Beautiful ceramic strainer, by artist Clary Illian. This piece is functional art and it's neutral and calming color for anyone's home or as a unique and lovely gift option. 

After a long career making stoneware and porcelain pots, Illian has switched to earthenware, and finds it is prompting a more light-hearted approach. Her functional intention is intact, and she's having fun with image and pattern and lingering longer over each piece.

About the artist: She is an Iowa native and graduate from the University of Iowa in 1963 with a BFA. In 1964 and 1965 she served an apprenticeship at Bernard Leach Pottery in Cornwall, England. Since 1966 she has made her living as a full-time utilitarian potter; in other words, she make pots for people to use with food, drink and plants.

Her studio is in Ely, Iowa and is open to the public. She has taught semesters and workshops in art schools and craft teaching institutions across the United States and Canada. In 1999 she published, "A Potter's Workbook," that was published by the University of Iowa Press.