Thea Tenenbaum and Raffaele (Lele) Malferrari have been making pottery together for 29 years. Thea, a native of Boulder, Colorado, studied studio ceramics at Harrow School of Art and Technology in London, where she received her diploma in 1977. Lele is an entirely self-taught artist who grew up in Italy surrounded by many of the forms and colors that he uses in his ceramic designs. Each year Thea and Lele spend several months in their house in the Appenines between Bologna and Florence and invariably come away inspired.

Their studio is in an old goat barn next to the chickens and the garden on the communal farm where they live, ten minutes outside Boulder.

They have a son and a daughter. Emiliano, 28, is now living in London  working as an artist in glassblowing and woodworking. Gelsomina, 24, is here in Boulder getting her teaching certificate in elementary education, mastering gardening, slow-food cooking, singing and folkdancing.

For over 30 years, Thea and Lele have been members of the Boulder Arts and Crafts Cooperative on the Pearl Street Mall in Boulder, the oldest cooperative in Colorado. The hand-thrown, hand-decorated, Italian style terracotta they sell there is leadless and food-safe, though microwave is not recommended. Their tile installations in the bathrooms and kitchens of many Boulder homes also include Italian landscapes, whimsical birds, animals or custom-ordered designs.