AN ENCHANTING HAPPY HOUR

Mariano Venzo has been a great friend of mine for over 35 years. My husband, Bill, and I were delighted to attend all four of his children’s weddings, Mariano has spent two Thanksgivings with us in Chapel Hill, and we have hiked through North Carolina and Italy together. Mariano and his two wonderful nephews, Carlo and Francesco, joined us for this virtual happy hour to walk us through the process behind the beloved Incanto collection. 

Translated to “enchanted,” Incanto is inspired by Italian art, the landscape, and Venetian history. In this video, you can see Francesco using many tools to carve one of Incanto’s five different designs (the baroque one for this demonstration) into a slab of strong, dark clay. After carving, that “biscuit” is fired at 1030 degrees. Then, the artisans glaze it before firing it for the second time.

We concluded our time together with some funny memories (I love the story of Mariano being wary of going in a canoe with Bill on an Eastern North Carolina river!) and a prosecco toast to one another and our long friendship.

IGTV Happy Hour: https://bit.ly/HappyHour_VBC