Regina Mandell is a ceramic artist living in Athens, GA. Since 2014, she has focused on clay as her primary medium and by 2017 officially turned what was an obsessive hobby into a livelihood and the line of ceramic goods known as Forged & Found.
Before wading into the easy going waters of a small southern college town, she owned the award winning boutique, Grasshopper situated on Washington Square in her home town of Philadelphia. And previous to that she spent the better part of 10 years working in the fashion industry as a designer, production manager, print artist and consultant. In 2020, after spending many years working in community clay studios, Regina converted an old storage shed located on her property into a tiny but well planned dream studio.
Her work is characterized by a rustic minimalism touched with a bohemian flair. It is influenced by nostalgia, a love of the coast and a lifelong passion for traveling. She strives to make pieces that ask to be used. Functional art pieces for the home and for moments of comfort. She feels that living with beautiful objects, which pay tribute to the natural world, reminds us to slow down and helps us reconnect with nature and ourselves.