I make ceramic dinnerware and housewares in my West Town studio in Chicago. My inspiration comes from nature, classic Asian motifs, Chinatown, and—over everything else—restaurant and food culture.

I grew up in a Thai/Pacific rim restaurant in upstate New York and learned from a very young age that food is special, personal, and becomes even more meaningful when presented with care and attention to detail. Each piece I make is focused on enhancing the beauty and ritual of your table.

Essentialism and minimalism are always on my mind and I believe that the objects in our homes should be useful, durable, and beautiful. Instead of making work around the idea of what might be fun for the season, I’m thinking about how my pieces might become inherited through generations of families as treasured heirlooms.

In service of these beliefs, I choose clays that offer the highest durability so they can handle daily use and fire them at very high temperatures to make them microwave, dishwasher, and even oven safe. I mix my glazes from scratch and make sure that they are all food-safe.

Most pieces are wheel-thrown, hand-built, or a combination of the two and all surface decorations are done by hand. Each piece is fired twice—the first firing bisques the ware at 1850 degrees Fahrenheit and the second fuses the clay body with the glaze to form glass at 2350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Beautiful doesn’t have to be precious. Useful can still be romantic.

Danielle Chutinthranond
Owner, Designer, Potter