Who are the people behind Alania Crafts?
We’re Anne and Albert—husband and wife, partners in life and creativity. For as long as we can remember, artistic expression has been at the heart of who we are.
As a child, I was always outside, playing in the dirt, shaping mud cakes and little clay pots. That tactile connection to the earth never left me. In my teens, I sketched, painted on fabric, and later took classes at Pratt Institute, where Al was studying.
Life shifted gears when I became a full-time mother, but creativity remained ever-present. Together, Al and I nurtured art and crafts in our children’s lives. Over the years, we also picked up skills like tiling, woodworking, and all things DIY which inevitably came with homeownership.
Once the kids left for school, Al and I found ourselves drawn back to our creative roots. We began flipping and restoring old furniture, treasure hunting at flea markets for hidden gems. Al was drawn to steampunk projects and started crafting jewelry from wood. We both found joy in making again.
Then something unexpected happened. At one of my mother, Mireille Duchesne's gallery openings, Al noticed something in the way that I admired her paintings. He gently nudged me to take an art class, just for myself. When he asked what I wanted to explore, the answer came without hesitation... pottery.
That moment marked the beginning of something deeply meaningful. I signed up for classes at Railyard Arts Studio, where my mother teaches. I started with hand-building, and once again at Al’s encouragement I tried wheel throwing. I was hooked immediately. I love everything about pottery : shaping clay by hand, centering on the wheel, experimenting with colors with glazing, and the surprise and excitement that comes with opening the kiln. Pottery feels like a return to the earthy, creative child I once was.
