Homemade, Handmade, History Made
By Kristen Soles McCrackin | Photos courtesy of h.made studio
Southerners are big on telling stories. We never have a short conversation because even the answer to, “How was your day?” becomes an epic tale. Those stories are also deeply embedded in every aspect of our culture from passed-down recipes to family heirlooms, to the very homes in which some of us live.
Meghan Hudson of h.made studio incorporates all of this into her art. The UGA graduate and high school art teacher with deep family roots in Royston, explains, “It wasn’t until we moved our family to Athens that I just started like really holding on to these little details of what I felt made up my story. And so that’s kind of what led down this path of using the clay to show visual pieces of my story.”
Hudson shares in one of her blog posts that “the ‘h’ in h.made doesn’t just mean ‘Hudson,’ (which is why it’s not a capital H). h.made also means homemade, handmade, even history made, and the clay tiles that I make are a way I can share stories.” And tiles are how she began her business. She first dipped her toe in the water with ceramics in 2017, making wall tiles illustrating visual elements of places she had been or things she had seen. In 2018, she felt comfortable enough to launch a website, get a tax ID, and obtain a business license.
Since that time, Hudson has moved on to statement pieces and collections of ceramic pottery designed to evoke memories and even perhaps become heirlooms for families. She remembers, “When my great-aunts were alive, it was every meal, breakfast, lunch, and dinner like fried chicken, fried okra, or squash casserole. Like all the big Southern things; we still have some of those old vintage dishes. And as soon as you hold that and as soon as you serve something in it, it immediately reminds you of those people. I didn’t realize how special all of that was until now that I’m older.” She further describes how she hopes people will receive her art. “I hope that the pieces I’m making will be full circle. Is this piece that somebody is serving on that I’ve made like that for a family — you know, that special piece?”
Memories aren’t the only things that inspire Hudson’s art. She uses actual family items. Her great-grandmother’s crochet doilies form the pattern for her lace collection. The shapes of the pieces come from old family dishes that she now uses as molds. Many of her pieces bear the names of female relatives as tribute.
h.made studio carries wall tiles, small dishes, serving plates and bowls and holiday décor, all handmade in small batches. Hudson shares that her current favorite piece is the lace cake stand ($62), but her all-time, sentimental favorites are the wall tiles since that’s what started it all. You can find several designs on her website including the Victorian small, medium and large (starting at $22), the peach ($60), the magnolia ($62) and the camellia ($62) wall tiles. Holiday décor will go on sale in early October and will comprise trees, ornaments and garlands.
You can find Hudson’s creations online at hmadestudio.com, Farm 441 in Bishop, Ga., Downtown Market in Royston, Ga., and Home Malone in New Orleans, La.