PERFECT POTTERY
CREATIVE CHAMELEONS ASUKA MEW AND ANNA MILLER-YEAMAN FOUNDED CERAMICS STUDIO WINGNUT & CO AFTER A POTTERY COURSE TURNED INTO A PASSION PROJECT
THIS PAGE: Anna Miller-Yeaman, one half of design duo Wingnut & Co, wraps a pretty pot for a customer. OPPOSITE PAGE: The pair’s elegant, simple forms are influenced by Japanese tableware; the oil burner (top left) is a big seller. “It took a long time to perfect, but they’ve been really popular,” says Asuka. The test glaze wall (bottom right) is a work of art in itself. It can take more than a year to perfect a glaze, and the studio currently offers five in its collection.
AT A GLANCE
Who: Asuka Mew and Anna Miller-Yeaman of Wingnut & Co. What they do: Handmade ceramics with a simple, Japanese aesthetic. Where: North Melbourne
Why they do it: “We’re drawn to practical, considered design in natural materials with simple glazes. We hope to make pieces that can be used and enjoyed every single day.”
Visit: wingnutand.co >
“NECESSITY OFTEN DRIVES OUR NEW DESIGNS. SOMETIMES IT’S THINGS FRIENDS REQUEST, CUSTOM ORDERS OR ITEMS WE NEED OURSELVES” ~ Asuka
ASUKA MEW WAS cycling home from his day job at a furniture makers when he happened to pass the Carlton Arts Centre. “It was running a ceramics course I thought I’d like to try,” he recalls. The arts graduate quickly fell in love with the practice, borrowing an old potter’s wheel from a friend and spending every spare hour honing his craft in the shed in the garden of the home he shares with his partner, Anna Miller-Yeaman. “My initial goal was to make a dinner set for us and if something broke I could replace it,” explains Asuka. “We still use that set every day!”
The couple met when both were studying at the Victorian College of the Arts – painting for Asuka, and sculpture for Anna. Following graduation, they worked in numerous creative fields before taking the leap to set up their own ceramics studio. “I started to make too many things, so Anna saw an opportunity to start a business and sell the pots,” explains Asuka. “We originally just sold at makers’ markets and online before stockists came along. Then we opened the shop.”
Fortuitously, friends of the pair were moving out of their north Melbourne work space and Asuka and Anna jumped at the opportunity.
“It was a huge step,” recalls Anna. “We were worried about making the rent, so initally we sublet the studio to a few other creatives. But slowly people moved on, and as the business grew, so did the amount of space we needed.”
The duo went full-time with the studio and a newly created shopfront at the end of 2015, and have gone from strength to strength since.
The company name, Wingnut & Co, was born from the couple’s fascination with objects old and new. This interest led to Asuka amassing antique hardware, among them a collection of wingnuts. “We are attracted to their shape and how their design is a direct reflection of their purpose,” says Anna. “Their design is simple, practical and satisfying to use. We wanted to reflect the same qualities in the pieces that we make.”
Many of the pair’s beautifully tactile, functional designs are influenced by Japanese food culture, including tea cups, rice bowls and beer cups. Asuka was raised in Northern Kyushu in Japan, and the couple go back every year to visit family and some of the old pottery towns. “There are big pottery festivals each year where the whole town comes alive,” says Anna. “Stalls of ceramics line the streets, and you can go and visit practising potters in their studios. It’s very inspiring.”
Their own pieces have a simple elegance that the duo have worked hard over the years to perfect. “Often necessity prompts a new design idea, rather than inspiration,” says Asuka. “Our hanging planter design came from a custom order, but it took about 18 months to finalise. To be honest, our designs are always changing, we’re always tweaking things and hopefully improving.”