Studio Tour: From Old Shed to Sunny Ceramics Workshop
Courtney Hamill of Honeycomb Studio loves the simplicity of basic forms. This aesthetic echoes gracefully through her work as a porcelain ceramicist, and in her sunny backyard workshop nestled in Atlanta’s West Midtown neighborhood.
Hamill fell in love with the art form after taking a ceramics class in college. She scored an apprenticeship in the field, but graduation and a job pushed her passion aside for several years. Finally, Hamill decided, it was “now or never.” She quit her day job to pursue her creative interests full-time.
Her next move was to transform an old backyard shed into her new studio. With the help of her husband, Jim Crozier, she stripped the structure to its bones, repurposing old materials along the way. The shed had open eaves, welcoming weather and critters, so the renovation was no easy task for the couple; it took nearly three months to complete.
Studio at a Glance
Who works here: Courtney Hamill of Honeycomb Studio
Location: West Midtown neighborhood of Atlanta
Size: 200 square feet
Hamill wanted her studio to have an indoor-outdoor feel. She had a local contractor pour new concrete floors that extended outside, under a covered porch. An outdoor fire pit and lounge chairs allow her to relax while she waits for castings to set.
Exterior paint: Dover White, Sherwin-Williams; chairs: PS Vågö Easy Chair, Ikea
Hamill kept two original windows from the shed and installed the remaining windows herself. Several skylights offer additional natural light. The front entrance is crowned with a pair of longhorn antlers.
The couple likes to take on new projects. The wood used for the shelves was originally part of the framing in the hundred-year-old main house, which the couple also renovated together. “Between my husband and I, we have just enough knowledge to be dangerous,” jokes Hamill.
A recent trunk show depleted much of Hamill’s work. (“A good problem to have,” she says.) This gave her the opportunity to take down the shelves and spray paint the brackets gold — a simple DIY project that gave the space a chic update.
Shelf brackets: Ekby Lerberg, Ikea; spray paint: Metallic Gold, Krylon
Here Hamill preps a few porcelain castings before placing them into the kiln. “I like the challenge of [porcelain],” she says. “I’m a little bit of a glutton for punishment.” Porcelain shrinks, breaks and warps much more easily than clay, but Hamill still prefers it for her line of elegant pieces.
A cohesive color scheme of natural tones, white and gold accents ripples throughout her studio, giving the space a calm, harmonious vibe.
Hamill discovers new glazes and colors through trial and error, testing them on a few plates that she hangs on the wall. “You’re rewarded for your curiosity, but you have to have a pretty thick skin,” she says of the glazing process. Smaller strips of color, called test tiles, are displayed above a shelf.
Restored wood shelves line several walls, enabling proper storage and display for the studio’s many components. Bud vases glazed in an array of colors crowd one of the shelves.
Beadboard paneling covers the studio’s walls and ceiling; it’s painted Ralph Lauren’s Garden Rose White, which lends a hint of pink.
The antler shown here was purchased on eBay; Hamill uses it to create molds for her antler series.
A few colorful ornaments from Hamill’s holiday heirlooms series await the upcoming season.
“I really like the idea of finding an existing form and then, when you cast it in porcelain, it’s a totally different thing,” says Hamill. The antler series was the first line she produced from her studio and is one of her favorites. From right to left, you can see the original antler before it’s been casted, then the bare porcelain form and the final product after it’s been fired again and glazed.
Hamill, shown here, repurposed the top of her brother’s old writing desk to serve as an extra work surface. Sawhorses were spray painted hot pink and placed underneath, creating a flexible work surface and adding a pop of color.
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