Stephanie Young (Born 1969) American, Art Nouveau Inspired Porcelain Vase. Breathtaking curves and lines frame silhouettes of trees at a reddening sunset, with floral designs and bright blue beading at top and bottom. one of a kind. Marked on the bottom with her stamp, an S and Y inside the pupil of an open eye. 

Condition: Good. 

Size: 4 3/4 x 4 3/4 x 10 1/2 in. 

Stephanie Young was born in 1969 in Pennsylvania, and grew up exploring over 400 acres of property on the New York border. An early fascination with insects and collecting was eventually superseded by a growing interest in the arts, as her mother was an antique dealer who frequently brought her along on her journeys to acquire heirlooms, artifacts, relics, and rarities. In particular she developed a deep love for Victorian and Art Nouveau aesthetics, and began to assemble her own collection of paintings, pottery, and more while enrolled at the Art Institute of Boston. Although focused first on drawing, with aspirations to possibly become an archaeologist, a ceramics teacher soon introduced her to her abiding passion, and before she had even graduated in 1991 she was teaching art and art history at community centers and non-profits in the area. After marrying in 1992 she became the manager and head instructor of the New Art Center in Newton, Massachusetts, and began developing her own personal style of porcelain which blends modern quirky imagery with Art Nouveau shapes and themes. She started traveling to art shows around the country, selling every single piece at each one. In the late 1990s she divorced and began living a nomadic lifestyle, fully supporting herself with her pottery and teaching at art centers around the country. After ten years she settled in Plaistow, New Hampshire, where she created a home studio called Calmwater Designs. Since then she has stopped working on commission, with any new piece she makes being a one-off that sells almost immediately through her website. In addition to her personal craft she has been a ceramics instructor for Harvard University for over a decade, as well as a long-time guest instructor for Wheelock College. Her works are found in private collections and museums all over the world, and she is considered one of the most important living American female potters today.

Good.