¡Manitoh! Handmade is an imagined brand I created, based on two things that I love: Latin cultures and ceramics. If you've read my "About" page, you know I spent years traveling in Latin America and learning Spanish. I owe such a big part of who I am to the experiences I had and the people I met in this region. Years before, I started learning how to throw on the wheel and fell in love...it may be one of the only times I've entered that coveted—yet elusive—flow state. Ironically, some of the oldest traditions in ceramics are rooted in the indigenous cultures which inhabited modern day Latin America.

Literally, "manito" is the diminutive form of "hand" in Spanish. I decided to make the "o" and "oh", and highlight it with a different color to bring out a sense of playfulness and whimsy. I chose bright yet earthy colors, which remind me of places like Oaxaca, Mexico and Ometepe, Nicaragua...the rich soil, the bougainvillea, the yucca and maiz...Finally, I custom designed the font, which evokes the nature of clay: tactile, mutable, and alive.