J Schatz Studio

Industry + Art — Thursday, May 14 at the studio.
We’re opening the doors for an evening with Ian Stallings, hosted alongside ASID Michigan and Cambria. Ian will present at 4:00, followed by refreshments and conversation with our resident artists until 6.
Expect an open dialogue around ceramics, sculpture, and the intersection of wood and clay — sculptural, tactile, and anything but ordinary.
3:30 arrival · 22005 Van D**e Ave, Warren MI · RSVP at the link in bio.

ASIDMichigan

Relaxing on a warm Sunday afternoon, listening to the sounds of nature.

With so much chaos and confusion around us, we all need moments like this—time to step away, breathe deeply, and be present with the natural world. Even for a few moments, it helps to soften the weight of all that so many are living through and witnessing. Sometimes a small escape is its own kind of healing.

We’ve been deep in the glaze combinations for the new tile bar we’re building, and every test keeps leading to the same conclusion: we can’t resist more, not less. More surface. More contrast. More depth. More choices that push the whole thing further.

Somewhere between restraint and obsession is where the best work starts to happen. One glaze shifts another. Matte next to gloss. Soft breaks against darker edges. Each tile becomes its own small decision, and together they begin to build a language of color, texture, and possibility.

This is the part we love most — following the material, trusting the pull, and letting abundance lead.

Sometimes ceramics gives you a second chance.

This tile is getting another round of attention as we work toward a new bar and entry desk that will be on view at Take Me Home soon. One of the beautiful frustrations of clay is that it doesn’t always reveal itself all at once. Surface, color, balance, proportion — sometimes the work asks to be revisited.

That’s part of the process. Not perfection, but persistence. Looking again. Adjusting. Trusting that something stronger can still emerge.

Back in the studio. Back at work. More soon from Take Me Home.

Why does the JS 157 bowl exist?

Because even the simplest meal deserves a sense of place.

The JS 157 salad/soup bowl was designed for daily rituals—the quiet lunch, the shared dinner, the moment you pause and nourish. Its shape is intentional: open enough for abundance, deep enough for comfort. It holds both food and feeling.

We make these by hand, one at a time, in our studio. Each curve, each edge, carries the human touch—subtle variations that remind you this object was made, not manufactured.

It’s not just a bowl.
It’s a companion to your everyday life.

This is why it exists.