I admire the work of Marinski Heartmades long time now. Marina Marinski is the heart of the company. She is always covered in clay dust and this is truly a fairy dust, as she creates ceramics with a touch of magic. Her magical dishes spreads joy in every home.

Each piece is handmade, but most important, heartmade! You can feel and see it in every single piece of her work. Marinas work is inspired by nature and made with greatest support of her husband and sister. Each piece is unique and with a great recognition value. Last but not least – Handmade with LOVE in Croatia!

This is a great pleasure to welcome Marina here today. I am very happy we can find out more about Marinski Heartmades and maybe some secrets behind.

Enjoy Marinas magical universe!

Photo credit: @Dalibora Bijelić ~ Marina Marinski, the founder and owner

“I grew up in industrial Adriatic city of Rijeka; half-Croatian, 3/8 Macedonian and 1/8 Greek (you can see Greece in my nose). My father’s family, which gave several prominent photographers, cherished the Orthodox tradition whose motives gradually became an important part of my visual narrative. My mother’s family introduced me to the Catholic Mediterranean images, so the mixture of religions meant that in my family there was always something to celebrate, await, and phantasize about.”

Marina is 35 years old and educated as master in history of art and computer science. She owns also degree in ceramic design. She is happily married to Daniel and runs the studio together. Daniel is a DOP (director of Photography) who fell in love with clay and obviously Marina. They have 3year old daughter Roza. Marinas hobbies are gardening, cooking and anything connected with flowers (mostly mimosas, hydrangeas, african lilies, lilacs, old sorts of roses, ranunculus, tulip from her garden). What makes her smile? She always smiles when she is surrounded with her my family, by seaside & forest walks, kind words, little gestures, happy customers or “me time”. She loves her job 🙂 And she likes the sea, no wonder, because she was born in the industrial city of Rijeka – a Croatian port city on Kvarner Bay, located in the northern Adriatic Sea. She spent half of  her life on the beach. It heels and brings her inspiration playing an important role in Marinas life. She loves music too, different kinds – from reggae, ska, punk, rock, jazz, experimental. She just goes with the flow when choosing it, it is usually something that reflects her mood and a state of mind. Making pies is something she enjoys too, very very much. She got it from her baba – grandma in Macedonian. Her favorite place in the city is Lungomare and she loves to spend her vacation in Croatia listening to  José González’s cover of The Knife’s song “Heartbeats”!

Photo credit: @Dalibora Bijelić ~ Marina Marinski, the founder and owner

Dear Marina, how did you get the idea of creating your own company?
The idea of running my own company came slowly after years of making jewellery as a hobby. I was creative from early years, too bossy and stubborn to work for someone, in an office with fixed working hours. That was a no-no. I was dreaming of creating something special, from my heart. In 2010., right after finishing my college, I got the opportunity to work as an apprentice in renowned potters studio. This was my first real contact with clay, production process and a life
changer after all. I call it also love at first sight. Two years after I got the degree in ceramic design and opened my own company.
Today, Marinski Heartmades is a small family company specialized into making fairytale-like ceramics for everyday use. Our private life and work interact a lot and ceramics has become a part of our family. Products are crafted in our studio from the beginning to the very end. While manufacturing, I take every piece at least 15 times into my hands, and it truly is a part of me. From casting, wedging, 3d modelling, 3d printing, throwing on the wheel to glazing, coloring.
We do it all.

Which part of hand made process you love most of all? 
Anything related to coloring is my specialty. I see the world in colors and that’s truly a part of me. I like designing, styling my products too.

Which of your products you don’t want to miss in your own home?
We are huge coffee lovers, so cups and mugs are our no.1. We of course have them in a variety of colors , sizes and shapes. Second object you can find in each room of our house are vases. I adore flowers, fresh, dry, branches.

Could you please describe your brand in 3 words?
Dreamy, elegant, delicate, nature inspired – 5 words sorry 🙂

Where do you get your inspiration?
My greatest and truest inspiration is nature. It is a place of comfort. It smells, it sights, it calms.

Is there any story connected with Marinski Heartmades you would like to share with us?
When I got contacted by Anthropologie in January 2018. I was not replying to their email for a week, I thought someone is joking. The fact that Antropologie knew my work and wished to collaborate with Marinski Heartmades, it was just surreal and out of this world. It was a dream come true.

What do you wish for Marinski Heartmades in the coming years?
I dare to dream a lot and there are so many dreams yet to fulfill. After we built our home studio and moved in a year ago, we worked so much since then. I dream of slowing down, taking some time off to explore, dream and play.

Thank you dear Marina for this inspiring interview. This makes me dream of having a ceramic workshop in your studio.

Here you can find a little find about the Marinski Heartmades Studio.  I love it! Enjoy!!!

There is a wonderful collaboration between Marinski Heartmades and Yuunaa. The ceramic Flower Faces are transformed into bamboo dishes. Such a wonderful idea!

I am happy to welcome Cynthia Posthuma, the founder of Yuunaa to find out more about that beautiful collaboration.

Please tell me a little bit about you and how you get the idea to create your own brand.
So, I’m Cynthia and a mom of 2 boys (9 and 3). I’ve always worked at financial institutions and decided a couple of years ago that I really wanted to change my way of living – less hectic, less stressfull – and so I quit my job. I wanted to go after my dream and create a brand that is a mixture of sustainability and design. And so I did. It started with bamboo sets and hopefully in the next few years we will be able to expand it with also other items, like bedroom accessories.

Is there a special meaning for Yuunaa?
The reason why I started Yuunaa, is that I wanted to create something that would be nice for children to eat from and looks good for parents too. And more and more I would like to expand that to a full range of childrens items.

Please tell us more about the Collaboration with Marinski Heartmades.
I met Marina via Social Media. I came across Marinski Heartmades on Instagram and really loved the designs. So I contacted her and that was the start of a beautiful collaboration.

Are there any other plans/projects planed with Marinski Heartmades in the future?
We now started with the Yuunaa My Oh My collection and hopefully there will be more in the near future.

How cute is this wonderful “My Oh My collection” with Flower Faces as a bamboo dishes and suitcases!

Thank you dear Marina & dear Cynthia for this wonderful {DESIGN PORTRAIT} I enjoyed so much!

I wish all the best for Marinski Heartmades and I am excited to see all new future projects with Yuunaa!

Sunny greetings from France,

Arminka aka Petit Sourire

 

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In collaboration with Marinski Heartmades and Yuunaa