The Art Nouveau Porcelain of NH Artist Stephanie Young

April 26, 2013

Susan Laughlin,

Stephanie Young grew up in a household full of antiques. But it was the curves of the Art Nouveau period that captivated this Plaistow artist – eventually using her porcelain vases as a canvas.

Young explains that the Victorian period was "too flowery" and the Art Deco movement was "too straight" for her sensibility.

Using a Nouveau-inspired curvilinear framework, she creates architectural "windows" filled with her love of nature, from ladybugs to dragonflies to dung beetles, all carved into the clay when leather hard.

Her final glazes have a matte finish and natural colors – green and oxidized shades of bronze and copper – for a look reminiscent of ceramics created at the previous turn of the century.

Young's work, including lamps of similar design, is available at most League of New Hampshire Craftsmen shops.