For several hours each day, Ellen and Dia Haffar joyously toil away – sometimes accompanied by their pet cat, Bobbie, and dog, Gracie –  in their attic, sculpting and designing new ceramic pieces. 

Ellen or Dia will sit down at a wheel thrower, molding clay in their hands. The other will sit a few feet away painting pieces further along in the process. 

Two years ago, they began learning ceramics together. For Ellen, a soon-to-be-retired art teacher at Fayetteville-Manlius High School, and Dia, a former English teacher, the process has been a discovery of an art form and the depth of their own bond. 

The mother-daughter named their ceramics business Smokepail Studios. They make mugs, cups, bowls, plant pots, covered jars, and wall decor, among other things. 

Ellen and Dia came together out of necessity and curiosity to learn. 

“To be in your 50s and to start something completely new when you’ve been two-dimensional your whole life, it was really exciting,” Ellen said. “ And obviously to have Dia to do it with, it’s a dream come true. It’s so much fun to learn together.”

Art has always been part of Dia’s and Ellen’s lives. Ellen has always been an artist and an art teacher. Dia first took an interest in pottery at 7. She drew pictures of gerbils in class, whenever Ellen would go to parent-teacher conferences Dia’s drawings would be on display. 

While Dia took an interest in art, she decided at 13 that she wanted to be a scientist, not an artist. 

“I didn’t want to be an artist,” Dia said. “I said that a long long time ago.” 

  • Credit: Michelle Gabel | Central Current
  • Credit: Michelle Gabel | Central Current
  • Credit: Michelle Gabel | Central Current
  • Credit: Michelle Gabel | Central Current
  • Credit: Michelle Gabel | Central Current
  • Credit: Michelle Gabel | Central Current
  • Credit: Michelle Gabel | Central Current
  • Credit: Michelle Gabel | Central Current
  • Credit: Michelle Gabel | Central Current
  • Credit: Michelle Gabel | Central Current
  • Credit: Michelle Gabel | Central Current
  • Credit: Michelle Gabel | Central Current
  • Credit: Michelle Gabel | Central Current
  • Credit: Michelle Gabel | Central Current
  • Credit: Michelle Gabel | Central Current

Dia instead worked for the Peace Corps, traveling to South Asia and Africa. When she came back to the United States, she landed a job as an English teacher in Dallas. 

The whole time, Dia kept painting as a hobby. When Ellen visited Dia in Dallas, she noticed floor-to-ceiling canvas paintings. When Ellen asked Dia what to send her in a care package to Dallas, Dia often asked for the same thing: “Sketchbooks, sketchbooks, sketchbooks,” Ellen said. 

“When I would visit her she’d just have these sketchbooks filled with watercolor paintings,” Ellen said. 

The Covid-19 pandemic took its toll. As the pandemic increased Dia’s stress, she fell more and more into painting and art — enough that she wanted to do it full-time. 

Ellen invited her daughter to live at home but to soften the blow of moving back home at 30, she called it a residency. She named it the George Greene Winter’s Memorial Scholarship after Dia’s grandfather. 

“I was like I can’t give you a trust fund, but this is something that I can do,” Ellen said. “An artist residency is an opportunity for an artist to have the time and space to develop their ideas, and to try something out. That is something that I can do for you.”

Dia applies underglaze on a mug as family cat Bobbie gets closer. Credit: Michelle Gabel | Central Current

After returning to their Pompey home, Dia chose to pursue pottery. She honed her craft through classes at local studios like ClayScapes, Ithaca Clay School, Schweinfurth Art Center, and she also received lessons from David MacDonald, a ceramics Professor at Syracuse University. In turn, she taught her mother the skills she learned from the classes.

They began working on pottery together. Ellen borrowed a throwing wheel from F-M, placing it in their driveway. They created a makeshift outdoor kiln, using a trash can, and churned out experimental pieces. 

They used the trash can, a less expensive method to pit-firing ceramics. That’s where the studio got its name: Smoke billowed from the trash can. 

After six months of saving enough money, they purchased their first electric kiln. 

“We learned this together, we started from the beginning and we just started making this together,” Dia said. “We’ve made some really wonky things.”

Now, the duo uses the attic and the basement as their studio. A wheel-throwing machine sits among glaze, acrylic paint, aprons, red clay, note pads with drawings and paintings, and shelves holding the pieces that have come to fruition. 

In the corner of the attic is a three-seater wooden table, with an assortment of acrylic paint bottles stacked onto shelf organizers. Once the pieces are painted, Ellen and Dia carry them to their basement, where the electric kiln now sits. 

The Haffar’s home holds a variety of ceramic pieces, each one different. One includes a mug with a bunny getting beamed into an alien spaceship. 

Ellen creates a belly in a mug with a throw stick as Dia works at left. Credit: Michelle Gabel | Central Current

For the rest of the summer, the Haffars will travel to festivals across New York State to sell the ceramics pieces they’ve made. They will get to stay in the Syracuse area for one of those festivals when they sell pieces at the Westcott Art Trail on June 15. A few other stops included in their routes are New Paltz and Rochester.

Dia currently works on the business full-time while Ellen plans to join her once she retires at the end of this school year. 

Their partnership has allowed them to explore, experiment and create memories together.

 “It’s been great,” Ellen said. “I love working with Dia.”

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