At Native House Ceramic Co., Meg Bundy harnesses the beauty, power, durability and forgiveness of the earth and its elements to create timeless inspirations and facsimiles of our planet and our shared ancestral stories. “The Earth is our shared native house,” she states. “We all have an innate ability to live closer to nature.”
The Flushing native and Clio High School graduate entered the art world as a painter. “I enjoyed ceramics, but felt I was better at painting than working with clay,” Bundy remembers. As a young student, she took classes at the Flint Institute of Arts and then at Mott Community College, eventually transferring to and graduating from the University of Michigan-Flint with a Bachelor of Science degree in Art Education. “I taught at Goodrich High School for 12 years and that’s where I re-kindled a love for ceramics.
I thought that if I was going to teach it to my students,
I should learn more about it,” she says. “I dug out an old kiln that my mom found at a garage sale and a wheel she purchased for me. The first pots I made were pretty wonky and uneven,” she laughs. She continued to practice her pottery and paint. “I set up an Etsy shop that I used as a website to display my work,” she says. “I listed my ceramics and they started to sell frequently.” Her individual pieces and ideas were a hit and she began dedicating more and more time to clay. “It became a part-time job and I even started selling my pieces wholesale to an interior design company,” she adds. “I quit my teaching job and took some time to run a community studio in Flushing for about four years. Then, the pandemic hit.” It was then that her ceramic business took off and Bundy dedicated herself to her art full-time. Her work has been exhibited at Buckham Gallery and featured in an issue of Country Living magazine.
Her creations and collections are unique. Each item, design, picture exists by itself as a one-of-a-kind piece of art, yet together as part of humanity’s collective unconscious, part of our natural world. (According to psychoanalyst and philosopher Carl Jung, the “collective unconscious” is the deep-rooted, unconscious knowledge and imagery that every person is born with and shared by all human beings due to ancestral experience.) This is by design.
Bundy’s designs are inspired by humanity’s shared folklore and connection to nature. Collections represented here are “Strawberry Moon”, “Medusa”, “Mermaids” and “An Ode to Bees”.
Each theme is inspired by nature and our relationship with it. “I’m endlessly fascinated with folklore and creation stories and how ancient humans interacted with the environment,” Bundy explains. “That ancient interaction is something common to all of us. Our ancestor’s reciprocity with the plants and animals of our world is what connects us. My designs are meant to find and re-establish that connection.” Her recent collections include “Medusa,” “Strawberry Moon,” “Mushrooms” and “Crow Magic.”
Every piece Bundy creates is hand-made, taking sometimes 5-6 hours from start to finish and each piece is singular, never to be repeated. “They are intentionally made to be one-of-a-kind,” she states. “I may redo collections now and again, but I will never use the same design. My intention is for them to be heirloom pieces passed down through generations.” Inspired by the Great Lakes, the “Mermaid” collection” is her most recent and features mugs, candlestick holders, sea urchin bowls, nautilus shell match-strikers and goblets with a water-blue glaze of her own creation.
In addition to ceramic pieces, the collection includes driftwood wall hangings. “I try to make something different and unique for each new collection,” she adds. Bundy usually releases a new collection monthly or bi-monthly on social media, and pieces go fast. “Mugs usually sell out within minutes of release,” she says. In the future, Bundy plans to work on and release the “Butterfly” and “Tree Magic” collections. “There may even be a ‘Bigfoot’ collection,” she laughs.
Meg Bundy never thought she would be able to dedicate her life to art, especially ceramics. “The gratitude I feel is immense,” she says. “It’s unreal to get to do what I love and I am blown away by the response I have gotten from customers all over the world. I hope my designs inspire people to once again reconnect with our natural world, ancestors and each other.”
Visit shopnativehouse.com for one-of-a-kind mugs, vases, palettes, planters and more. For news, updates and collection release information, visit Native House Ceramic Co. on Facebook and Instagram.
Photos provided by Jana Suppes and Sugar Leaf Photo Co.
