THERE HAS LONG been a link between what we eat and what we eat it from. Some of the earliest dishware entailed leaves, shells, bark, flat rocks or large bread rounds. Pottery blazed its way into dining culture around 25,000–29,000 B.C. and still has a place on our tables today. In Victorian times, a dinner could go on for 13 courses, each requiring its own plate, serving utensils and drinkware. The connection between food, plate and palate is a visceral one. Meet some local artisans who are showcasing this link in their wares for diners to enjoy.
One Acre Ceramics: ‘This is our dream’
Sarah and Thomas Gelsanliter shared an instant cosmic ceramic connection when they met working at a ceramic studio in Washington, D.C.
When Thomas decided to move to Michigan to pursue a graduate degree from Cranbrook Academy of Art in 2002, Sarah joined him, becoming a production potter at Greenfield Village. They purchased property outside of Ann Arbor and began “collecting” kilns and wheels. In 2011, the couple decided to open their own studio in Milan.
“I make the pottery and Thomas makes tiles,” Sarah Gelsanliter says. “We gave ourselves two years to get it done.”
One Acre Ceramics is celebrating 14 years this year. “This is our dream and there is no other place we’d rather be,” says Gelsanliter—unless it’s art fairs.
One Acre Ceramics sets up at six regional art fairs a year and Gelsanliter estimates 40–50 percent of their sales comes from those events. One Acre Ceramics can also be purchased in boutiques, museum stores and coffee shops across the country.
“For retail, we make approximately 1,000 mugs, 800 bowls and 300 plates per year, and another 350 mugs and 300 bowls for custom or branded pottery orders,” she says.
This September, the duo will be making a custom order of 250 small tasting cups for the Milan Coffee Off competition as well as donating 200–300 soup bowls for the Aid in Milan Empty Bowls fundraiser.
While she enjoys fulfilling those orders, she loves creating custom settings. “I do about 10 dinnerware sets a year. It’s a lot of fun.”
“The functionality of the pottery is very important and can add beauty to the rituals of serving and sharing food,” she maintains. “A comfortable mug handle and lip can add to the joy of drinking coffee every day; a well-balanced serving bowl adds beauty to a salad on a table.”
When making stoneware and glassware, much like the food or drinks that they are made to hold, there is definitely a recipe, says Gelsanliter. For pottery, it’s clay first then the glaze, she explains. Tinkering with formulas to get just the right texture and complementing it to the glazes can take a while. It took nine months of testing—including thermal shocking to make sure it could withstand extreme temperatures associated with food serving—before she and Thomas found the right combination for their tableware.
“The glazes, not the forming process, are what determine if pottery is food-safe,” explains Gelsanliter. “There are standards for glazes and once you get the right one that bonds with the clay, then you can adjust it to achieve the color or appearance.”
Expert glassblower Michelle Plucinsky of Michigan Glass Academy studio in Dearborn sees similarities in stoneware and glassware development.
“You begin with the basic formulas and techniques before moving on to layering colors or creating patterns,” she says.
From there, it’s the artist’s vision or collaboration with a client that elevates every meal from a humble midweek dinner to a special celebration.
Grayling Ceramics: From restaurants to ceramics studio
If you’ve enjoyed a mug pour at Ferndale’s Urbanrest Brewing Company or a meal at Oak & Reel in Detroit, chances are you’ve experienced the stoneware artistry of Grayling Ceramics, based out of Kalamazoo.
Shay Grayling has worked with clay for three decades and his wife, Maura, had a long career in running high-end restaurants in Philadelphia. It made sense to combine their expertise and offer restaurants one-of-a-kind stoneware designed around a chef ’s vision and for a busy kitchen.
“From a restaurant’s presentation point of view, the chef is considering how trying to create a certain experience and certainly plateware contributes to that experience,” Shay says.
He believes his restaurant customers appreciate how the look, feel and durability of a handmade plate, cup and bowl complement their culinary creations. Like chef Joseph VanWagner, executive chef and partner of Echelon Kitchen and Bar in Ann Arbor.
Investing in handcrafted plates and bowls aligns with the restaurant’s mission to support and celebrate all local producers, including those beyond food and beverage.
“We love working with Shay and Grayling Ceramics,” he says. “They have insight and understand the challenges plates go through in a busy restaurant.”
One example is how their dishes were intentionally designed to be stacked to save space in the kitchen. It only took two prototypes, one for shape and one for color, before finding the right combination.
“It was such a cool experience to help create the art that I’m putting my own personal art on,” VanWagner says.
Maier Ceramics: ‘Art meets function’
Benjamin Maier of Benjamin Maier Ceramics in Leland appreciates the commitment local chefs have to a total farm-to-table concept, including utilizing his handcrafted wares.
“To have me come and take it a step further with creating a relationship between the food and the plate, it sets them apart,” he says.
Maier’s plates are in heavy rotation at Supper at The Mill in Glen Arbor and at The Riverside Inn of Leland. Over the years of studio work and commissions, Maier has perfected techniques that allow him and his two employees to hand-throw and mold hundreds of pieces at a time to keep up with requests.
When designing for a restaurant, Maier takes into consideration not only how specific dishes are to be plated, but the overall space and décor. Durability is also important.
“Art meets function” is Maier’s motto.
Claytronica: Claiming a seat at the table
Allison Young of Detroit’s Claytronica sees a tactile connection between food and tableware.
“Functionality and ease of use play a big role in how we enjoy food,” she explains. “Like how we all have a favorite mug, simply because we love the way it feels in our hands.”
A disciple of coffee herself, it is no surprise Young’s mugs and coffee pourovers are popular at art and craft fairs across the country, including Ferndale’s DIY Fair. She hopes to do a collaboration with a coffee shop in the future Young believes her “functional-ware,” including salt cellars, cookie jars, beverage carafes, and grater mixing bowls, sets her apart and helps fill a niche in the pottery table-setting market.
“When equal care is taken for the esthetics and functionality of all tableware as it was for the meal, it only enhances the experience,” she believes. Young keeps a home studio near the Boston-Edison Historic District. She also throws and teaches pottery classes at Still Life Studio in Ferndale.
Glass Academy and Michigan Room: Playing with fire and glass
Michelle Plucinsky was 20 when she began playing with fire and glass at Greenfield Village. It wasn’t ornate, detailed work, she recalls. It was more realistic of the era: basic and purposeful, as opposed to fine artistic flair and execution for which her current work is appreciated.
The experience set her, her husband, Chris, and their son Jacob, on the path to owning and operating The Glass Academy since 2002 as well as being the Royal Glassmakers for the Michigan Renaissance Festival for almost as long.
Their glass-blowing business began as a studio rental party idea. The couple would blow beer glasses and sell them for $20, which included fill-ups from a keg. Those parties morphed into a 10-year run of Hot Glass/Cold Beer events with area breweries. The Michigan Room, their long-term dream of having their own event/bar space within The Glass Academy, opened in May 2025.
“We’ve created special glasses to accompany our signature gin and tonics, old-fashioneds, and margaritas,” she explains. The rocks glasses have a thicker base that can withstand a colder cocktail while the G&T glasses are lighter with a fun pattern. Three of their signature cocktails feature locally distilled spirits, celebrating the best of Michigan craftsmanship in every pour.
“If I’m going to have an expensive, elegant drink, I want it in a glass that reflects the beauty of the drink,” says Plucinsky.
Local freelance writer Gretchen Van-Monette’s collection of pottery is only going to grow after researching this article.
