)
Carolina Hemlocks)
White Calla Lily)
Sugar MaplesYaffa Todd (formerly "Sikorsky-Todd") and Jeffrey Todd met in 1980, when she was building her studio and Jeff dropped by to offer his help. Within months they were collaborators; a few years later they married and settled in Burnsville, NC, near the Penland School of Crafts. Yaffa earned her BFA in Ceramics at the Philadelphia College of Art, and studied glass in postgraduate work at the Rochester Institute of Technology. Jeffrey has a BFA from Southern Illinois University; both have been students as well as teachers at Penland. Together, they create magnificent individual flowers, many of them life size or larger, in colors of their own making. Nature is also the inspiration for Yaffa"s imagery vessels. "I use nature as an impulse, blending my feelings and fantasies. I add and delete as I deem necessary to achieve a piece that will evoke a feeling of wonder and intrigue."
In Yaffa"s imagery vessels, this goal is achieved by the combination of her skills in glass blowing, millefiori construction and use, and cane painting. These relatively flat, clear glass vessels are manipulated to convey images of surprising depth and great fluidity. "Designs that are viewed from both sides have to be made using a reverse and positive method, slowly building up the colors to create the final image." Some pieces include inscriptions or quotations; all demand close and repeated viewing. The work of Yaffa and Jeff Todd is included in many public and private collections.
