Clay Masters
The boutique reflects its owners’ signature creative style.
Written by Lorie Dewhirst Porter
Photography by Stephanie Helguera
DUO LUTO is both a store and a brand conceived by Ojai ceramic artists Fanny Penny and Nicholas Ali. Roughly translated from Latin, duo luto means “mud duo,” an apt moniker for this creative couple who are part of a new generation of the town’s historic clay masters, including, famously, Beatrice “Beato” Wood and her friends Vivika and Otto Heino.
Growing up in Ojai, Penny frequented Duo Luto’s building, which formerly housed a baseball-card and comic-book store. “I remember telling my mom, ‘I want to have a shop someday and make things beautiful and present them to people,’” she says. “I always imagined that this would be my shop.”
Penny and Ali met in 2006; they married seven years later—at Ojai’s Rancho Inn—and have two daughters, Sadie and Gita. Ali hails from Torrance, California, where he did photography and painting and worked with wood and glass. But he never attempted clay until 2014, when he attended a ceramics workshop with Penny. “It clicked for me right away,” he says. “I was, like, this is my material. Why did I never try this?”
Penny’s clay journey began after Sadie was born. Itching to try something new, she began making ceramic necklaces strung on cords she made herself. These were sold at the now-shuttered Modern Folk boutique in Ojai, where Penny was working. “All of a sudden people who were retailers wanted to buy them,” she says. That included a large order from Urban Outfitters, which prompted the purchase of her first kiln, serendipitously once owned by Otto Heine.
Penny’s sought-after necklaces were followed by her outsize ceramic chains and, most recently, by her large-scale rope and ceramic wall hangings. Ali, who has become an expert on the potter’s wheel, makes exquisite, streamlined cups and vessels, among other items. Currently the pair have a thriving wholesale business with retailers nationwide and also take commissions for new pieces.
Their retail space has profoundly affected their clay practice. As Ali notes, “It informs the work when somebody picks it up and says, ‘Oh, this reminds me of something.’ It helps move that whole process through, because on a regular basis we’re talking about the work we’re doing.”Adds Penny, “It’s such a nice affirmation to have the community be excited to see what we’re doing. We’ve had a few locals come in and say, ‘This is the best iteration of this space so far.’ That feels nice.” 910 E. Ojai Ave., Ojai, @Duo_Luto
