Barbara Taylor’s Connection with Clay
Barbara Taylor is a talented potter specializing in the use of red clay. I met her at One-of-a-kind-show and absolutely fell in love with her work. I got to know her a little more when I interviewed her for this segment and was deeply moved by her personal story. Her meticulous research in the methods and uses of clay are evident in her work and story. LifeSpices is proud to introduce Barbara Taylor as the first artist in our series of “Artisan Stories“ and her work will be available for purchase on our recently launched marketplace starting May 28th, 2007.
To celebrate this launch we are hosting a Father’s Day (June 17th) contest.
Post a comment here telling us why Barbara’s hand-made terra cotta wine cups is the perfect gift for your father or if you are a father then tell us why you think these would be a special gift for you, and we will enter you in a contest to win a set of four 4 oz wine cups. Please read the rules of the contest, by clicking here.
Hear Barbara Taylor’s motivational journey with clay, please click on the play button on the video below and get inspired! The video approach is a bit accidental, I had my notebook with me and took my handycam as a last minute thought. As we started the interview , I was taken by her expressive style and asked if I could just roll the video tape and so here it is my first video production… (…it is about 10 minutes so fill-up your coffee or tea, relax and enjoy!)
Wanda Bergman says:
These wine cups would be great for a father because they have a great masculine feel to them. Yet they are not so masculine that he couldn’t share with his wife. A great Father’s Day gift!
May 22nd, 2007 at 3:26 pm
Gary Cannon says:
They are unique.
May 22nd, 2007 at 4:39 pm
muriel gillis says:
it would be lovely to have the wine glasses to serve my wine in.
May 22nd, 2007 at 5:59 pm
Anonymous says:
These are such a unique idea and I would love to own a set of them. They would be so different from the tradion glasses for win.
May 22nd, 2007 at 6:38 pm
Bev Klippenstein says:
definitely one of a kind that would be enjoyed
May 22nd, 2007 at 7:27 pm
Karen Howells says:
My father drinks wine almost every day, he says it will keep his heart going till he’s 100!!!
Thanks!!!
May 22nd, 2007 at 8:21 pm
Beth dekoker says:
My parents make their own wine twice a year, and I am sure they would also love to have some beautiful one of a kind glasses to serve it in!
May 22nd, 2007 at 8:48 pm
Rosa Cross says:
These would be great to enjoy some of my mother’s homemade wine with.
May 22nd, 2007 at 9:20 pm
Susan Thomas says:
These wine cups would be fantastic for big bulky not so delicate hands. Much more fitting for him than a delicate stem glass.
They are absolutly beautiful and unique.
May 22nd, 2007 at 10:24 pm
Jen Willder says:
I would love to give these wine cups to my father. What an incredible story this woman has. I was just touched by it. Not only would I be giving my father this wonderful gift for father’s day, but I’d also be sharing this amazing story with him. Drinking wine from these cups is like having a little cup of inspiration. Barbara Taylor reminds me that when you follow your heart, and the signs that you are shown, anything is possible.
May 22nd, 2007 at 11:16 pm
Jen Willder says:
Oh, and I almost forgot - these cups help prevent hangovers? My Dad will definitely drink to that!
May 23rd, 2007 at 12:16 am
Brenda Jensen says:
What a wonderful concept..I just know that these wine glasses would be wonderful for the father of my children….I love them!!
May 23rd, 2007 at 2:27 am
nancy stokell says:
I love fine wines and what could be better than to use these wine cups
May 23rd, 2007 at 4:44 am
john stokell says:
These are beautiful. Who wouldn’t want to own them?
May 23rd, 2007 at 4:44 am
shirley schoyen says:
These are wonderfully unique.
May 23rd, 2007 at 4:45 am
lori stokell says:
I really enjoy owning different and beautiful items. I would love to have these to serve my wine in.
May 23rd, 2007 at 4:47 am
Miranda says:
These would be great for my stepfather for Father’s Day because he and my mom recently started making their own wine and they would get lots of use. Plus they are very unique and stylish!
May 23rd, 2007 at 8:34 am
Chantal Routhier-Garner says:
These glasses would be perfect for the father in my life because they are strong, masculine and no nonsense just like he is.
May 23rd, 2007 at 8:39 am
Victoria Kondovski says:
These cups would be great to have my children give to my husband for Father’s Day
May 23rd, 2007 at 8:51 am
Pat Gooding says:
Serendipity
May 23rd, 2007 at 9:14 am
Bill F says:
Unique, indeed
May 23rd, 2007 at 9:15 am
Rob Mizzi says:
Barbara’s hand-made terra cotta wine cups is the perfect gift for my father because their brilliant colour is popular in his home country, Malta. My father grew up in a small fishing village, and although he felt that fishing wasn’t his favourite hobby, he enjoyed being with his father as he fished in a colourful, traditional rowboat. When they immigrated to Canada, my grandfather needed to work in Toronto, and gave up fishing. But never stopped making wine, a Maltese tradition. This gift will bring my father (and me!) back to his ancestral roots, and resurrect legacies that we carry with us.
May 23rd, 2007 at 9:22 am
veronica says:
I would love to present these to my dad this father’s day. Being european, it would give him the opportunity to look back at his childhood and young adulthood in Portugal, where he was raised with his parents cooking with clay bakeware and drinking from clay cups. What better way to enjoy a glass of fine european wine than in a european inspired drinking glass.
May 23rd, 2007 at 10:02 am
Ruth Pickering says:
I would love to win these for my dad as he truly enjoys the flavor of each and every wine and since these enhance that flavor it would be wonderful.
May 23rd, 2007 at 10:12 am
k ogletree says:
My father would feel like a real king, with a real goblet.
May 23rd, 2007 at 10:13 am
Janice Cournoyer says:
We are always looking for something new and different. These would be a perfect Father’a Day gift. They would even look great at a BBQ.
May 23rd, 2007 at 10:14 am
Courtney Ackland says:
I think that these would be perfect for my Father, because he is timeless and classy, just like these wine glasses. He is a huge wine conissuer (sorry about the spelling lol), and has a huge wine cellar in his garage…
I think that he would truly love these, and cherish them for years to come!
May 23rd, 2007 at 11:40 am
linda chaput says:
i think they would make an ideal gift because they are so unique and my father love unique items
May 23rd, 2007 at 10:02 pm
S.Sharen says:
They are a unique idea and something the father of my children would love. Finding things he would like is a rare find and these hit right on it
May 23rd, 2007 at 10:12 pm
M. Byrne says:
They would make a lovely gift for some friends of ours who have a large wine collection.
May 24th, 2007 at 8:11 am
Samantha Stainer says:
They are absolutely beautiful and are something different that my husband can enjoy.
May 24th, 2007 at 9:36 am
Marg Hesson says:
her research is so thorough and her different
uses of clay is unique.
May 24th, 2007 at 10:11 am
FAHIM JADAA says:
ITS SO NICE TO SEE SOMETHING ORIGINAL AND PRACTICAL FOR FATHERS!
May 24th, 2007 at 10:31 am
Mike Gismondi says:
These would be perfect because my dad loves to drink fine wine!
May 24th, 2007 at 10:51 am
Anne Derkat says:
My father would feel like Henry the 8th, drinking out of a wine cup.
May 24th, 2007 at 2:41 pm
Dawn says:
Wow - for me I like crystal but for a guy… what is better than clay (like getting dirty) and hey it’s a cup, no fancy glasses.
May 24th, 2007 at 3:35 pm
Jen Willder says:
I would love to give these wine cups to my Father because not only will they look great in my parents’ china cabinet, they absolutely match anything and everyting and are perfect for all ocassions.
May 24th, 2007 at 8:49 pm
Tony Mattioli says:
These beautiful cups are crafted by the very love that creates universes. That very love guides Barbara’s hands as she shapes the raw earthly materials into drinking vessels. It would be a blessing to have my father drink from these love born cups.
May 24th, 2007 at 9:26 pm
suzi hushen says:
My dad enjoys unique and beautiful items - I think he would love this set as it would make an attractive addition to dining when they are entertaining!
May 25th, 2007 at 6:50 am
Linda M says:
They are absolutely beautiful in their simplicity. My husband ( father to my kids ) would love these because he’s a stone sculptor and feels with his hands. The eyes don’t always have to be used to appreciate artistry in its many forms-these cups are an example of that philosophy.
May 25th, 2007 at 1:38 pm
Shawna. Lawford says:
My father is a very grounded person. He has been my foundation, my grounding. My father is also a very appreciative man, who would love the terra cotta wine cups as a symbol of what he is made of and means to me.
May 26th, 2007 at 1:02 am
Harry Schultz says:
As a woodworker & hobbyist I love fine craftsmanship in other areas as well. These cups would make a wonderful addition to a small but friendly get together.
May 28th, 2007 at 4:25 pm
Christine Schultz says:
I love hand made things & would be proud to give them to my father for Father’s Day. A truly unique gift.
May 28th, 2007 at 4:47 pm
Lindsey Moorhouse says:
Hello, I would like to add this post for my father. He is an avid wine-maker from Labrador, using the native vegetation and what he can grow in the garden to create his wines, some of the wines include redberry, blueberry, strawberry and gooseberry. We only get to enjoy them when we manage to get home for the occasional christmas, but they sure are good.
May 29th, 2007 at 1:18 pm
Amana Singh says:
What lovely glasses. They are so unique and nothing like I’ve ever seen before. Very simple and something to be cherished.
May 30th, 2007 at 3:47 pm
Larry Sibley says:
Barbara’s story of how she found her vocation of making wine cups exemplifies the spiritual perspective that there is another higher level of reality of purposeful and fateful forces acting upon and guiding a person’s life. The cups themselves have a fine energy about them - a magical chalice quality, like a grail quest chalice from which an Arthurian knight would sip some transformative elixir. And what father would not appreciate that this unique cup neutralizes a red wine’s capacity to induce a headache?
June 1st, 2007 at 9:33 pm
A handsome man .good wine they deservie your beautiful wine cups. says:
June 7,2007
June 5th, 2007 at 10:45 pm
Evelyn Konotopetz says:
There should nbe more Barbara Taylor`s- you are one of a kind.
June 5th, 2007 at 11:00 pm
Raymond Woytowich says:
I am turning 50 on June 22. I am a father, grandfather, and about to become a great-grandfather for the second time.
I think that the wine cups are very special because they are handcrafted.
They are a one-of-a-kind item.
June 7th, 2007 at 8:28 pm
Freddy Clemett says:
I’d much rather have these than another tie…
June 11th, 2007 at 12:27 pm
Indra says:
Sorry Freddy..the contest is closed.
June 11th, 2007 at 1:25 pm
Daria Werbowy Josh Hartnett says:
Daria Werbowy Josh Hartnett…
I Googled for something completely different, but found your page…and have to say thanks. nice read….
December 2nd, 2007 at 12:05 am