On a snowy February day in 2014 we moved to our Gilford Street studio. Prior to our move the space had been converted to an apartment, as many of the small commercial spaces along these more residential streets had been over the years. We put few ceramic pieces and the studio's name cut from vinyl in the window. Curious neighbours stopped in to welcome us to the neighbourhood, we were told that the space had been an ice cream shop at one time, and jewelry store, little by little we learned about the history of our surroundings and met many people in the neighbourhood who seemed happy about a new space where they could stop and have a chat.  The studio / store you walk into now has changed drastically over the last ten years, both inside and from the outside, yet the spirit of what we do remains the same... a bit like ourselves.

Limited edition

Feature # 5: Splatter Platters

Our classic cloud shaped serving platter, one of the very first designs we created. We also call it our instagram star as it has been used by dozens of food stylists over the years to present incredible looking recipes. For a limited celebration edition we have splattered them in our signature colors and embellished with gold detailing. Quantity: 10

Istanbul: In 2012 I traveled to Istanbul to meet up with Maya. Fresh out of a breakup and days after submitting my MA thesis project . What better time to jump on a plane! For two glorious weeks we meandered Istanbul’s narrow streets and steep hills, feasted on decadent sweet and savory treats, reveled in rich textural visual delights, visited art galleries, markets, mosques, and drank copious amounts of Turk ish tea. We were both at a crossroads in life - single and in between projects. We’d been sharing a studio (Aird St) for two years and were both naturally thinking about what to do next. Get a job? Go full time into ceramics?!? We had time, we had energy, and we had no one else to answer to or take care of. Hence , Atelier Make was born, over a cup of tea in an Istanbul courtyard, on the banks of the Bosporus. I look back on this moment in life as one of true serendipity ; synchronicity ; a fate of sorts. It was a rare moment in life that I feel incredibly privileged to have lived, and to have recognized for the opportunity that it was. On that afternoon in April 2012, we made the decision to go for it ! To embrace the opportunity, to take the risk, and to see what was possible. I can honestly say that I have never for moment doubted or questions this decision. It felt right. The first few years of the business were not easy - we worked long hours and earned almost nothing at first. But slowly things grew. We gave classes, we did design shows, we held studio sales. And we are not done!

Limited Edition

There is so much playfulness and experimentation that happens behind the scenes at Atelier Make ! Here is the forth in a series of limited - edition pieces from our personal studios .

Feature 4 : Piggy Banks - in Pink !

This is our upscale version of your classic kid’s piggybank. Thrown and hand sculpted from translucent coloured porcelain and decorated with a touch of gold!

In a 200 square foot studio with a tiny secondhand kiln and one wheel Jaimie and I started making ceramics fueled by many cups of Turkish tea. We felt a sense of freedom and playfulness, in a place that felt new and full of possibilities. The very first pieces I made were tiny round plates with faces drawn on them. One of Jaimie's first pieces was a fluted oval white dish. Both pieces are still in our collection today, the tiny round plates had many lives in different patterns, textures, and glazes over the years. But from the beginning we were amused by how well these two things fit together, and for our first little sale on the one table in our tiny studio we made sets of the different objects we had each created individually. During one chatty afternoon, I told Jaimie about an event I had seen the previous winter something called the Souk@SAT. How I thought it was filled with talented people, making beautiful objects of all kinds, we looked it up and decided to come up with a name for our studio and put together a small collection of functional ceramics that we would choose from the various pieces we were each making. The rest as they say is history...

Limited Edition

There is so much playfulness and experimentation that happens behind the scenes at Atelier Make! Only a fraction of what we do it is shared with the public. Here is the second in a series of limited-edition pieces from our personal studios. Throughout the year we’ll share small-batch gems and tell you about the ideas behind them.

Feature 3: Maple Syrup Bottles 650ml  
Porcelain.

Maple syrup is so iconic to Quebec. And what better time to enjoy it than than sugar shack season! I am one of those people who did the classic pandemic move, relocating just far enough from the city to be able live just adjacent to a lovely maple grove. Each March, as winter turns to spring, we walk over to the neighbours to sample this season’s syrup fresh from the boiler. My daughter loves to scoop a cup of maple water directly from the sap buckets and sip it while we walk. After 14 winters in Montreal this is the first for which maple syrup season is not accompanied by snow… It is visually disorienting, walking into the woods to enjoy the charm of “sugaring off” and not being surrounded by fluffy spring snow. We are relieved to see the sap run all the same, and will savor it on our pancakes all year long! How very adaptable nature can be.  

Where it all began

Many people’s first question when they meet Maya and I is how we met. I’m revealing our age when I say that we met more than 20 years ago – at art school in Vancouver…. We were both in Emily Carr’s ceramics program, when the campus was still on Granville Island, nestled between the farmers market, the silos, and the ocean. Maya had come from Istanbul to study, and I had come from Vancouver Island. We crossed paths in our final year, working in the same studio. Maya was making little ceramic underwater creatures and I was slip casting take out food containers. Maya was involved in student politics and knew most people at the school. I was the quieter type, working away in the studio but also organizing projects that would bring the work out into the larger world.

Upon graduation I received public art funding and invited Maya to join me on the project. We collaborated on this project, and then another, and then another. We took for granted how easy it was to work together. After a few years Maya returned to Istanbul. We kept in touch, occasionally visiting and writing letters, not really even wondering if our paths in creative life would cross again.

Fast forward to 2009 when Maya and I both found ourselves in Montreal for different artistic pursuits. Maya was working on a residency at the NFB and I was starting a master’s degree. Not only did we find ourselves in the same city, but in the same neighbourhood, only a few blocks from one another. What we shared now was a longing to get our hands back into clay. It was not long before we had rented the smallest starter-studio we could find…a 200 square foot space on Aird Street in Hochelaga. And this is where the story of begins….

Limited edition

There is so much playfulness and experimentation that happens behind the scenes at Atelier Make! Only a fraction of what we do it is shared with the public. Here is the first in a series of limited-edition pieces from our personal studios. Throughout the year we’ll share small-batch gems and tell you about the ideas behind them.

Feature 1: Mini Masks by Maya

Porcelain. Quantity: 10 one-of-a-kind heads!

Maya has been making these little creatures for years. Each one is unique, and full of personality. This is the kind of little treasure that you’ll find on our boutique shelves, peeking out from behind a mug or vase, but which rarely make an appearance online. Collectors beware…they are addictive!! Once you have one, you just want more…any everyone you know will want one too.

We're celebrating 10 years!!

2024 marks an important milestone at Atelier Make. This February marks ten years since we moved into our lovely little space on Gilford Street!! It will be a year of celebrations big and small. A year of throwbacks, giveaways, and a little bit of storytelling.

1241 Gilford Street circa 2014.

[EN] We celebrate our 10 years !!

2024 represents an important milestone for Atelier Make. This February marks the tenth anniversary of our moving into our charming space on Gilford Street !! It will be a year of celebrations big and small, one year of retrospectives , giveaways and story sharing .

It is difficult to give a precise date for the beginnings of Atelier Make, but Those who know us well know that it all started more than ten years ago. Even before the idea germinated , there was our small experimental studio in Hochelaga in 2010. Then , there was the Souk in 2011, where we shared for the first time our work with the public. We have received so many wonderful comments on this occasion that it helped us encouraged to continue creating . And that is during a trip to Istanbul in 2012, after having drunk a quantity phenomenal tea​ Turkish that we made the decision bold to make ceramics , our passion , our profession, full time. 

It is in the middle of the pandemic what would have took place our true tenth birthday . But instead of celebrating , we have of juggle to maintain OUR company afloat . Today , we are proud to say that we are always there and very present ! This year will be festive. Throughout the year , we will share stories from our journey , and how over time, Atelier Make has become became This that it is. And of course , there will be a party !! Stay tuned for more !​

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Limited edition

There is so much playfulness and experimentation that happens behind the scenes at Atelier Make ! O nly a fraction of what we do it is shared with the public. Here is the first in a series of limited-edition pieces from our personal studios . Throughout the year we 'll share small-batch gems and tell you about the ideas behind them.

Feature 1: Unicorn Mug

Thrown mug, translucent porcelain, gold detail. Quantity: 10.

This mug is inspired by a trip to Paris in January 2023. I (Jaimie) was traveling with my then 4-year-old who , on day-one , fell in love with a unicorn mug at our BnB. The mug in question was (in my adult opinion) nothing special – a generic, dollar store quality mug, inevitably broken. For her it was obviously much more. Follow that with a visit to Deyroll e on the last day of our trip. Mounted high on the wall of this a famous and historic taxidermy shop is a full-scale unicorn head . Indeed !! Needless to say, we now have a 5-year-old who truly believes in unicorns and proudly recounts the story about how she has seen a “real” one. May you find just a little bit of this joy and delight with my version: a translucent porcelain unicorn mug with gold detailing. Ideal for daydreaming during your morning coffee or tea.

[FR] Edition limited :

There is so much play and experimentation going on behind the scenes at Atelier Make! Seul . a small selection of what we do East rendered public . Here is the first of a series of coins in edition limited coming from these experiments . Throughout the year , we will share several small series limited as well as the ideas behind them.

Series 1: Unicorn Mug

Turned cup , porcelain translucent , gold details 22. Quantity : 10 . 

This cup is inspired by a trip to Paris in January 2023. There was in the kitchen of our airbnb , a unicorn mug . My daughter fell in love with it at first sight . In an adult 's opinion , me in the occurrence , it had not nothing special - a basic , quality mug​ questionable , and chipped to boot . But For my 4 year old , it was much more. Then, at the end of our stay, during the visit to the famous taxidermy shop , Deyrolle , she saw, hanging on the wall of the museum , a life- size unicorn head . Since then , she East convinced of the existence of these creatures . Needless to say, we have NOW a 5- year-old girl who recounts with delight the time Or she saw a " real " unicorn . I hope you will find some of this joy and this enchantment in my version: a unicorn mug in porcelain translucent with details in gold. Ideal for dreaming during your coffee or morning tea .

Registration for September classes is open! Wheel throwing level 1 + 2, shaping, and the large pot workshop!!

September class registration is now open! Wheel throwing Level 1 + 2, Handbuilding, and our Big Pots workshop are on offer.