Meet the Maker: Stephanie Grace Ceramics

Let's get the Creative Juices Flowing!

You all know I love working with my makers. As a creative who hasn't found her medium, I am awed by those who can actually make things with their two hands! I am excited to introduce you all to Stephanie, ceramicist extraordinaire.

Gorgeous oversize bowl as art installation.

Let me start by telling the story of how we met. It was the re-emergence post pandemic. March 2021 and I wandered into my local clothing store and spotted a textured white pot. After chatting with the store owner, I left with Stephanie's number and called her to meet up. I went directly to the community ceramics studio to meet her and I left with her entire inventory. Stephanie was days away from moving to Jackson Hole to run an art gallery -- ceramics was just a Covid hobby. But, after meeting, she wondered if making rather than curating was her calling. She stayed, fast forward almost four years and she has a thriving business making every single piece she sells.

Stephanie's favorite color is white but I did get her to try blue speckles on some pieces, because as we know, blue is my favorite color. Her pieces are made from porcelain and finished with the perfect shade of warm while somehow crisp and bright white. High gloss is her jam.

I recently spent a weekend in Stephanie's studio and learned more about her process. Stephanie estimates she goes through 10,000 pounds of clay a year -- that is how much demand there is for her work. Each piece starts from a block of clay that is cut to specific sizes and then rolled out to the perfect thickness (thank god there is a machine that helps with this). Then she has a limited amount of time to shape the clay - vase, mug, tray, bowl... each style takes a certain amount of time and clay dries out! After the piece is made, it needs to dry before bisque firing in the kiln. The kiln I believe is heated to approximately 1700 degrees F, and it runs for about 12 hours. Bisque firing removes moisture from the clay and preps it for glaze absorption. Then pieces are sanded, glazed and fired again. The whole process from start to finish takes several days.

Stephanie's kiln -- cooking away.

I love working with Stephanie and all of the other artists who make beautiful pieces for me to share with you. Be on the lookout for new products from Stephanie coming to Two Webster soon! And, her Wavy Line Mugs will soon be restocked, with and without handles. My favorite coffee mug is coming your way!