"Switzerland" Travel Collection 2026

In August of 2025, my husband and I took the opportunity to learn about Switzerland after our son's wedding there. We traveled by rail to and from Zurich. During that time, we explored the Bernese Alps and Jungfrau region, the french speaking Valais region, Lake Geneva and Lake Lucerne, and, the Capital City of Bern. We learned about wine, culture, history, and language while meeting the people of Switzerland.

I explored my story of our trip to Switzerland through my ceramic art. Wengen in the Bernese Alps and the Jungfrau region were home base for our first week; I created platters to illustrate that first experience: 1. Alps skyline and 2. Alps flowers and cow bells for the larger platters and 3. wedding plate for the smaller platter.  All of these vessels are hand built using the same altered rim design and Mishima technique, then adding layers of glaze.

The second part of my collection explores the Valais french speaking region. I carved designs from medieval wooden travel trunks and early stain glass windows onto vessels for wine and snacks. Glazes were chosen to evoke a medieval feeling. Switzerland rarely exports their wine and to learn about this element is to learn about this wine growing region. 

In collection three, I explore the area of eastern Lake Geneva where the Olympic Museum is in Ouchy. Combining the message of political harmony with athletic competition imbues my greek vase a nod to global unity in our current political time. I took communion at the Lausanne Cathedral which stands atop the hilltop of the city. Using the floor plan and the "light" that hope brings to religion with communion to create a luminary in a stone grey celadon.

Everywhere you are in Bern (collection 4), you see the Bern bears from real live ones (a family of 3 in the pits) to sculpture. The main city is surrounded by water and it flows under streets. Fountains make the water available to drink. Using medieval colors, I hand carved 13 fountain vases using a water texture on all and an individual image from each fountain's artwork.  Bern was crucial to the Reformation and when catholic churches ceased to need artists, the city kept them working to highlight the fountains with statues.

In collection five: Luzern we took a paddle boat trip to Mt Pireas, looked at Art, Markets, the "Weeping Lion" and famous Chapel Bridge. The final journey back to Zurich (collection 6) allowed us time to see Chagall's colorful stain glass windows before heading home.

Throughout Switzerland, I visited botanical gardens and markets where local fruit and flowers were found.  I hand painted these images on 10 raclette plates to symbolize our group of friends who joined us in Switzerland at Table 1.