Potter Lucy Michel Is Here to Stay
Words by Kelly Martin
Photos by Kelsey Wisdom
Ceramicist Lucy Michel wasn’t thinking about leaving Los Angeles. She grew up there, as did her husband—as did all her friends–—and her life felt solid and unmoveable. But then Michel evacuated with her family north to a friend’s house in Carmel during the Palisades fire. It was only supposed to be a couple of weeks, but she felt suddenly clear: Life in the city was starting to languish—and right in front of her was a vision of a different future for her and her family.
Michel, who’s known for both her functional ceramics and her fine art, arrived permanently in Monterey in May—and with a new home, a new pottery store in Carmel-by-the-Sea, and an already solid community, it’s hard to imagine her anywhere else.
On paper, you’d think it would be a tough shift for someone from a city of 4 million people, 11 thousand restaurants, and more museums per capita than almost anywhere else in the world, to move somewhere much smaller and slower in comparison.
But the universe conspired in Michel’s favor: She and her family found a house almost immediately, got their oldest child into school (“the cool Waldorf charter”), and signed a lease on a storefront. The pace suited her, too: Of course, she talks of proximity to the beach, the absence of traffic, and no snooty Hollywood scenes. But mostly she loves the people. “The community here is easy,” Michel says. “No one’s in a rush, no one’s flaky, nothing’s urgent.”
At first, the only people her family knew were Annie Freeman and Dave Ransone, the wife-and-husband duo behind Somewhere in Carmel, and Sarah Simms from Lady & Larder, who quickly introduced them to new faces. “It was like, ‘Oh, you need to meet Maria who does all these beautiful drawings. Oh, you need to meet the girls who own Tancredi & Morgen,’” she says. She met Andrew and Jordan Chugg, who run Wally’s vintage. And Anthony and Alissa Carnazzo, who have Stationaery restaurant. In Michel’s words, “There’s a bunch of cool people doing cool shit.”
And as Michel started to root in Carmel’s community of makers and creatives, she realized it wasn’t just the people she liked, but that friendliness is automatic and kinship is a given. None of the competitive edginess—just generosity, encouragement, and excitement.
Her first-ever shop, Lucy Michel Pottery—now open on Mission just south of Ocean, between Mission Bistro and Viau Estate Jewelry—is a product of that energy. “This never would’ve happened in LA,” she says. “There's no place like this in LA in terms of the community—and the foot traffic.”
On the shelves, you’ll find plenty of Michel’s ceramics, all shaped and glazed by hand. They mostly come in spotted whites, tans, and blues. She says her work has taken on more earthy inspiration since she’s settled into her new sense of place: “It looks like NorCal, the clay and the speckles,” she says. “Color-wise, texture-wise, things looking like sand or the ocean or the trees.”
It’s a return to her roots, both as a Californian and a maker. The muddy, speckled look reminds her of visiting northern California when she was a kid. (“It’s a very seventies, handmade-in-California, hippie vibe,” she says.) And it looks a lot like what she liked to make when she first started pottery twelve years ago. No gimmicks, no kitsch—just well-made stoneware that suits its surroundings.
Among her work on the shelves and on the big farm table at the center of the store, you’ll also find stuff from Michel’s maker friends—Canyon Coffee coffee beans, Lady & Larder crackers, tea lights from Le Feu de L’Eau—plus a collection of vintage souvenir T-shirts that she sources herself (and sometimes can’t help but keep).
When you visit, say hello; Michel, her husband, and her dad are manning the store. And don’t be surprised if you catch familiar faces from around town—someone from the surrounding shops and restaurants is always stopping by. “There's this zone here in Carmel-by-the-Sea where the people are in it together,” Michel says. <img src="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/6457f19f1c1e1601e2c9c3f6/6487a9355b63a6818c705cea_CC-Icon--20.svg"alt="CC"height="20" width="20">
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Kelly Martin is a lifestyle writer, editor, and brand consultant. Previously, she was the senior editor at goop, where she directed travel content and covered what’s fascinating in the wellness world. You can find her on Instagram at @_kjmartin.