12 makers of christmas // suite one studio

You know how sometimes you stumble across a site, completely fall in love and literally neeeeeeed everything they have? Well that’s Suite One Studio. We have more than a few of her pieces in the Jojotastic treasure trove and they’re always the first thing I reach for when styling a shoot. I’m not the only one who thinks so either, her beautiful porcelain collections sell out almost every week!

Lindsay Emery is the owner, designer and ceramicist behind Suite One Studio and has one simple desire: to make mealtimes more beautiful. She does so with thoughtful color glazes, inspired by watercolor paintings and finish many of her pieces with a delicate touch of gold.

tell us a bit about what you do – your process, your materials, what inspires and drives you.

I make handmade porcelain tableware in my cozy North Carolina studio. I work with high quality porcelain decorated with glazes that I formulate and mix in my studio. Most pieces in my collection are finished with a flourish of genuine gold. Each piece is fired in the kiln three times before it is complete, which means I’m usually working on a few hundred items at a time, all at various points of completion. I release new work every Tuesday at 7 PM EST, which keeps a great momentum going in my studio all the time. The click and hum of the cycling kilns provides an energizing rhythm to keep tempo with in the studio.

I’m inspired by all sorts of things, but my work is always made with food in mind, so it’s fair to say that food is the underlining inspiration for my work. Color is also a huge drive for me, and I look to home interior trends and fashion when creating my glaze colors for upcoming seasons. I like to work outside of the earth tones expected of handmade pottery, working instead in rosy pinks, deep navy, and minty hues, all in high-gloss watercolor finishes.

what is your favorite holiday tradition?

I’m all about the Christmas tree. Not so much the decorations, but the tree itself. I love the scent of a freshly cut tree and the magic of late nights beside it in a room lit only by Christmas lights.

what’s your favorite gift to give?

Ring Dishes are definitely my favorite gift to give from my collection. I’m pretty sure everyone I know has received one of these from me at one time or another. If I’m gifting outside of my studio, I look to my local antique and consignment shops for vintage goodies. I love giving gifts that hint at an inside joke and a lot of times you can find something chic and vintage that does just that while looking totally fab and unique!

how do you maintain your creative process through the hectic holiday season?

Oh, this is such a good question! This is my sixth holiday season in business and I still struggle with the creative/productive balance. To maintain my creative process I streamlined my productive process this year (realizing how interconnected these two aspects of my business are, was a major lightbulb moment). Now that my productive work in the studio is more structured and organized each day, it’s much easier to take a step back for creative work.

I aim for three to five creative sessions each week. Usually this takes place in the evening after my studio work is done for the day, which, let me highlight here, means I stop work at a semi-reasonable hour, unlike the midnight and all-night shifts I’ve subjected myself to in the past. By stopping work decisively and taking time for myself and my creativity, I validate that these areas of my life are important too.

any resolutions for the new year?

Continuing to grow my business and studio equipment and resources, that’s my intentionally vague resolution. I like to leave room for life to happen, so I never get too specific with resolutions. But I do think that a new year is a great opportunity to refresh goals and realign enthusiasms. Continued business growth is the general goal I’m working towards. To get a bit more specific, I wouldn’t turn away from a new larger kiln… or a new larger studio space for that matter. All good things ahead.

holiday deals:

10% off your first order through newsletter subscription here. Suite One Studio is updated every Tuesday at 7 PM EST and the latest collections sell out quickly each week. I recommend shopping as close to 7 PM EST as possible to catch the hundreds of new items before they’re out of stock. The last restock scheduled for domestic delivery before xmas is 12/14. Any special restocks and flash sales are announced via instagram.

images via suite one studio.

Check out all 12 Makers of Christmas: all roads | candelles | colore´ grace | friedasophie | même | moulton | morning ritual jewelry | paper and clay | rebecca atwood | suite one studio | third eye assembly | yield design co.

Also, be sure to follow along on Pinterest as all 12 makers share even more of their amazing work!