It is the beauty of things imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete. It is the beauty of things modest and humble. It is the beauty of things unconventional.

Penny Shuman lives and designs by the philosophy of Wabi-Sabi, a Japanese world view centered on the acceptance of transience and imperfection. Her design sensibility is imbued in everything that she does from her self-expression of fashion, to designing commercial spaces, a career that spanned more than two decades. After working as Design Director for a commercial firm for five years, Penny’s passion for quality, uniqueness, and being able to present an exclusive and unique product to clients led her to establish PS Design² in 1992. In addition, Penny has been an interior design instructor for Lasell College in Newton, MA and Newbury College in Brookline, MA. She is a professional member of the Retail Design Institute, and has been published in VM & SD (Visual Merchandising and Store Design), Salon News, Chain Store Age, and Designing with Tile. The PS Design² philosophy was to create a visual presentation through innovative design while providing a unique and entertaining environment to fulfill customers’ wants and needs with an expertise in branding, marketing, and visual merchandising. “Less is more” and form “follows function” were the firm’s design philosophy, thus bringing lasting value in a timeless environment.

In 2013, she found a new passion in clay, which continued her sense of design process. Mostly expressed in black and white, her work emphasizes form and function rather than color, and enables her to see the beauty in the imperfections of the clay.