This week we’re revisiting our favorite stories from 2024, like this one:
Arnold Dahlger takes out ceramic dishes sitting in lonely piles and updates them. The graphic designer uses gold paint that he applies by hand with paint brushes and ink pens to give his dusty finds a new touch. Recycled goods are available at Algiers Bazaar, the location of Arnold’s shop, and on commission: he is happy to work with pieces from his own collection as well as customers’ plates and plates.
Arnold previously designed visual identities and did illustration work. Tired of days isolated in front of his computer, he signed up for ceramics decorating and silk painting classes in the Paris ateliers, a great place, he tells us, for affordable introductory courses in the applied arts. Tasked with bringing in some paintings for a promotion, Arnold turned to Leboncoin, the French equivalent of Craigslist, and found an affordable treasure trove of grandmothers’ leftovers waiting to be rediscovered.
Arnold now has an atelier in his 10th-century apartment with shelves and shelves of used French crockery. He decorates his own works here and hosts workshops: participants decorate paintings in the Arnold manner. Do you have some unloved hand dishes that could use zhushing? Come and think about the possibilities.
Photos courtesy of Bazar d’Alger (@bazardalger), unless noted.
Stylized vintage tableware
