Artist : Michele Michael of Elephant Ceramics

Short story: a stylist is on the hunt for nice ceramics. She doesn't find what she's looking for so she sets about making them herself. Enter Michele Michael and the birth of Elephant Ceramics.

I have yet to come across anything like Michele's work; it's simple, bold and sensual. The most powerful element has to be color with a capitol C. She clearly enjoys working with strong tones of teals and blues, using glazes as a loose gesture.

And then the absence of color becomes a powerful contrast to texture.

I love the way she seems to listen and respond to her craft. Now that I've worked a little in ceramics, I can see how she might have been inspired by the texture of the canvas when rolling out the slab.

Image by Jennifer Causey as part of The Makers Project.

The pieces play so well alongside textiles. I love how they're paired with Marimekko fabric here.

Her glazes are a loose gesture, she has an almost painterly approach to them. She simply lets nature do the hard work and goes with the result. At least that's what it looks like. I suspect it's much harder to achieve.

You can find Elephant Ceramics here. Jennifer Causey created a beautiful photo shoot of Michele at work in her studio as part of The Makers Project. And for a little house tour (who doesn't love peeking into artists' homes?), Remodelista featured her home here. Lovely.

Artist : Suzanne Sullivan

There are so many talented and creative ceramicists out there these days. Back in March, Paula Greif emailed me with a list of some great talent and introduced me to Suzanne Sullivan's work. Thank you, Paula!

I instantly fell in love with all of Suzanne's work. The simple geometric patterns contrast beautifully with the rough, hand formed surfaces. And look, she has an addiction to spoons too! Why do we love them so? Her's are wonderful. I wish I had one of these when I was enjoying my red kuri soup the other day. The dark pieces would have played off wonderfully with the bright orange.

Here are some recent pieces that came out of Suzanne's kiln in May. All stunners.

Paula mentioned that Suzanne also makes quilts. She knows what I love. Suzanne's partner, the writer Robert Sullivan, published a book entitled "My American Revolution". Suzanne responded to his writing by making historical quilts that reflect his words.

From what I can see, they are stunning. I love imagining the creative conversations between the two while the works were being created. Collaborations are beautiful things to witness, aren't they?

To see more of Suzanne's work, visit her visual blog The Wide Prospect. A Public Space printed Robert's writings and Suzanne's quilts in an article entitled "Almanac" here. You can find Suzanne's work at Mociun in Brooklyn.

New post on Fibershed over at Handful of Salt

I've got a new article about the Bay Area Fibershed project over at Handful of Salt. Head on over and check it out here.

Founder Rebecca Burgess wears an indigo dyed tunic hand knit by Heidi Iverson
using Sally Fox cotton. Image by Paige Green Photography.

Learn more about the Fibershed project here. Update: Thank you Ronnie for the links to these amazing podcasts on the project here and here.