Bay Area Made is a community of values-driven makers from around the Bay dedicated to virtues such as craft, quality, good design, innovation, and sustainability. In addition to building community amongst local makers, we’re dedicated to educating and inspiring consumers to support local companies who create quality products that are better for the user, the community, and the planet. From the clothes we wear to the food we eat, to the products we use daily, WHAT WE MAKE locally and HOW WE MAKE IT really does matter.
One of the ways we showcase our community is through our annual exhibition during SF Design Week. This year our exhibition was hosted by Gantri lighting in their beautiful San Francisco SOMA studio. “Bay Area Made: Product Design Stories” featured products from 37 Bay Area Made members, and the stories behind them. The products represented standard, custom, and customized offerings from established and up-and-coming brands spanning home & garden, clothing & accessories, food & beverage, and body & bath, providing a behind the scenes glimpse into who creates the products, and how and why they are made.
In this series we’re featuring select exhibitors and their stories. Here is the sixth installment.
Check out Part 1 , Part 2, Part 3, Part 4 & Part 5 of Product Design Stories.
Heath Ceramics
Stack Table Lamp Small, Stack Table Lamp Wide. Ceramic. 2024
Edith Heath started Heath Ceramics more than 75 years ago, and in honoring her legacy, our responsibilities are twofold: to uphold her commitment to crafting beautiful, functional objects, and to advance Heath’s role as a leader in the field of design. Our factories will always make the dinnerware and tile that our customers love. On the other hand, The Clay Studio—located on-site at our San Francisco factory and showroom—is where we push design forward at Heath.
As its Director, I lead a small team of skilled artisans in experimenting with shapes and glazes to bring new ideas to life by hand. While much of our work is available only in extremely limited quantities to in-person visitors, some designs are produced in larger quantities, allowing us to share them with a wider audience. Such is the case with our new Heath Clay Studio Lighting collection. I first explored ceramic lighting back in 2015 as part of Heath’s third Design Series showcase. Ceramic is arguably an imperfect medium for lighting fixtures, but I was seeking a unique challenge. Ultimately, the merits of the medium outshone its limitations, and—true to Edith’s ethos—the results were both beautiful and functional. Now, the Heath Clay Studio is revisiting lighting with a fresh range of products, including the two table lamps on display here. For this series, I drew inspiration from recollections of my childhood in Hong Kong—specifically, the memory of capturing fireflies in my palm and observing their light between my fingers. This charming effect is replicated in the design of the new table lamps; when illuminated, a dappled pattern of light emerges around the lamp’s base. In ceramics, glaze is just as important as form—the two work in tandem to give a piece its unique identity and impact. For these lamps, I opted for gradient glazes that create the illusion of light even when the bulb is unlit. We used combs to introduce texture and variation to the glaze, enhancing the effect.
We’re so excited to introduce this new category to Heath’s customers, and on behalf of our team, I invite you to come visit us at the Clay Studio to explore more of the lighting collection—and see what other unexpected treasures we’ve been working on.
– Tung Chiang, Heath Clay Studio Director
Studio Susan
“Like Water” Water Tapestry. Stoneware, glazed and underglaze shades of blue, pigmented linseed oil-stained oak. 2024. “Waves”. Smoky blue transparent hand-blown glass. 2024
Weaving is a huge source of inspiration for my work due to its practicality, ingenuity, and historical significance across cultures. I explore this concept using unexpected materials and forms, such as ceramics and glass, to push the tradition forward in a new way. My aim is to connect people to their own sense of wonder through objects that transcend our everyday experience.
This collection specifically evokes the wildness and tranquility of the ocean. The rhythm and peacefulness of waves are emulated through varying shades and finishes of blue, while the strength and power are displayed through its materials and construction.
– Susan McKinney, Founder & Creative Director
Camelia Skikos
“Metamorphosis”. Repurposed natural materials such as cotton, wool, silk. 2024
Camelia Skikos is a conceptual fashion designer and artist born in Iasi, Romania. She studied art and fashion design in Iasi and London.
Two decades ago, after working for various British brands, she moved to San Francisco where she started her own brand, collaborates with multidisciplinary artists, and teaches at Academy of Art University.
Her design philosophy stems from a continuing fascination with the way clothing can make an impact on our lives, based on the subconscious relations between human beings and clothing. In her recent projects she investigates possible ways of rendering the concept of identity, alienation and the absurd.
The Metamorphosis project is a series of experiments that explore the concept of belonging, displacement and forming a deeper understanding of what it means to be an immigrant.
Using repurposed materials, sculptural shapes and contrasting textures Camelia reflects upon the shifting identities experienced during the process of assimilation and acculturation.
Her fashion installations express sensations associated with the disguise and transformation of the human body and how it can impart a sense of uncertainty on the viewer as their perception of the identity is challenged.
With only one collection a year, her design and production process are based on the slow fashion model and is about creating garments that carry cultural and emotional connections, relevant to the places and people that made them.
Focusing on minimizing waste and maintaining a small environmental footprint the pieces are almost entirely made of repurposed materials and leftover fabrics from previous collections.
The product development and garment construction are done locally in collaboration with architect Corina Gheorghiu and the sewing is completed by subcontracting master couturier Thao Do.
– Camelia Skikos, Owner/Designer
YOLOTLI
“Here or There”. Hand-smocked felted wool, cotton thread. 2024
I was born and raised in the Black Forest region of Southwest Germany where I graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (Hons.) in international business from Pforzheim University, Pforzheim. After completing an extensive exchange program at Tecnológico de Monterrey in Monterrey, NL, Mexico and living and working in Argentina, Ireland and Mexico I settled in Napa, CA in 2008. I since have turned my passion for fiber art into a career and have deepened my knowledge by studying fashion design and patternmaking in San Francisco, followed by two residencies at the fashion house Carla Fernández in Mexico City, Mexico.
In 2018 I became an emerging artist with the American Craft Council and have since shown my work throughout the United States. I am a founding member of Bay Area Made and have exhibited my work at SF Design Week showcases, at ARTWEAR de Young, San Francisco, the Bedford Gallery, Walnut Creek, at the Museum of Craft and Design, San Francisco and internationally at the Carla Fernández flagship store in Mexico City, Mexico.
Over the past decade I have worked with hand-selected retail stores in the US to create exclusive, handmade collections and have collaborated with other artists and designers on projects that required unique needlework skills and a sustainable approach. My hand-crafted fiber goods are made exclusively from high quality natural materials and are known for their minimal and timeless look and long-lasting durability.
My process is time-consuming and driven by an ongoing nostalgic reflection on my own cultural heritage and its connection to my life in modern society. Extensive research of antique textile techniques informs each piece as I reinterpret and transcribe them into contemporary compositions. Much of my inspiration comes from the intricately handmade traditional clothing and dowries of meticulously hand embroidered linens I grew up with in the German Black Forest.
At the heart of my practice lies a belief in the intrinsic value of slow craftsmanship, evident in the superior quality and value of handcrafted goods. This practice serves as a reminder of our collective social and environmental responsibilities amidst a landscape dominated by mass production and disposability. My goal is to infuse each creation with deep meaning, serving not just as artistic expressions but as a tangible reminder of the enduring threads that bind past, present, and future.
I currently live with my family in Napa, CA where I work as a professional artist.
– Nicole W. Kelly, Fiber Artist/Owner
Photos by Medium Small
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View the Camelia Skikos profile
View the YOLOTLI profile
