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.

Who are the “Makers” at Atelier Make? There are so many of us! From owners/founders Maya + Jaimie, to our dedicated staff, to the helping hands of our invaluable interns, and our oh so inspiring Open Studio members. Each month throughout the year we'll share the work of one of these many “makers”.

Maker of the Month #1: Abbey

On an early morning in the Atelier Make open studio you'll likely find Abbey, our self-proclaimed “studio grandmother” humming along to classical radio and working on her carefully painted vessels. Never without her fiery spirit, Abbey is always willing to share the tales of her many years working with clay.

K: Let's start with a backstory on how you came to practice ceramics 

A: I started my undergraduate work at Bennington in the early 60s, a beautiful campus up in Vermont. A young teacher, a graduate from Alfred University, came to teach a ceramics course in a really new way. The ceramics there before had been quite limited, he brought in reduction firing, we learned glaze chemistry, handbuilding , wheel throwing. The whole idea there had been to learn through direct experience, so we did, and I loved it.

After I graduated I went to live in New York City. I got a job teaching art in a highschool in Brooklyn, and I took courses at night working towards my Master of Science in Education. Once I graduated, with everything going on in the US at that time, my husband and I decided to leave the States. We arrived in Toronto in 1967 and with a little bit of adjustment I was able to teach in the public school system there. I was very committed to public education . Then we had our first child, but at that time there was absolutely no support for women going on maternity leave. It was very hard to get back into teaching after my maternity leave, there were no public daycares, so I was out of teaching for a while. 

Eventually I got back into teaching part time at artisan schools, I even taught at the ROM, where I was able to use the various galleries to teach a history of ceramics through direct experience working with clay , right in the gallery. I also worked as the exhibitions manager at the Ontario Crafts Council, where I was seeing some of the very best work in the province at that time. The Haliburton Summer School of Art and Micheal Gheba's Raku courses were also an influential part of my ceramics education.

In my late 50s, I was lucky enough to share and own a property that had space to set up my own studio. I was also part of a community arts center, so as well as my own studio I had contact with other potters in a beautiful facility just outside Toronto. I became a member of the Toronto Potters Association, through which I was able to exhibit at the Gardiner Museum.

When I moved to Montreal in 2017 I was in no position to have a studio, until I found Atelier Make. It was right down the street from my house, I just walked down the street, walked in, and asked to join a class as soon as I could.

K: Do you feel that this space [the Atelier Make open studio] has shaped the way you work, or the work that you make in any way? 

A: Yes, it has. Working here has enabled me to slow down. To really pay attention. Not just because of the solitude and lack of physical interruption, but having space to develop projects over time , to take my time. The first thing I did here was a series of sculpture projects that were a continuation of work I had been doing in my own studio, little thrown forms assembled. It's a different aesthetic than I had been used to here [at Atelier Make] we use a white clay, so I decided early on that underglaze decorations would be the way to go for me. I like doing brush work, and the clay here gave me a three dimensional surface on which to play.

K: What is inspiring your work right now? 

A: I am challenging myself to make truly functional teapots, which has always been a continuing challenge for me since I began working with clay. I'm going back to a quiet, contemplative way of working, and Atelier Make is the perfect place to do that.

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.