Winter Recap and Spring Preview
This newsletter will take a look back at some winter highlights... like Ritual Mugs, Mahjong Night, new writing projects, and look around the corner at what is shaping up for Spring (There is lots)!
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.
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.
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!
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
With heaps of gratitude, - Micah/TreeBed Design
