Meet Francesca and Feramics
We are highlighting the work of local Ceramcisit, Francesca and her brand, Feramics at Moon+Arrow this month. We asked Francesca some questions to get to know her and her art practice. Shop her ceramics now online or in person at the shop.
Can you walk us through your making process from start to finish?
I work in tandem between two mediums, ceramics and drawing, to create objects and illustrations that connect us to each other and to ourselves. The ceramics I produce are usually functional and are guided by the seasons and conversations I have with my customers. I plan my kiln cycles around 1-2 forms at a time such as bowls and bud vases and from there I allow myself a lot of freedom with iterations on size and surface. In practice this looks like me restocking customer favorites, but also taking risks experimenting with new forms and surfaces while taking good notes to remember my next best (or worst) combinations. This approach keeps things interesting both for me and my collectors and makes every glaze kiln unload more exciting and anticipatory than the last.
My ink illustrations happen in a much different way. They begin as pencil sketches, often from observation and while on the go. For me the goal is never to draw a place from observation exactly as it is, but to add to it, take away, distort, and turn it into something a bit new and reimagined. Time is often the best sauce for this. At any point I’ve got a handful of pencil drawings cooking, slowly influencing each other until they are ready to be turned permanent with ink. Similar to how I work in cycles with my pots, I do so too with my drawings. Chunking drawing time allows the process to inform itself and evolve a set of drawings as a group. This is more fun for me but also more efficient. Once the drawings feel complete I partner with woman-owned print shop Alpha Graphics to work their production magic to turn my original illustrations into greeting cards you can shop online, across Baltimore, and now in Philadelphia at Moon and Arrow !
What parts feel ritualistic, intuitive, or surprising each time?
Even when every step of the ceramic process has gone exactly as planned, opening the glaze kiln still surprises me. It’s a magical feeling to see your cumulative work materialize into permanent, useful, and beautiful objects.
How does your work change with time, mood, or place?
New drawings are often sparked while traveling. Things always feel so fresh when you are moving through the world and capturing a drawing of a place is a good way to capture the feeling of being there too. It’s similar to how a good photograph can send you back to a place, time, and/or feeling. As for my ceramics the seasons definitely impact what I make. I love making luminaries for wintertime and bigger produce bowls for summer, for example.
Do you notice your pieces reflecting what’s happening in your life or surroundings?
Absolutely. Whether greeting card illustrations or sgraffito tiles, views from my own life are often shared in my work. The fun thing is, being someone who has lived a lot of their life in cities means that many of the views shared in my art are often of public spaces and thus are also loved and experienced by many people other than myself. I think that’s the glue that often connects people to my work. These places I’ve drawn on paper or etched into tiles are ours and not mine. They’re our beloved parks, restaurants, rowhomes, living rooms, kitchens, cafés, etc.
What are you curious about exploring next in your practice? Materials, scale, forms, collaborations, or something entirely new?
Literally too many things. I’ll share one! I’ve been stewing on a tile project that highlights my favorite Philly restaurants/bars/small businesses, many of which no longer exist. I spent a decade in Philly and have a lot of nostalgia for the places, spaces, and businesses that held me as a young person and artist. To me this project feels like a sweet way to preserve some small business’ legacy plus I want to see who else remembers and misses these old spots that live on in my head!