TreeBed Design

May Calendar at TBD

Apr 23 2025  | 0 comments

Spring is here and we have another wonderful lineup of events to invite you to!

Open Clay Table -  It's a great way to spend a Sunday with friends or meet some new ones. Enjoy a handcrafted coffee while you slow down and make something with clay!. 

Next TBD Coffee Class will be all about Espresso & Milk!

The May Reiki Sound Bath with Shanese will be the last one for the season, so don't miss out on this opportunity to treat yourself! 

Coffee & Collage - follow the link to sign up for this sweet monthly event at Autonomous Gallery.

NEW: We are opening up on FRIDAYS! 

As our sweet community continues to grow, we are trying to open up more. So starting in May, we will be open every FRIDAY from 10AM - 3PM, as well as our typical SATURDAYS during the Vallejo Farmers' Market from 9AM - 3PMish. Join 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!

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, Mahjong 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

February Fun!

Feb 03 2025  | 0 comments

Lots of fun stuff to look forward to in February!

We have some of our favorite offerings, like Open Clay Table and our monthly Reiki Sound Bath with Shanese, and some new events to check out!

Join us for a game of mahjong and more at the showroom for a Chinese New Year celebration. 

We are also taking coffee and ceramics on the road to do a pop-up in Napa with our friends at Juniper Station as part of their Sunday Series.

As always, you can find us every Saturday during the Vallejo Farmers' Market from 9AM-3PMish. Come join the regulars for some 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!

Summer Newsletter 2024

Sep 10 2024  | 0 comments

End of Summer...

This summer has been jam packed with beautiful events, travels, and new opportunities to lean into the creative journey of TreeBed Design. 

It is hard to believe that summer is almost over! This newsletter will recap some of the highlights of the last few months, and hint at some fun things to look forward to. 

Music at Night Tea Vol. 3
Night Tea Vol. 3 - Whitney Vangrin
Night Tea Vol. 3
Night Tea Vol. 3
Night Tea Vol. 3
In June, Whitney Vangrin brought her unique offering, Night Tea Vol. 3 to the showroom. We transformed the space with low tables, teas and fermented food pairings, glass work by Whitney, and some music by me. We can't wait to host this unique event again this fall!

Sound Bath
We cleaned up and cleared out my upstairs living space in order to receive the healing vibes of Shanese and her reiki sound bath offering. It was a special evening and we are excited to do it again on September 18th (Get Tickets!)

Spectacular!
In July I hit the road to Iowa, to teach ceramics at a giant camp for high schoolers where I went to college! This was the most people (in very compact time) that I have worked in clay with. Luckily I had lots of help, and the kids were enthusiastic to experience something new! It was such a beautiful way to weave together my own story (where I was 20 years ago, and where I am now) with old friends, family, a strong spirit of community, and what I want to be doing in this life!

Love YAAH More + Goodworks Kids Clay Event
Kristin received a grant from the Solano County North Bay Arts Fund this past year, and set out to provide an opportunity for the community to play in clay! With the help of the amazing folks of Good Works, and a number of volunteers... the event was a huge success, and a lot of fun was had at the TBD Studio!

The Showroom Blooms 

Last Fall the we fully converted the downtown live/work space in the TBD Showroom I had originally dreamt up, and as summer winds down we are beginning to harvest the possibilities of that dream!

I have loved seeing new locally made products compliment my wares, and people bringing in their creative energy to the space has made it feel alive in all the ways I had hoped. Having coffee in the mix has also help give a little buzz to the scene! Check out weekly offerings in the coffee gallery, and you might even fill your cup with something special Saturday mornings (we've been opening an hour earlier... 9am ;)

We continue to host our Open Clay Table, and check out the photos below of Kristin's new Monday Mug Workshop... we are planning even more fun workshops and offerings for the Fall!

TBD Showroom September Dates 

We are open (most) Saturdays during the Vallejo Farmer's Market
9am-3pm... stop in, and see what is new (like... the COFFEE Gallery)!

Open Clay Table - September 15th (Sunday)
Monday Mug Workshop (Travel Tumbler) - September 23rd
Coffee & Collage @ Autonomous Gallery - September 29th

Join us every 2nd Friday of the month for Vallejo Art Walk 
September 13th - special "Sip and Stroll" version! (get tickets)

Hope to see you soon... but not this Saturday
It has been so sweet  having more people stop by the showroom Saturday mornings during the Farmers Market (including all the way from Utah)! We hope to keep building this momentum (and community), but we will be closed this Saturday (9/14) to be with family at a celebration of life event. 

So come join us for Vallejo Art Walk on Friday night, and we'll be back to normal hours next Saturday!

I am keeping this newsletter mostly visual... thanks to the amazing photos from Pink Salt Photos and Réya Photography. Look for a Fall newsletter sooner than later with perhaps a bit more written reflection. Thank you again for reading!

With heaps of gratitude, - Micah/TreeBed Design

TBD Winter/Spring Newsletter 2024

Apr 29 2024  | 0 comments

Catching up from Winter... Into Spring!

I began the new year on a adventure to Guatemala (more on that later in the newsletter), and thought I would have a pretty quiet rest of winter to reflect on the past year... as well as plan for the new one ahead. However, things took a different turn, and I found myself hustling through the "slow months". I am grateful to take a few moments now to reflect, refocus and share a bit about what's on the horizon for TreeBed Design!

2024 didn't waste any time getting busy... As soon as I returned from Guatemala, things had to ramp up in a hurry with multiple projects! 

There was a rush to supply a slew of dishes for Compline to host a guest chef event with Diego Isunaza Kahlo (yep... as in Frida Kahlo's great great nephew)! He put on an amazing tour of Mexico City through food, and my dishes got to be the canvas for much of it! This was a quick turn around during a (rainy) time of year where clay wants to go slower than usual, but I got (most) of it done... what an honor!

Kristin had the sweet idea to make little clay medallions to celebrate Vallejo Art Walk #100, and hand them out to all the creative folks who make the art walk happen! We knocked out 100 of these little gifts, hopefully to be given many times over to show love for our little Art Walk community. 

Also in the mix, was a big production job for Love YAAH More. A series of beautiful little bud vases to be featured in the offerings of our friends, Events By GS! 

Oh... and did I mention we had 4 weeks of kids class going on during all of this!

Guatemala

Guatemala and My Source Journey 

My year started off with a beautiful adventure to Guatemala! It was my first time in the country, and the closing of a loop for me. After I lost my dad in my 20s (the reason I ended up in Vallejo), I took a trip to Belize for a Permaculture Design certification course. I had plans to travel on to Guatemala afterwards, but cut the trip short. I told myself I would finish the travel plans some day, but life never made space for it. Almost 20 years later I made it happen! 

At the beginning of last year I signed up for a different training program, knowing that it would end with a retreat in Guatemala. I felt like it would be a threshold I'd be crossing over during the 9 months (and really the last 20 years since the loss of my dad). I would be processing the years of deep healing/grief work, facilitation training, and gathering of "life experience" that began (in many ways) on the trip I cut short years ago. The program helped me develop new pathways for my offerings in the world. The hope being, to weave together the tangled mess of talents, skills and passions acquired over the first half of my life... into a beautiful way of being that is in service to myself, my community and the environment I live in. 

The training program, called Source... was with a small group of people and facilitators (Dr. Katia Sol & Lizzy Hart) that I have been working with for many years in the Ecology of Leadership. Over 9 months we practiced being in deeper listening/flow of how to "source" our service in the world from... we learned tools including: coaching/facilitation skills, honing our own intuition/practices, healing/bringing awareness to our own patterns, and more. The nine months ended with the final retreat in Guatemala on Lake Atitlán! 

There is so much I could write about this whole experience... both the 9 months, and the time in Guatemala. However, I wanted to mentioned it all briefly here to mark crossing that threshold. I don't always share about this side of my life, but in trying to weave all the parts of who I am together... it is time. I am slowing down. Listening. Moving from a place that taps into what wants to move through me, and offer something beautiful to the world (that also brings me joy). My hope is that this all shows up in what I am creating, and includes NEW offerings this year! Please stay tuned!

TBD Tiny Gallery & Mr. Lee's Art Machine
The Showroom has new additions... a wall space dedicated to showcasing the work of guest artists and the sweetest compliment,  an old sticker machine refurbished to sell tiny prints (or even originals)! 

Last Art Walk we introduced both new additions with the help of guest artist, Tara Funk! Tara is a Vallejo artist/designer who enjoys walking with her pup, and capturing her surrounding with the most magical drawings! So we were thrilled when she agreed to be our first featured artist for the gallery and new art machine. Tara was such a huge help setting up our launch of the machine, and even created the beautiful graphic insert for the front of the machine! You have a few more weeks to stop by and get one of the originals (that haven't sold) or your own tiny print (bring your quarters, or we have some on hand)... there is only one more Saturday (and bonus Sunday, the 7th) to see Tara's work!

The art machine came about when Kristin (Love YAAH More) told her grandfather about the idea to turn an old sticker machine into a way to deliver little pieces of ART! He thought this was a wonderful idea, and insisted in helping fund the endeavor... because it would "make people happy"! The response has certainly brought joy to everyone who has come through, and I can't wait to see more artists participate!

TBD Tiny Gallery with guest artist Tara Funk

I have so much more that I would like to share in this newsletter... lots of new things on the horizon! There are classes/workshops/community time in the works... along with so much more. Look for updates on all of the fun additions coming soon.  Thank you again for reading!

With heaps of gratitude, - Micah/TreeBed Design

TBD Spring Newsletter

Apr 14 2023  | 0 comments

Welcome Back

Whoa… it has been awhile since I have sent one of these! The Fall/Winter was pretty crazy for me, and no matter how much I thought about writing a newsletter… it just never happened. I am happy to be sharing a bit of that story, and what is new with TreeBed Design!

NEW STUDIO!
I’ll get right to the big news, and the main reason that no newsletter showed up during the Fall/Winter… I finally have a new studio in Vallejo! There was a year or more of back and forth about whether my space in Napa (where my kilns were) was going to continue, and in early fall it looked like I could stay. However, the landlord changed their mind, and suddenly (right before the holiday push) we had to be out of the warehouse by the end of the year!

This was obviously jarring, and the scramble to find a new space kicked into high gear. My spot in Napa had come about after loosing everything (except some ceramic equipment) in the 2017 fires… a coffee customer of mine graciously offered me a storage spot for my kiln, and then hooked it up so I could fire… and then carved out space for me to work! It was so helpful, and I will always be grateful for that foothold to get ceramics moving forward while I recovered after the fire (which all took way longer than I ever expected).

The whole past year had been filled with little events that seemed to be wrapping up loose ends from my 5 year journey dealing with the fire. In that context, moving the studio into my own space felt like another step in that process. This did not make it any less disruptive though, and it was very difficult to find a new spot… which resulted in all my equipment living in storage for two months (and VERY little work being done).

Micah organizing the storage unit after moving the studio

Then… after looking at lots of spaces that I could maybe “make” work… I got the chance to land in a space that I actually WANTED to make work! So now I'm settling into a space filled with light and possibilities! I am making the focus of this year, a deep dive into how I want to move through the world now that I am no longer in recovery (survival) mode. What is the work I want to make, the space I want to hold, the service I want to be in? I hope to share more about the answers to these questions as I work through them this year.

I am hoping to polish the new studio space off enough to have an open studio soon, and invite YOU to come see the space! Keep an eye out for that…

Micah sitting in the sunny window light of his new studio in Vallejo

THIS WEEK! Spring is here, and we FINALLY have the weather to prove it… just in time for the April Vallejo Art Walk (https://vallejoartwalk.org) . Join me in our historic downtown Vallejo for art, music, makers, food and community 5-9pm! My neighbor The Joint is opening back up after their own experience of fire, and it is going to be better than ever! On Saturday I will be at the artist’s reception for the CLAY invitational out at Mare Island Art Studios. I’m honored to be showing some work along a bunch of talented ceramic artists. The intention of the show was to bring together ceramic artists from the area, and allow both artist interaction… as well as a chance to show off the diversity of clay work! The show is open every Sunday this month from 12-4pm, and this Saturday April 15th for the reception (small bites and wine/beer) from 12-5pm. CLASSES & COLLABORATION With the new studio, comes the new possibility of finally folding in some classes and new offerings! I’m still in the process of designing these ideas, and refining it down to something that feels sustainable. I also want it to be something that fits the needs of this community. So if you would be willing to fill out the survey below (link)… that would be SO helpful! There is also space to write in anything you’d like to see from TBD, or ways you might want to collaborate.

TBD CLAY CLASSES QUESTIONNAIRE

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