8 hours in Athens

I spent the day in Athens, Georgia on Friday, and it was a wonderfully nostalgic trip. JD and I lived in Athens the first three years of our marriage while he was in law school at UGA. I worked for the best hospital in Athens and made several friends there along the way. I was back in town on Friday to celebrate the impending arrival of my good friend Misty’s new baby Hayden, and I enjoyed catching up on all the sites and stops that I had not seen in over two and a half years.

I stopped by Helix and Frontier, my two favorite downtown shops (sorry that I missed you, Toula’s and Homeplace)and documented a few items I wanted to research more. I’ll detail that in later posts this week, but I don’t feel like I can kickoff Athens’ finds without talking about r. wood studio ceramics first.

While an Athens resident, I had the chance to take a tour through the shop and studio. The work produced there is so great: simple colors, beautifully unique shapes, and a thin but sturdy weight. The bowls, plates and platters are peaceful… I don’t think that makes sense at all, but, to me, that describes them perfectly!

The collections are huge. Here’s a sampling of her work (click each picture to follow the link to their page):

I know the studio has received a lot of acclaim: she has been featured in the Sundance catalog and twice in Design*Sponge (early in the blog’s existence and recently in Rebecca Wood’s home for a “Sneak Peek”). When I found a platter and some bowls at Frontier, it was strange to see them again since I hadn’t located them in Nashville yet.

Also a great feature on the website is the wedding registry. Boy! If I had known about this before I registered for our wedding in 2004…

Regardless, I was glad to stumble on pieces from the collection again and wanted to share it with you. Keep an eye out the rest of the week for more Athens’ finds!