San Francisco - October 23, 2006

The Wheel Deal

Joanna Mendicino Ceramics

Like many things, your home decor seems to hinge on the proverbial wheel of fortune.

One minute you’re up (mint Tiffany S&P shakers at a garage sale); the next you’re down (DIY wall stenciling gone awry).

Work your lucky streak with local artist Joanna Mendicino’s charming ceramics. Dedicated to the potter’s wheel from the age of 18, she makes pieces that reflect a fascination for all things small, modern, and impossibly cute.

Add a few daisies or tulips to her adorable bird vases. Start an aviary with an assortment of charming sparrow and quail sculptures, or invest in egg-shaped mini dishes (ideal for pecking parties).

Not game for fowl play? Mendicino also crafts lovely, modest vases with pebble-size holes, pin-cushion detailing, vertical stripes, and futuristic garden markings. Just a piece or two should get your interior decor on the upswing again.

Who knows? With a little good fortune, it could even bring it full circle.

Available at Artist-Xchange Gallery, 3169 16th Street, between Guerrero and Valencia Streets (415-864-1490 or artist-xchange.com); Museum of Craft and Folk Art, 51 Yerba Buena Lane (415-227-4888 or mocfa.org). To see styles, go to jmendicino.com.