London on my mind.

One goal for 2025 is to introduce you to our makers in a more intimate fashion. All along, we’ve worked to differentiate ourselves from similar galleries; and one way we hope to do that is by helping forge a personal connection between our makers and our audience.

For some reason, London has been on my mind lately. It’s been several years since I last visited this iconic city and I’m certainly hoping that I get a chance to visit again soon. Many years and what seems like a lifetime ago, this happened in London. For some reason, the story that keeps entering my mind occurred when we visited London at the tail-end of our honeymoon. We’d just landed after 10 days exploring Italy; and our plan was to spend 3 days in London before heading back to reality. We hailed a cab at the airport… a beautiful old-fashioned taxi that is iconicity British. Once inside, my husband took off his coat and laid it over the back of the passenger seat. Intently taking in the city streets on the way to the hotel, I remember being excited for this last adventure.

Once we got to our destination, we promptly exited the cab, got our luggage out of the trunk, and paid our driver. No sooner did the cab pull away and drove down the busy street did my husband remember that his jacket… and our passports… was still in the car. Before I realized it, Phil was sprinting down the busy London street in jeans and dress shoes. From afar, he must have looked as though he could have challenged Usain Bolt in the 100-meter dash. Remarkably, he caught up with the driver several streets away; and a few minutes later, Phil was jogging back to our hotel with his jacket and our passports in hand; albeit a bit out-of-breath and in need of his rescue inhaler! We were young… babies really; and exploring the world as husband and wife for the first time. And aș much as I’d like to think that the driver would have brought the jacket to the hotel upon discovery, you just never know. And for the past 25 years, we’ve enjoyed sharing this story. 

However, this blog isn’t meant to be about our carelessness in 1999, it’s about one of our favorite makers, Noe Kuremoto. For the entirety of her career, Noe has seamlessly balanced tradition and innovation. The Japanese-born, London-based artist is a prolific storyteller that captures the elegance and whimsy of Japanese artistry with her stoneware sculptures. It is clear that traditional Japanese ceramics techniques play an enormous role in Noe’s creations. Much of this can be attributed to spending her formative years in Kyoto, a city considered at the core of Japan’s craft heritage which clearly greatly influenced Noe’s craft. Throughout her career, Noe perfected her unique style by melding her heritage along with personal experiences and travel adventures.

Noe attests that for her, crafting ceramics is so much more than shaping clay; rather, it is a meditative practice between her and the clay itself. The Japanese concept of wabi-sabi informs much of Noe’s philosophy. Each piece is organic, unique, and deliberate…a true celebration of finding beauty in the imperfect. We feel so lucky to carry pieces from three of Noe’s collection on our site. It would be hard to pick our favorite collection; however there’s something intangibly incredible about Noe’s Haniwa Warriors; from the first time we saw them, we were hooked. About these special objects, Noe says, “Haniwa are the traditional clay figures buried with the dead during the Kofun period of Japan, in the belief the Haniwa would protect souls in the after life. My hope is that my Haniwa will protect our souls in this world.”

I would be amiss not to share a couple personal London faves. In a city where walking is at the basis of what you do, our favorite place to stay is The Twenty Two. This boutique hotel is within a former family home, Edwardian mansion on Grosvenor Square. With only 31 rooms, the interior of this opulent space was inspired by 18th century France. Usually, we tend towards minimalist styling; however in this case, it seems so appropriate to revel in the maximalist inside The Twenty Two.

And one of our favorite shopping haunts Soane; not only do we love the products, but we are huge advocates of Soane’s philosophy of championing British craftsmanship. The studio has partnered with 40 independent craft workshops across the country in mediums that range from blacksmiths to rattan weavers. Soane has been steadfast at securing the future of traditional crafts by investing in workshops. For that reason alone… the choice of investing in people… we love this iconic studio!