What happens when a girl from the plains falls in love with the hills? For Nandita Aron, founder-owner of White Hill Studio, it was discovering her passion for pottery. Born in Bareilly, she moved to Shimla for her higher studies and connected with the slow life. The gentle mountain slopes, wildlife, and forests — the 30-year-old remembers reading classics among the deodars — inspired her to turn storyteller. “Pottery as a medium is fragile. It takes a delicate, precise hand to create the smallest piece. One learns and unlearns a lot while working with it,” she says.
While Aron is not a potter herself, she has been exploring the medium with potters from the area. “I’ve always been in love with nature and stories,” says the Ruskin Bond fan, who studied English Literature at St Bede's College. “The quiet life of Shimla enabled me to channel my fondness into a concrete form, helping me open White Hill Studio a little over a year ago.”
In league with animals
Just as the name of her label is inspired by the hills, so are her collections: limited-edition lines of ceramics and studio pottery that narrate stories. Her latest, Midnight in Mashobra, is a range of tableware based on the tale of three friends — Fredrick the rabbit, Tara the sheep and Raka the leopard — that she had conceived while in Mashobra, a quiet hamlet close to Simla.
To create her characters, Aron collaborates with artists across media. “Each of them brings something new to the table. The younger ones have a contemporary thought process, while the experienced artists bring technique and wisdom,” she says. The artwork for Midnight in Mashobra was created by Bengaluru-based Bakula Nayak, who specialises in hand painting whimsical stories with animals and birds. “I had seen her work online and found my Fredrick in her rabbits,” says Aron, who worked closely with Nayak to create the range. Her opening collection, Cuckoo (inspired by the migratory Jacobin cuckoo), and the bakeware range Homecoming, featuring Himalayan deodars, were created by Delhi-based Anumita Jain. “Her work is brave and modern, with a strong individuality. And yet, she was able to balance it seamlessly with my designs,” she says.
Slowing down
Though nature is the common theme, no two collections are alike. The Cuckoo is rustic and raw; Midnight in Mashobra is colourful and chic, while Old English Garden, inspired by the drawings of British artist Walter Crane, transports you to the 1800s. Aron storyboards, creates mood-boards, and maintains different journals for all her lines. While some of the designs are sketched by artists like Bakula and printed on the pieces before glazing, others are hand-etched by the potters.
As an extension of her studio, Aron wants to conduct storytelling sessions for children, to “help them see the beauty in nature”. Plans to publish her stories are in the pipeline, and she also hopes to curate and host getaways that propagate slow living and mindfulness. Up next is a collection inspired by her favourite tigress, Paro, at the Jim Corbett National Park, and one featuring Shimla’s orchards.
From ₹950 (for a set of two mugs) onwards, the collections are available through her Instagram page, @whitehillstudio, and on kalpane.in and natty.in.