Our studio
A small studio with a very big kiln.
Kiln & Co. began in 2014 with one secondhand wheel in a garage on the east side of Portland. Today twelve potters make everything you see here, by hand, in a converted bakery with a lot of windows.
We make the things we wanted to buy and couldn’t find.
Our founder, Ruth Calloway, was a line cook who got tired of plates that chipped in a month and mugs too thin to hold heat. She took an evening class, bought a wheel from a retiring teacher and started selling at the Saturday market.
The Daily Mug sold out every week. Then a café ordered two hundred. Then a waitlist of four thousand people taught us that “handmade” and “everyday” were not opposites — people wanted both.
We still work the same way: local clay, glazes mixed in-house, pieces fired slowly and checked by the person who made them. We just have more wheels now, and a solar roof that runs the kiln.
Twelve years at the wheel
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2014
One wheel, one garage, one very patient neighbour.
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2017
First studio and first hire. The Daily Mug is born.
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2020
The waitlist hits 4,000 and the online shop opens.
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2023
We move into the old bakery and go solar.
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2026
Twelve potters, six wheels and the kintsugi repair service.
The people
Hands behind the pieces
Every piece is signed on the base with the initials of the potter who made it.
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RC
Ruth Calloway
Founder & potter
Still throws every Ridge Vase herself.
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DM
Dev Mehta
Glaze chemist
Has mixed 600 test tiles to find our Celadon.
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LO
Lena Ortiz
Studio lead
Runs the kiln schedule and the studio playlist.
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SB
Sam Brooks
Packing & shipping
Has not broken a mug in transit since 2021.
Visit the studio
Open studio every Saturday, 10am–4pm, at 2210 SE Clinton Street, Portland. Watch a throwing demo, browse seconds and leave with something still warm from the kiln (figuratively).