about us
Colleen Hennessey Clayworks is a joint venture of Colleen Hennessey and her wife Adele Horne. Colleen makes all of the ceramics by hand. Adele runs the business side of things, makes the glazes, and fires the kiln. Colleen and Adele live on the beautiful Mendocino Coast of Northern California, and operate the business from their home, along with some rotten terriers and unruly chickens.
about colleen hennessey
Colleen grew up in Mill Valley, California, spending most of her days outdoors. She was influenced by the natural beauty around her. Both her parents made things with their hands: woodworking, gardening, and sewing. Trained in sculpture at Kansas City Art Institute, Colleen supported herself as a cook for fifteen years, at Hayes Street Grill in San Francisco and at Los Angeles restaurants Lucques, Campanile, Canelé, and Elysian. She also worked teaching girls life skills through gardening, animal husbandry and cooking. These years of cooking and gardening are reflected in her ceramics. She's always thinking about how her wares will be used to hold the harvest and present meals. Ceramics is a natural progression from Colleen's art, gardening, and cooking. Her simple and functional everyday ware is inspired by the food that she grows and prepares. Colleen now lives on the Mendocino coast of Northern California.
Colleen's ceramics can be seen in Heidi Swanson's cookbook Near and Far: Recipes Inspired by Home and Travel, in Tara O'Brady's cookbook Seven Spoons: My Favorite Recipes for Any and Every Day, in Jeremy Fox's On Vegetables: Modern Recipes for the Home Kitchen, in Harvest: Unexpected Projects Using 47 Extraordinary Garden Plants by Stefani Bittner and Alethea Harampolis, in A Common Table: 80 Recipes and Stories from My Shared Cultures by Cynthia Chen McTernan, and in Japanese Home Cooking: Simple Meals, Authentic Flavors by Sonoko Sakai.
about adele horne
Adele loves connecting people with Colleen’s ceramics. It’s rewarding to know how much pleasure and comfort Colleen’s ceramics bring to our customers’ daily meals. When you contact us to create a made to order set, Adele will work with you to help you make your selections. Before relocating to the Mendocino Coast and starting the ceramics business with Colleen, Adele taught filmmaking at California Institute of the Arts for many years. Adele is also a documentary filmmaker.