It happened last year, on a windy, sunny day. We were strolling on the main square in Deruta – one of the most relevant ceramic villages in Italy – and Manuela pointed at a small pottery store, right next to Town Hall, that we had never noticed before. Sitting on a low stool, absorbed in the decoration of a dinner plate sat Marianna, the young owner of the place.

She greeted us and led us thru her collections, explaining that her talents as a potter are forged by her passion for music. She says: “There is an unbreakable bond between my pottery and music. When I look at my work, I can hear the music setting that inspired it. The Pavone and the Butterfly collections were designed while I was absorbed in the amazing recording of Vivaldi’s arias by Philippe Jaroussky, Cecilia Bartoli and Emma Kirkby; my first Medusa was painted while listening to Bach’s Magnificat. You know, I cannot paint something I have not created myself: I have to live my designs, feeling them inside even before I grab the brush. And I’m sure that is why my work is becoming more and more popular.”

It is true that her dinnerware and decorative pottery are very much “her own”. You can see that her patterns are inspired to traditional Deruta designs, yet they are irresistibly different. Like the Pavone dinnerware collection. You can tell the design is strongly influenced by the “peacock eye”, a motif profusely used during the Renaissance on ornamental ceramics. Yet, Marianna has completely redefined the colors and the proportions of the elements, creating an entirely new design.

Marianna signs her pottery with the name Ceramiche Andrilia, after her children Andrea and Cecilia.