale University Press. The latter is about the late-blooming and prolific artist Mary Delany who, at the age of 72, began creating exquisite hand-cut botanical collages in 18th-century England and Ireland.
By Alice Welsh Doyle | Photography by Frances Palmer
Don’t miss our feature on Frances Palmer’s dahlia garden.
Signed copies of Life in the Studio: Inspiration and Lessons on Creativity (Artisan, 2020) are available at francespalmerpottery.com
This story originally appeared in Flower magazine’s Nov/Dec 2020 issue. Subscribe to the magazine or sign up for our free e-newsletter.
