Northbrook ceramic artist's work officially One of a Kind
It's easy to goof up a piece of ceramic pottery. Take it from a professional.
“There really is a fine line between, ‘Oh my God, this is gorgeous,' and ‘Oh my God, my son made it,'” said Dubhe Carreño, whose workspace and shop, This Quiet Dust ceramics studio, is located at 425 Huehl Road, Building 22D, five minutes from her Northbrook home.
“Clay is so transparent to craftsmanship. You can't hide,” said Dubhe (pronounced doo-bay), who at 18 emigrated from Venezuela to the United States, first arriving in New Orleans.
A graduate of the Massachusetts College of Art and Design with a master's degree from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and a ceramics professor at Northeastern Illinois University, Carreño has had her work in shows at the Chicago Botanic Garden and Smithsonian Institution. She has been featured in Chicago Magazine and Midwest Living among other publications.
This month visitors can see her functional, earth-toned porcelain tableware and how she makes it as part of the annual One of a Kind Show and Sale. Normally held at the Merchandise Mart in Chicago, this year the event is going virtual from Nov. 12-Dec. 6.
Typically a shoulder-to-shoulder affair on the seventh floor of The Mart, more than 300 artists and craftspeople will be presenting their wares virtually through the OOAK website and its Facebook and Instagram accounts.
An email signup also is available. Each participating vendor will be linked on the OOAK website.
Carreño will host open-studio events at This Quiet Dust four days in November during One of a Kind. It's her fifth year participating in this huge show.
Her schedule is from 5 to 8 p.m. Nov. 13 with a studio tour plus wheel throwing and glazing demonstrations starting at 6 p.m.; 1-3 p.m. Nov. 15 with demonstrations starting at 2 p.m.; and on Nov. 20 and Nov. 22 on similar schedules.
A ballet dancer starting at 13, “I was so old at 18 I had to retire,” said Dubhe, whose father, Alcides, named her after a star in the big dipper.
She turned to ceramics, and moved to Chicago in 1999. This Quiet Dust has been in its current high-ceilinged space three years, since she moved from a home-based business in Skokie.
“My work is inspired by nature,” Carreño said.
“The shapes and forms are very irregular. The colors are inspired by colors and textures, like bark. It's always textured and has depth to it. And river rocks, too, like the greens and the pinks and the grays.”
Her tableware will be admired for its smooth, cool beauty, but it's meant to be used.
“I'm really inspired by the daily contact with the pieces, that you are able to handle them, interact with them in everyday life. You kind of build a relationship with them, like the morning coffee,” Carreño said.