GARDEN CITY, Idaho — It's not just your latte art getting the attention these days, even your coffee cup can be a work of art. Lala's Fresh Pots out of Garden City takes the beauty of Idaho and captures it in clay.
The next time, you look at a plate or bowl, really look at it.
"You can make pretty things, but if you have that functionality, I think that’s really special. Making something that someone can use," said Kayla "Lala" Morgan, owner of Lala's Fresh Pots.
With functional ceramics, it's easy to take these everyday items for granted. But for Morgan, she can barely contain her love of pots. Morgan went to school at Boise State for ceramics, but she's been shaping clay since her Play-Doh days.
Using the Idaho outdoors as her inspiration, Morgan combines all her favorite things; rocks and rivers, pots and plates. She takes mounds of materials and sculpts them into unique forms that last longer than a lifetime.
Her signature marbled finish is achieved using a technique called "agate-ware." It resembles the stones she would find with her grandfather on their trips to the Sawtooth Mountains.
"I grew up in the mountains, rock-counting with my grandfather. Always picking up anything that was pretty and different. So the landscape and just the Sawtooth are a part of my inspiration," she said.
For her, the work helps express her creativity - even channels life's struggles.
"This was a place that I could go to to ground myself and to quiet my mind a little bit."
So the next time you pick up that cup of coffee or potted plant, think of the artist who first formed it in their hands.
