After making the move from San Francisco to Barcelona in search of change and with a plan to explore new places, Cara decided to seek out a nearby ceramics studio in her first few months of living in Barcelona. Cara traded in hours of sweeping, stacking, mopping and fixing for time in the studio to experiment with different clays, techniques and glazes. She began to form her own unique style, heavily influenced by nature –  a theme which still runs throughout her pieces today. Cara mainly creates her pieces using slab work, coiling and pinch pot techniques as she found she was able to manipulate the clay to create shapes and organic forms unachievable by throwing on a wheel.

When living in Barcelona, Cara started to take more notice of the surrounding restaurants and what local chefs were using as vessels for their beautiful dishes. She started taking a peek underneath plates, bowls and cups in search for a maker’s mark (funny when you realise it’s not just you that does it, isn’t it?). Cara began to realise how much time and thought chefs were putting into finding beautiful, unique tableware to present their dishes within and knew that she could create something magical that could help chefs elevate their food to another level.

It is clear to see that the ocean is a huge inspiration for Cara’s work with many of her pieces upon first glance appearing to have washed up from within the deep blue sea, or to be found nestled amongst the pebbles on the beach or even carefully chipped away from large rock formations along the shoreline. The forms she creates are reminiscent of sea urchins, sea anemones and coral whilst her carefully developed glazes can be likened to sunlight dappled crystals or a birds-eye view of the ocean and shoreline from a great height, dark blues, greens and golds glimmering through.

Experimentation is absolutely key to Cara’s process – her best ideas for new designs come from spontaneous and free flowing creation sessions, usually after a large order has been completed and she has a few last bits of clay to create with. Formed from porcelain and stoneware, Cara’s work is undeniably eye-catching. Each piece is effortlessly elegant and beautifully imperfect with all the marks and speckles slightly varying between glazes making each piece completely unique and one of a kind.

We have watched as Cara’s beautiful pieces have evolved from her more sculptural and biomorphic designs all the way through to her bespoke ranges designed in collaboration with top chefs to be used throughout service in some of the best restaurants around the globe. We couldn’t be more thrilled to welcome her to the Kinn Collective family of designers.

Speak to us about Cara Janelle

If you would like to learn more about Cara Janelle’s work, or have a project in mind, please get in touch.