The joy of living in our own home, simple experiences like sipping your coffee in the morning, enjoying your meal in beautiful tableware, looking at a sweet object in your room, Rita Kettaneh tells us her ceramics Kray Studio is about that feeling of calm when the day starts, the coziness of little joys.
Under her fingers, Rita sometimes explores geometric shapes, it can be with a set process, like the ‘Origami’ series, a meticulous challenge; dividing the clay into equal segments, cutting, folding… Other times the shape comes organically, like when she was inspired to create her pleated vases, letting undulations form naturally. She was fascinated observing a butterfly under a microscope, the delicate ruffles, the subtle structure of the wings, a lightness she looked to reproduce in her series ‘Guided by the Butterfly’. Her personal favorite pieces are the ‘Objects of Love’ vases that embrace each other, ‘the process takes time, it is emotionally demanding, like forms of bodies, they need to look harmonious but also exude energy and tension,’ she tries to convey her own feelings in this piece ‘about love.’ Rita experiments with textures and color, mixing and testing; ‘with glazes you don’t see the final effect that the color will be at high temperature, a gray can become blue, they do not behave like regular paint pigments, for example red and blue do not give purple.’ Then they come out of the kiln where they are ‘fired.’ She embraces the positive side of online connection. When she began sharing her work, a friend on her Instagram suggested she do mugs, so she learned to shape handles, then, after another request she created bigger mugs, and is now exploring pitchers. ‘The more clay you need, the bigger the item is, the greater the challenge.’ Ikebana flower arrangements, scrumptious candles or macramé coasters, she loves collaborating with friends or people she meets online through orders and Instagram, she imagines designs that fit seamlessly together and warm our homes ‘thanks to social media you are not alone in your atelier, you can get caught up in day-to-day stresses, repetitive tasks, and so heartfelt feedback can bring tears of joy in my eyes.’ A serendipitous encounter during an exhibit resulted in her creations now on the shelves at the Sursock Museum in Beirut. She hints to an upcoming collaboration, something to do with vases and love, a recipient never empty, everlasting flowers. A curator for the Beirut design week just reached out to her and KRAY Studio will soon be on display in Dubai.
From the first day she tried ceramics, Rita was hooked. She remembers her first class, making bowl after bowl, her hands were hurting but she was ‘smiling to the point my cheeks hurt.’ After classes she would take her work home and continue. Ideas just pop in her mind and what drives her is seeing it take shape under her fingers, ‘there is a freedom in being able to take an idea and give it life. Working with hands is more intuitive than drawing paper or the computer.’ The entrepreneur started her career in computer engineering. She then switched to a Masters in technology entrepreneurship, joined a startup and decided to take furniture design classes. Things started bustling in 2018 when she created her ‘Crystal Tables’ that were selected to be displayed in Dubai and Berlin as part of the Beirut Design Week, she also received an A Design Award and was featured in Elle Décor. This sparked an influx of orders so Rita left her job and decided to fully focus on product design. She hand-picked each artisan she worked with; the iron craftsman, the painter… and selected top notch quality materials; brass, stainless steel, copper…. Then the Covid crisis started, local demand dwindled, curated websites solicited her tables from Singapore to Switzerland, but it became difficult to increase international orders and execute new designs. Production was inconsistent, ateliers had to close, also, if the laser-cutting was delayed it would delay the iron craftsman and the time lag between idea and execution became much longer. Rita had already started to be interested in ceramics and her sister introduced her to a colleague who taught the craft, Samar Mogharbel. She enrolled in a ceramics course in 2021 and fell in love with it; wedging clay, pinching a pot, seeing products of her imagination take shape in her hands. The first year she did not use the wheel, then came the expert, Australian Lebanese teacher Neville Salha and the wheel went from an unapproachable tool to something she wanted to explore more and more. It deepened her perspective, and became a new ally to give form to her ideas and create snug pieces for our homes. ‘Every day you get better, a different bowl, plate, bigger pieces, new skills. The learning goes on.’ Rita still remembers the first time she sold a couple of cups; ‘it’s a special feeling to create something that someone will love and enjoy, to be able to share your dream with others.’
