Member Profiles

VINA DANIELS

Vina Daniels is a former bookstore owner who spent a little too much time stocking the self-help section. "Do what you love" the books say. So she left the bookstore in good hands and created a business about love, Paw Printers. Everyday she talks to people about their love affair with their pets. Vina meets wonderful dogs and cats and even sometimes horses and birds, and then coaxes them to let her push their paws into wet clay. She gets doggies' kisses and kitty hugs and celebrations of a job well done when the prints are made. She makes beautiful ceramic picture frames, stepping stones, tiles, coasters, and clocks, all with amazing impressions of paws, detailed and unique. She gets to see the owner's eyes light up and sometimes mist up when they see their pet's paw prints.

She is currently involved in an amazing project with Tony LaRussa's Animal Rescue Foundation in Walnut Creek. Those donating to ARF's Capital Fund Raising campaign will have a 16" x 16" Paw Print Stepping Stone with their pet's paw prints in the Donor Garden at the new building. Vina will be making as many as 400 stepping stones for this project. (For more information about ARF, see www.ltr-arf.org.) (Ed. note: Vina's work with ARF was the result of an Alliance connection! Jessica Bucciarelli worked with ARF on their newsletter, heard about the stepping stone idea, and immediately thought of Vina, whose ceramic work Jessica had seen at Boadecia's.)

All that love, and all those paws - but wait there's more! She owns three kilns and uses them to fire up her sculptures and other creations as well as her paw print items. She enjoys the magic of transformation when an object begins with a pastel chalky look and ends up with a deep rich shiny surface when the ceramics are fired. She also loves to do Raku firing, a dramatic goddess-evoking process that involves rapid heating, plucking hot pieces from the kiln and smoking them in a bucket. Raku pieces are characterized by a beautiful smoke and crackle look.

Vina Daniels has been creating in clay since grade school. She has worked in an odd assortment of jobs including blackjack dealer, computer graphics programmer, and bookstore owner. She is currently a member of the Alliance Board of Directors, serving as VP of Membership. Though her bookstore joined the Alliance ten years ago, she only joined as an individual last year. She had been a member just a month before answering the call for volunteers to join the board to keep the Alliance going. She believes the Alliance is an important organization and encourages others to get involved. In her spare time, she's working with the rest of the intrepid Board members to save the day.

You can see Vina's work at the Wild Bird Center in Walnut Creek, Nitro Dog in Lafayette, and Boadecia's Books in Kensington and online at www.pawprinter.com. Sign up on her mailing list to receive notice of her next Open Studio. Better yet, give Vina a call and make an appointment to preserve your beloved pet's paw prints in clay!

Vina Daniels can be contacted at 925.962.2PAW (2729) or via email at vina@norcov.com.

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