Elise Andersen, daughter of the late East Boothbay artists and ceramists Brenda and Weston Andersen, has been busy lately. She and some of her siblings have been going through the attic of her family home in East Boothbay gathering archives — namely ceramics — made by her parents and other family members from as far back as the 1950s.

With help from family members and friends like Kim Villard, the Andersens’ designer products, some of which have been hidden away all these years, are being measured, numbered, dated and photographed in preparation for a retrospective at Studio 53 in Boothbay Harbor, and for future historical reference.

Andersen Design began in the attic of a small house near Akron, Ohio, in 1952, when Weston decided to leave his position as acting dean of the Akron Art Institute, and start a business in ceramics. The couple soon found themselves looking for a more suitable location for their business. Award-winning writer Colin Woodard is a grandson of Brenda and Weston Andersen. In a 2010 article about his grandparents, he wrote: “They reconnoitered the Northeast in their 1947 Studebaker, and after making a wrong turn in Boothbay Center, Maine, found themselves on Southport Island.”

There, the Andersens rented an old house with a barn near Townsend Gut, and started making their pottery. In 1958, they moved the business and their growing family — eventually six children — to the present location in East Boothbay.

Woodard’s article adds: “... the Andersens were an anomaly on Southport Island in 1952. They were newcomers ‘from away’ who were poorer than many locals...”

Woodard goes on to quote Barbara Rumsey of the Boothbay Region Historical Society: “There was a little enclave of very artistic, Bohemian people who dressed quite exotically, almost gypsy-like ... they were way outside the mainstream in terms of lifestyle and intellectual pursuits.”

Elise Andersen said her parents, who met in a ballroom in London (where Brenda was from), collaborated on most of their designs. “My dad would make the forms and my mom would decorate them.” Much of the collection at Studio 53 is practical as well as beautiful. There are cups, goblets, bowls, vases, mugs and plates, each featuring one-of-a-kind glazed art, all hand-painted, many by Brenda. One of her favorite themes was portraits. There are plates and bowls adorned with self-portraits and paintings of her children and other family members. The collection includes a set of four plates adorned with portraits of the Beatles by Susan Andersen, one of their daughters.

Then there are all the creatures, both three-dimensional and painted on pieces, that define Andersen ceramics: the seagulls, chickadees, seals and other animals that have, through the Andersens' creativity and imagination, become true American icons.

Andersen said many of the better quality pieces of Andersen pottery were sold, and she's reaching out to people in the area, and further, who have some they'd like to add to the retrospective for viewing. “We’re particularly interested in the ’50s, ’60s, ’70s, but we’ll look at anything.”

Also included in the retrospective will be notes from the Maine Crafts Association after World War II. There will be a reception for the retrospective on Saturday, April 22. If you have pieces of Andersen ceramics that you'd like considered for the show, contact Elise Andersen: eand40@gmail.com.

Visit the Andersen Design Studio at 5 Andersen Road in East Boothbay, check out its Facebook or website page, or call (207) 350-4057.

“Brenda Andersen was an artist; her work was inspired, free-flowing, sometimes moody, usually extraordinary. Weston Andersen was a trained industrial designer who still seems more comfortable calling himself a designer than an artist.” - Colin Woodard