Hunt and Gather: Heath Ceramics

By Amanda Rickenbach

Heath Ceramics has been handcrafting ceramic tableware that is beautiful, simple and enduring since 1948. Worldwide, Heath's limited production ceramics are treasured for their timeless beauty and functional everyday use.

Heath Ceramics homeware collections allows you to decorate living spaces that are both contemporary and timeless. On their website they describe their tile as "perfectly imperfect" which resonates strongly with me because, in my opinion, "imperfections" bring personality and character to a space. This isn't to say that you will receive chipped tiles, it simply means that each piece has it's own organic and beautiful shape that perfectly compliments other pieces in the collection.

Heath's iconic, mid-century aesthetic extends from intimate home environments, to restaurants, to large-scale public installations. Their traditional hand-glazing techniques "produce a ceramic tile with which endless creative possibilities can be explored."

I've admired Heath's ceramic house numbers for some time now. Pictured above is a celebrated Eames tile; but they also combine clay, kilns and craft with numerical interpretation of Richard Neutra's design legacy. They marry simple, geometric forms and rich glazes in classic, beautiful colors.

All photo's from Heath Ceramics website.

Bio Top Natural Pools

By Amanda Rickenbach

I am the definition of a water person, so these pools/ponds rock my world. Although water is awesome, who likes mucky ponds where bugs breed and slimy algae attacks you every opportunity it gets? Or pools so full of creepy chemicals your skin smells and your hair turns green? These pools by Bio-Top are infestation and chemical free!

There is a plant portion, or regeneration zone, that is separated from the swimming area by the wall seen a few inches below the water’s surface. The regeneration zone can be along the perimeter of a natural pool, or a pond unto itself but connected to the swimming area. 

The pools have skimmers and pumps that circulate the water through the regeneration zone and back into the swimming area. The aquatic plants filter out contaminants and use nutrients from the water as food which helps prevent algae. Then rocks, such as granite river rock or haydite, to which friendly bacteria attach, act as biological filters.

So you can feel clean, safe, and au naturel in these wonderful pools. 

Hunt and Gather: ScarfShop

By Amanda Rickenbach

The ScarfShop creates beautiful handmade scarfs using silk and cotton. Trained as an architect, Martha, the designer, turned to her passion of making things by hand. It's easy to see that she loves what she does by the care and attention that goes into each scarf and the way she captures their beauty on camera.

Hunt and Gather: Sholten & Baijings

 By Amanda Rickenbach

 

Sholten & Baijings is a Danish textile and product design firm. They work with traditional crafts, such as hand-painted work, screen printing, willow braiding and glass-blowing.  Their minimalist designs use colors, layers, transparency, grids, structure, textures, and patterns to create interesting and simplistic projects.

I love the way they combined pastels and vibrant colors on the modern color block quilt - perfect for hitting the hay! Color block is all the rage right now, as is ombre, which is a French word for gradation. The ombre effect on these lights is sweet and simple; a great way to bring just a little pop of color into a space. I wonder what they look like illuminated?

They are famous for their paper porcelain - a porcelain series in which models are formed out of paper or cardboard and then used as molds to create the porcelain pieces. You can see the tape marks and folds. Neat right? One of my favorite pieces is the felted ball rug. They are made out of 100% felted wool and then hand-stitched together. The hand-stitching aside, have you ever felted before? I have, and it is a ton of work. I can't imagine creating an entire rug! I can imagine owning one though, they are beautiful.

For Sholten & Baijings it isn't about getting from A to B, it's about the process and how they get there.

Kid Collective Gift Guide

Want to support your local small business during the holiday season?  Check out Casey's gift guides over at The Kid Collective.  Fig Studio contributed our favorite pieces for the home in today's post, comprised of under $25, under $50, and under $100 categories.  Don't forget, supporting local supports you and your community!  Let the Holidays begin...

 My favorite holiday movie.  Yes, I do know all the songs and dances by heart.

Fig Studio on Raenovate

A special thanks to Rachel at Raenovate for featuring our little labor of love: the Adkinson chair restoration.  We've really enjoyed these beauties over the last couple of months and look forward to more great vintage finds!  You can see more about our process here and here.