Ceramics is one of the few art forms that involves all of the elements: earthen clay, water to shape it, fire to set it, and air to dry it. That’s what Arielle Shaves likes about it: “It brings back some childlike feeling of messing with Play-Doh, mud, playing with the earth. It doesn’t matter what you make, you can’t really mess it up. And if you do, you just smash it back into a ball and start over.”
Those lessons apply to life, says Shaves, as much as they do to art. A service industry veteran and current interior design worker, Shaves began ceramics as an outlet for desk job anxiety. “I took a wheel class in 2021, and I was bad at it, and I hated it. And I was like, I can’t hate ceramics, this is supposed to be good for me. So I took a hand building class with a friend, and I don’t think I said a single word to them the entire time. I was just like, heads down, so into it. I was like, oh, I have to find a way to do this all the time.”
Shaves creates hand-built vessels in bright, earthy colors, always with a function and often that show the grooves of her fingerprints. They echo “the natural textures of things. I’m not a perfect person, and I don’t want to strive to be. You can tell this is made by hand, and that’s okay.” She grew up in San Francisco and was drawn to the Victorian homes, “how colorful and playful they were, and how they have all these like, accents of different colors and little gold knobs everywhere.” Textures of the built environment inspire her: “I went to Paris and Spain last winter and went to all of the vintage markets, and looked at all the buildings, and I was like – these are ceramics, but in a building form. All of the beautiful, ornate textures and everything, old tiles.”
In the new year, Shaves wants to collaborate with other artists, finding ways to integrate ceramics into other pieces. She’s talked to food stylists about using her ceramics for photoshoots, and plans to collaborate with Erin Hamilton of Fehr Objects on a project inspired by vintage fishing nets, that would mold leather around her vessels to be woven into a bag, with ceramic beads as accents.
The business aspect of Shop Maybe was the culmination of friends’ prodding: “I would refuse to post anything if it were up to me,” says Shaves. Her friends help with social media, photography, and web presence. This communal energy translates into the work: In November, she hosted a collection and website launch garden party, where she made all the dishes, food, decorations, and merch to take away, “because I miss being a kid and going to someone’s birthday party.”
Shaves’ background in the restaurant world and love of hosting shows: “I love feeding people, and I love having a fun space to do that. I don’t want just white dishes. I want my crazy, kooky things.”
You can find Shop Maybe wares at Golden Mean on South First, Honey Hill Market on Koenig Lane, or @_shopmaybe_ on Instagram.
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This article appears in December 12 • 2025.