Today we’d like to introduce you to Michelle Grimm

Hi Michelle, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.

I’ve always been drawn to materiality, form, volume, texture, and crafting a visual narrative—each aspect weaving through my career. After a decade in NYC’s fashion industry, I transitioned to commercial interior design, focusing on creative concept development, materials, finishes, and art placement.

While living abroad, my partner enrolled me in a figure sculpting class. Though I had a private art practice outside of design, working with clay was a new experience. From the moment I touched the clay, I loved its responsiveness. the connection it brought to my work that I had never felt before.

My curiosity for working with fire and primitive techniques sparked while designing a restaurant in Sydney, where fire, smoke, and steam were central to their cooking methods. Researching how these elements influenced materiality led me to explore and integrate fire and smoke into my ceramics.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?

There are always bumps in the road—challenges and growing pains—but that’s what keeps things interesting. I’ve learned the importance of slow, sustainable growth and aligning with like-minded businesses.

A few years ago, wildfires and drought prevented me from producing work for the holiday season, and I couldn’t fulfill my stock requests. More recently, supply chain issues, skyrocketing raw material costs, and changes in material chemistry have posed challenges. Slowing down to reflect, re-testing, and reformulating are essential to maintain the integrity of your work. Good communication is key; sometimes, you have to pivot and adapt. It’s important to be forgiving and flexible, especially when others extend that grace to you.

I was approached several times by a big chain store wanting to retail my product. While flattered, I had to decline because our values didn’t align. You learn to surround yourself with those who understand and support you and what you make—nothing exists in a vacuum.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?

I am a designer and ceramic artist currently working with clay as my primary medium. My ceramics are minimal in form, creating space for a unique collaboration between object, maker, fire, and earth. This approach gives my work a warm, inviting quality that feels both tactile and untamed, evoking tranquility and the ambiance of nature.

My collections are deeply inspired by Wabi Sabi, a Japanese aesthetic celebrating simplicity, imperfection, impermanence, and natural beauty. They often explore the balance between control and lack of control, and completion and incompletion. Everything I do is rooted in exploration and curiosity. During the drier months when working with fire isn’t possible, I spend my studio time developing new ideas, testing, and researching materials. This process is slow and time-consuming but incredibly rewarding.

Seeing my pieces featured in beautiful interior design projects or stocked in curated stores has been a major accomplishment. Knowing that something I’ve made with my hands is valued and appreciated in such settings is incredibly fulfilling.

To keep my practice sustainable, I use post-consumer and locally available materials whenever possible and limit my production to what I can create by hand. I want people who purchase my work to know they’re getting something original and thoughtful.

Is there any advice you’d like to share with our readers who might just be starting out?

Do your best, but accept that you’ll make mistakes, and not all advice will suit you, your business, or your creative path. Research thoroughly and know you still might have missed something, ask questions, seek various perspectives, and recognize that everyone has blind spots. Find people who help you identify those blind spots and have open discussions. Build a diverse network, including non-artists, and reciprocate by sharing your unique skills in return.

Being a working artist also means being a business owner. Stay organized and plan ahead. You won’t enjoy every aspect of running your business, so make time to play and create work outside of what you retail. Play fosters learning, brings immense joy, and keeps you discovering new things and ways of working.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.michellegrimmceramics.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_mgrimm/

Image Credits

Jarusha Brown