An artist/entrepreneur is inspired by utility
Heather Lezla spends a lot of time looking at water meter covers.
“It's kind of ridiculous how there are so many of them, and how many different ones there are,” she says.
Lezla is not interested in what lies below the covers, but rather how the seemingly unremarkable metal circles around her Arlington, Va., neighborhood can help her make some remarkable pottery.
Lezla, 45, is the artist behind Persimmon Street, Ceramics That Work, her studio and online shop featuring clay vases, dinnerware, tiles and more, all handcrafted and fired in a kiln in her home.
Many of the pieces are not merely inspired by the water meter covers (or metal signs or branches), but created using them: Lezla loads up a wagon with clay and supplies and wanders her neighborhood to imprint 25-pound slabs of clay with whatever catches her eye.
She takes smaller items (think leaves or a wooden plank) to her studio and imprints the clay there, turning the items into anything from planters to cheese platters to tiles that can be used as coasters or for a wall mosaic.
“It is so fun to take something that people step on on a regular basis and make that thing pop,” Lezla says.
Along with a rotating inventory of goods on Etsy, Lezla says she has been commissioned to imprint specific items in clay for custom gifts that “feel more personalized than a name on a mug.”
After living in Washington for 18 years, Lezla and her family — husband Stephane, a son and two dogs — moved into a Craftsman-style home in Arlington in 2011. She first converted the formal living room into her studio, and later made room for a kiln. (“It was a birthday present,” she says.) The kiln was an investment that has helped her grow her business and simplify the production process.
Lezla studied art at Dickinson College in Pennsylvania, with a concentration in ceramic sculpture. After stints making jewelry and paintings, as well as working at various galleries and museums, moving to Arlington was the catalyst for her to return to clay.
“I moved here and took a lot of walks with my dogs and son,” Lezla says. “I really started to notice the patterns and textures around me. I took a piece of wood and imprinted it on tiles, and it's taken off from there.”
Her passion for gardening also inspires much of her work. When she couldn't find the kind of plant markers she wanted for her garden (stores seemed to carry only wooden ones; she wanted ceramic), she made her own.
“Every artist does something for themselves because they can't find it,” she says. “Why would I go out and buy this if I can make it for myself?”
Lezla says she and her husband (Stephane is a chef and co-owner of Washington restaurants Seventh Hill Pizza and Montmartre) think of themselves as artisans.
“I consider him an artisan because he makes incredible dishes on a regular basis,” she says. “He's working in concrete now, and he made pavers for our yard. We are trying to make things that are necessary to live and survive, but making them interesting and pleasing to live with.”
Sales for Persimmon Street have taken off, Lezla says, thanks in part to word-of-mouth and craft fairs, but she credits online marketplace Etsy most for the success.
“I can't image getting as far as I've gotten without it,” she says. “It automatically gives you an international audience. I get regular business from Japan, Australia. There is no way on earth they would find me without it.”
So what does Lezla see next for Persimmon Street? Collaboration is one possibility. She already sells some of her plant markers with seeds from a farm in Virginia, and soap dishes with hand soap from Richmond.
“I've done the right footwork, and I've gotten it in the door in a couple of places,” she says.
“I've invested in certain websites and social media and now that I have an audience, it's up to me to think about making new stuff to keep people interested.”