about

All gleena tableware pieces are porcelain and are hand poured and crafted in small batches by Asya Palatova in Cleveland, Ohio. 

Asya began working with clay while studying graphic design as an undergraduate at University of Cincinnati. The love affair with clay compelled Asya to build ceramic sculptures on her kitchen table while working as a graphic designer in New York City. The kitchen-built sculptures got Asya into the graduate program at Rhode Island School of Design. After earning a MFA with a ceramic concentration, Asya created gleena, a functional tableware line. 

Asya mixes her own porcelain slip and glazes using food-safe clays and minerals, all recipes that she developed at RISD. Click here for "behind the scenes" peek at mixing slip.

Gleena’s organic shapes, soft sugary colors, and imagery are inspired by Asya’s childhood summers spent at grandma’s country house. Surrounded by carefully tended gardens and apple trees, the house was a gathering place for family and friends. Evocative of those leisurly warm days, Asya merges classical and modern to develop objects with a purity of form that compel people to touch and use them.

Gleena porcelain is dishwasher safe, but not recommended for the microwave. That said, nothing will happen to it right away besides getting really hot. However, frequent microwave use will shorten the life of your piece, and hairline cracks will develop.

If you are visiting Cleveland, and would like to stop by the studio, please call 216-310-5718 to make an appointment.