Meet the Maker: Marina of Whim and Vigor Ceramics

So I have a ceramic addiction. I love them, I collect them, my home is filled with ceramic mugs, vases, trays, even a flask! And so many of my ceramic pieces are made by my friend Marina of Whim and Vigor Ceramics. For the past few years I’ve been blessed to collaborate with her on ceramic candles around the holidays, and each year I love them more and more. I wanted to share a bit more about Marina, as she’s one of my favorite DC makers and friends, and a little about her work, too. Get to know her better below, and shop our latest ceramic candle collab on the site while supplies lasts!

Who are you, what do you do and why?

My name’s Marina, and I make practical and delightful ceramic things, like mugs and necklaces and planters and tiny spoons for sugar and spices. I’m a maker because it brings me great joy to know that someone out there is even a tiny bit happier because of something I made, and I’m a potter because I’m enamored with the idea of essentially turning mud into something useful and wonderful—it makes me feel like a magician!

How did you get into ceramics and what do you love about it?

I tried pottery on a total whim; there was a 4-week class offered nearby, and it fit into my schedule. It’s fair to say that I fell in love with clay immediately—I’d never touched it before, but it felt like a homecoming. Plus, I really liked my teacher and the other students in my class, so it was a good motivation to stick with it, through the ups and downs of learning the pottery process. And that pretty much captures it: I really like clay as the material and the physical process of creating something with it—and I think that potters are an especially awesome bunch of people, and I like being around them.

I think your signature move is your mugs and flowers. What is currently your favorite thing to drink in your mugs and what is your favorite flower to spy?

You’re right, mugs and flowers are definitely in my top-10 list of loves. I’m a black-coffee person, so that’s what’s usually in my mugs, but, on occasion, I’ll have a giant mug full of ice cream. As for flowers, my very favorite flower is the peony; I’m still pretty committed to getting a day designated as a national holiday for all to go out and smell the peonies.

As a fellow professional artist of hygge (that's how I think of us anyway lol), how do you unwind after a long day?

(May I use “professional artist of hygge” on my business cards? Because that is an incredible way to describe what we do.) As you know, it’s pretty tough to unwind after a long day because it feels like there’s so much we should still be doing, especially during the busy holiday market season, but I try to have unwinding rituals to remind my brain that it’s time to decompress. So, I light a Handmade Habitat candle—Nostalgia is my current favorite, turn on a Spotify playlist or a TV show I’ve been looking forward to, try to coax my cat to join me on the couch, and relax.

What's your home scent of choice?

I learned recently that having different-scented candles in various rooms really amplifies the sensory experience, so I’ve been burning lots of Handmade Habitat candles at once. But when I make pots, my go-to scent is Savasana—it’s both invigorating and calming.

Thanks for sharing, Marina! Check out her work here and on Instagram @whimandvigor and shop our ceramic candle collab on the site and in person this week at Downtown Holiday Market.