April Don't Fool!

Apr 01 2025 | 0 comments

Spring is in full swing and we have lots going on around TreeBed Design! Check out the calendar links to join us, and be on the look out for even more happening soon!

Open Clay Table is coming up quick, so sign up soon! It's a great way to spend a Sunday with friends or meet some new ones. Enjoy a hand crafted coffee while you slow down and make something with clay!.

The Reiki Sound Bath with Shanese is almost full for April, but there are a few spots left, and we'd love for you to join us! Don't forget about Coffee & Collage , last month we had a full house... so sign up soon to get your spot at Autonomous Gallery.

As always, you can find us every Saturday during the Vallejo Farmers' Market from 9AM-3PMish. Come join the us for a coffee or just catch up with the community. It's a great way to start every weekend.

TBD Showroom

409 Virginia Street

Vallejo, CA 94590

We hope to see you this month!

Winter (Wind Down) Newsletter 2025

Mar 18 2025 | 0 comments

Winter Recap and Spring Preview

This newsletter will take a look back at some winter highlights... like Ritual Mugs, M ahjong Night, new writing projects, and look around the corner at what is shaping up for Spring (There is lots)!

Micah trimming clay in the studio for Ritual Collaboration Mug

pink and white mugs in the process of being glazed before firing

My one big project of the Winter (besides the holiday push) was a sweet collaboration with my friends at Ritual Coffee Roasters! If you have been in the showroom you have seen their coffee in the Coffee Gallery (and maybe even enjoyed a cappuccino ;) You might not know that I spent over 10 years working with their coffee, most of that time in the Oxbow Market in Napa. However, my connection to Eileen Rinaldi (the founder of Ritual) goes way back to 2007-ish when I sent her an email to see if I could meet up, and ask her some questions about starting Ritual... She graciously said yes, and a few years later I ended up working for Ritual!

So when she texted and asked if I'd like to do a collaboration mug with Ritual... of course I said YES! I had already worked out a red glaze a few years ago that felt pretty close to the iconic "Ritual red", and I was excited to see it come to life with this project. However, this is where the ease of the project ended... anything that could sneak up and go wrong... did (sorta unusual these days for the clay end of things). There were mix ups with the labeling of glaze ingredients, and then scarcity of the actual red color I needed to make the glaze! And then a kiln malfunction! Then I got sick. It was all a little ridiculous! Thank goodness for Eileen's patience and calm replies to each crazy thing that happened.

Ritual Red saten glazed mug with white inside and light blue dot on the top of the handle

In the end, I pushed through all the set backs, and I am very happy with these limited edition mugs! The project feels like a beautiful collaboration between a former chapter of my life and a current one. You can get your hands on one of these mugs (before they are gone) on their website!

March Madness!

Lots of fun to be had in March around TBD...

We have Vallejo 2nd Friday Art Walk on 3/14! There is rain in the forecast, but we often have some magic weather protection for the event... either way, we'll be having fun in the TBD Showroom hanging with our community. We have some special guests coming down, and we are going to attempt to make some wild flower seed bombs with clay!

Sunday will be the second TBD Coffee Class, and we'll be focusing on upping our pour over game! Come learn hands on techniques, tips, and bring plenty of questions to put Micah's 20 year coffee career to work for you!

Have you been to one of Shanese's sound baths? Don't miss the intimate Wednesday night version at the TBD Showroom (upstairs)! The vibes are just what you need to move with grace through the week! Tickets for this event are limited (March is sold out).

SALE! That's right, we are having a Spring Equinox Sale... time to do some spring cleaning and make room for new items coming in! This will be a chance to score deep discounts on stragglers, seconds, and probably some random stuff I pull out of the closet! This will happen in the showroom on Friday the 21st (10am-6-ish) and Saturday the 22nd (9am-3ish)! I am going to also figure out some online sales as well for those not in Vallejo!

There are spots left for our Open Clay Table on Sunday 3/23... we have a seat for you to slow down, sip a coffee (or tea) and get your hands in clay! The table is set for you, whether you are totally new to clay or a pro! This is about creativity and community (the coffee is pretty good too)!

We'll finish off the month with Coffee & Collage over at Autonomous Gallery!

I started TBD 20 years ago in my Vallejo garage... I moved back to Vallejo 5 years ago to open the TBD Showroom (after a few pandemic years)... who is Micah/TreeBed now? I am going to try my best to start writing again on a regular basis, and push some of my more personal/artist thoughts towards this Substack. My hope is to allow both the business side of TreeBed Design, and the artist side of me... to thrive! You can subscribe for free, and if you have the capacity there will also be content to access for monthly contribution (wouldn't that be neat)!

Read on Substack

Hope the coming Spring finds you well. Thank you again for reading!
With heaps of gratitude, - Micah/TreeBed Design

Fall TBD Seasonal Newsletter

Jan 07 2025 | 0 comments

Welcome to the (end of) Fall TBD Seasonal Newsletter 2024

We have had lots of new folks stopping by the showroom, and added many new names to the newsletter. Thank you for being part of our community! Whether you’re our next door neighbors in Vallejo, or half way across the world… we are grateful for you joining us!

This newsletter will highlight a bit of what TreeBed Design has been up to, take a look at all the holiday additions (there is still time to find a beautiful gift), and look towards the new year!

New Compliments & Collaborations!

This past year has largely been about building momentum in the downtown showroom space, and trying to keep the door open (hopefully more and more) to make it sustainable! We have folded in workshops, collaboration events, and even a coffee speakeasy (shhh... don't tell too many people)!

In order to have more reasons to stop by and support all the different things we are doing… I’ve been finding other sweet products to compliment the ceramics. Some of these items I use for projects, and others have a story that resonates with me. We have table linens from Guatemala made from denim remnants (and waste water that goes to coffee farms), bags of coffee from farms in Honduras that I have visited, locally made coffee soap, whimsical beeswax candles from California, and more!

I’m hoping to blend the showroom and online shop to be a curated bounty of beautiful gifts for all your special occasions… as well as a fun space to be inspired by the products you might use everyday!

Shop today and we can still get it in the mail ASAP to give the best chance of arriving in time!

Classes & Workshops!

Kristin and I have been busy this past year playing with a mix of different classes and workshops. From kids classes at the local library, taking Open Clay Table to our friends at the senior housing down the block, Monday Night Mug workshops, and some of our first one on one classes/creative coaching! The goal has been to find our lane for being creative while supporting others to do so as well! Thank you to everyone who has joined us, and we hope to see more of you in the new year!

I'm excited to introduce a couple of new classes that could make great holiday gifts. One of those offerings is coming up Sunday 12/22... Coffee Origins: Honduras. I will be talking about my opportunity to visit coffee farms in Honduras in 2014, and I will brew you coffee from those farms offered by Ritual Coffee. There will also be a fun Intro to Coffee Class in the new year, or schedule a personal class to learn what ever coffee skills you are looking to know more about!

Are you making ceramics at home and need a place to fire your work… we can help! Check out our kiln firing service form on the website, and see if we can finish off that creation of yours!

The Fall/Winter collaboration mugs are back in stock! These are a limited run... so get them while you can!

And check out all the new items up on the website and in the Showroom!

Reflection

The end of the years lends itself to lots of reflecting, and I'll be honest... this year has been pretty tough as a creative/small business owner. Nobody said this path would be easy, but geeeesh! I said earlier in the year that I was going to "go all out" to try and make things work... I wanted to make sure I was DOING the things I was dreaming up, and not just waiting on the sidelines for "perfection" to arrive. I feel like Kristin and I have been working really hard to try lots of things to keep all of our creative and community efforts moving forward! I am really proud of that... and REALLY tired. The new year will bring some evaluation of all that hard work. Time to look at what things still feel alive and what parts may need to be let go of... However, I am grateful for all of the connections we made in our community (near and far). My hope is that whatever direction things take, we continue to deepen our roots in all the parts of our work that feel nourishing to ourselves and the communities we are a part of.
With heaps of gratitude, - Micah/TreeBed Design

TreeBed Design