JEWELRY ATELIER
RESIDENT MASTER JEWELER
Talk to Jeffrey Levin about Custom Jewelry
Jeffrey Levin (pronounced ‘lehveen’) is the resident master jeweler, goldsmith and co-founder of Poet and/the Bench. As Jeffrey's jewelry workshop, Poet and/the Bench is where he creates fine, signature and custom jewelry for women and men. In addition to his eponymous collection, Jeffrey designs commitment rings, engagement rings, wedding bands, special occasion gifts, reimagines old heirlooms into new ones and collaborates with clients to realize bespoke, one-of-kind pieces.
Born in Cape Town, South Africa to parents of Egyptian-French and Lithuanian provenance, Jeffrey discovered jewelry early in life. At age 12, his father became a partner in the family jewelry business. Jeffrey grew up in the workshops, observing and increasingly enamored with the art of custom jewelry making. He pursued a formal 4 year apprenticeship, working under journeymen and completing National Technical Certificates in jewelry theory, gemology, maths and design/drawing before he left South Africa for New York, followed by Los Angeles and now the Bay Area. Jeffrey designs and manufactures using the lost-wax casting method and is a collector of objects of appreciation—an influence he attributes to his mother, Rosette. Read more here and visit Jeffrey's jewelry website to see more of his work: jeffreylevin.com or here to view his collection at Poet and/the Bench.
JEWELRY
Shop Abacus Row
San Francisco-based Christine Trac is the designer of Abacus Row. She has an aesthetic for rich materials and simple composition, and a strong appreciation for detail in design and craftsmanship. A background in ethnographic research and environmental conservation shapes Christine's direction on design and process. She is focused on designing jewelry that emphasizes the beauty of small details and timeless styles, and is inspired by a process of production that celebrates craft and community.
Born in Switzerland and raised in Istanbul, Betül Malik now resides in Marin, California. Betül launched her eponymous fine jewelry collection in 2010 after working in revered jewelry houses in Europe. Her aesthetic is a celebrated minimalism while brilliantly sophisticated and elegant with a strong ethos—using recycled gold, ethically sourced and recycled diamonds. Timeless pieces as future heirlooms.
Shop Carina Hardy
While living in Italy and France, Danielle Welmond become obsessed with lace-making and was determined to discover how to bring that to jewelry. She is inspired by her love of the delicacy and feminine form of lace, the mesmerizing power of beautifully combined gems, and the inert nature of fine metal. Danielle merges the three elements to create a style of jewelry that has become her signature design: weaving gems with fine threads and precious metals. Crafted from her Southern California and East Bay studios, her stunning jewelry has a regal flare with a modern aesthetic.
Elina Peduzzi’s jewelry work has a sculptural approach, inspired by traditional adornment and travels as well as her love for history, craft, and world cultures. She has a fascination with the process of transforming metals, bronze in particular – a metal that is deeply connected with human history. Her jewelry are hand cast and fabricated, and fuse ancient techniques with an industrial and urban vibe.
Shop Esther Metals
Esther Sullivan earned a metalsmithing degree from Montana State University in 2005, and after working with jewelers in Vermont and Bozeman she launched her eponymous collection, Esther Metals. She works out of her downtown Bozeman studio where she hand fabricates her designs—industrial forms built with textured material and highly oxidized metal matched with bright 14k and 18k gold. Her jewelry is refined and thoughtful; each piece has a one-of-a-kind feel and a deep connection to the earth.
Shop Franny E Fine
We have been coveting the work of Elizabeth Strathern for a few years. Her hand-formed jewelry speaks to craft in the most brilliant of raw meets delicate meets fierce heroine. Her Franny E Fine collection masterfully melds together ancient themes with contemporary design and subjects. We're thrilled to feature this jewelry from Vancouver, Canada in the shop!
Shop Loren Lewis Cole
Loren Lewis Cole communicates though her jewelry something about where she’s from–not just culturally, but in a bigger sense of how she sees the world. She considers jewelry to contain many layers and levels; it’s an artifact of unparalleled complexity and mystery. Loren’s collection evokes sensuality and of global adornment with an ancestral edge, often inspired by her travels and conversations with the people, especially women, she meets along the way.
Shop Maddalena Bearzi
Maddalena Bearzi is a Los Angeles-based jewelry designer, scientist and author. She has a Ph.D. in Biology and is president of the research and environmental non-profit Ocean Conservation Society. We love that in Maddalena’s jewelry, you can see the influences of her work in the natural environment and which comes through in her use of environmentally-friendly practices. Her jewelry is organic, earthy, elegant and with that right bit of edge.
Mariella Pilato is originally from Sorrento, Italy, and was educated at the Accademia de Belle Arti in Napes and Florence. She now lives in Bali where she has evolved her craft, using gems and materials in bold and unusual ways. Her Italian heritage, linked to heroic legends, myths and mermaids, combined with the magical history and ancient arts of the Indonesian archipelago push both her imagination and creativity to new artistic levels. We're so fortunate to carry examples of her collections that marry style and innovation.
Anna Butwell recently left Brooklyn for Berlin, where she makes her ultra cool punk-meets-Japanese Wabi Sabi collection of jewelry. She uses sand casting to produce each piece from start to finish. Chains, gems and stampings are intriguing elements that give her industrial jewelry recognizable texture and a modern glam rock aesthetic. She loves melting metal into a liquid with an oxygen and propane torch harnessing narrative ideas into small scale metal work.
Natasha Garrett was born and raised in Northern California, a place where she draws a great deal of her inspiration. Its vast landscapes and tonal color palettes have always played significant roles in her creative work. A career in wardrobe styling took her around the world, strengthening her love of travel and world cultures. Influenced by a desire to grow beyond mainstream fashion and offering clients a more sustainable option through pre-loved clothing and home goods, Natasha started her own vintage shop in Roam Vintage. Roam is more than her endless love of the hunt for beautiful things with history–Natasha has expanded her brand, designing an In House vintage-inspired collection of jewelry and clothing.
A creative from a young age, Siri discovered a love of hand forming, first with clay and later with lost wax casting. Inspired by rituals of adornment and storytelling in metal, her work is sculptural, textural, and incites a tactile and visceral experience for the collector. We love how Siri's rings stack seamlessly and how her earrings and necklaces layer, whether more organic in form or nature inspired.
Yellow designer Jess Lea combines minimalism with a youthful edge to create her unique approach to jewellery making. The Sculpture Series is a love story about freedom. It embodies emotional expression through movement and free forming shapes. Her Icon jewellery was inspired by pop art and fashion—graphic jewelry that make a statement, no matter the size.
FINE ART
Multimedia artist Amanda Rowan presents an immersion into the exquisite tactility of domesticity where she finds expression and rebellion in the irresistibly lush project Place Setting. Also featured are images from her renowned projects Rituals and Dramatic Landscapes. Amanda grew up in Mill Valley, and graduated Cum Laude from Tisch School of the Arts in NYC. She is currently a Full-Time Faculty at the Photo Arts Conservatory at the New York Film Academy Los Angeles in both the MFA and BFA programs.
Shop Austyn Taylor
The (OMG covetable) “Toro” Sculpture by Austyn Taylor is a shining example of her figurative work, existing where Hieronymus Bosch meets Picasso. The red bull calls back to our animist history where wandering spirits found refuge in masks and idols. Toro was made with Poet and/the Bench in mind and sold in 2018. We are now featuring a full collection of Austyn's ceramic sculptures at the shop, each marries Austyn’s view on contemporary design with pop culture. She believes there is nothing more brutally honest than working with clay, its natural authentic expression of touch is so influenced by our inner dialogs there is revealed our life’s novel in each piece. "Lucky us, animals that imagine being human."
Danielle Hutchens is influenced by nature and form and her approach to abstract painting is simultaneously organic and considered. A former career in graphic design lends a narrative structure to Danielle's artwork. She embraces natural materials, too, sourcing pigments from hikes which are mixed with nontoxic binders, like walnut oil. Nature as archival material is often combined with acrylics, oil pastels, sketches and charcoal–lending layered complexity to Daniele's artwork.
While studying abroad in Greece and Italy, imagery of the ancient artists inspired Denise to create legends and myths of her own. "My art is steeped in the tradition of contemporary figurative drawing and sculpting, specifically portraiture and the human form. Using a combination of mediums, layers naturally occur in my work. Through this stratum of mark-making, personas emerge in a captured moment. True stories, moral tales or something left unsaid, my characters sway in an ambiguous world constructed of scraped paint, erased lines, pinched clay, and smudged marks."
Working primarily in watercolor, Ilysa Leder is greatly influenced by the Impressionists and Abstract Expressionists, as well as contemporary landscape artists like Richard Mayhew, whose improvisational work prioritizes emotion over realism. She works mostly ‘en plein air,’ painting one subject at different times of day and during different seasons. Ilysa also marks memories, painting in her studio, facing Mt Tamalpais.
Shop Jeffrey Palladini
Jeffrey Palladini has been painting for the past 20 years. His work has been exhibited in solo, group and juried exhibitions and is included in many private and corporate collections. There is a thread of the familiar in his work, a result of a gradual evolution over time, where each artwork informs the next. You can look at his paintings from fifteen years ago, and follow that forward to what he’s currently working on in the studio, and while you will see experimentation and evolution, the changes form a consistent and recognizable continuum. “Jeffrey’s compositions are compelling not only for their emotive quality wherein we can find our own mirror, there is a graphical quality in the bold chromatic aesthetic, and perhaps familiar notes of the Swiss Style in his pursuit of simplicity,” shares Bonnie Powers, Poet and/the Bench co-founder.
Shop Laura Roebuck
The paintings of Laura Roebuck highlight the interplay of color, shape, and texture with intuition and movement. She brings her background in psychology into the abstract concepts of her work–art became both therapeutic for her and a way of self-expression during more challenging times of her career. Laura's work also reimagines everyday worn-in objects into mixed media art. We love how Laura's art holds space in compelling ways, allowing your mind to wander.
Shop Linda Benenati
Linda Benenati studied art and English and had a career in graphics and writing prior to discovering encaustic painting. She loves the interplay of images and themes and often begins an artwork with a simple lyric, a favorite phrase or vivid memory. Colorful, humorous and provocative, she is also inspired by the art masters, theater, 1920’s and 30’s collectibles, bees, dogs, cats and anything French.
San Francisco artist Michael McConnell was born in Michigan, where he used to watch squirrels from the front window. He graduated from Columbus College of Art & Design, with an emphasis in lithography and painting, and landed in the Bay Area soon after, where he still lives. Making art is how Michael makes sense of the world and his forgotten childhood.
Nico van Dongen is a fine art photographer, designer and educator. The journey of the “Concerning Trees” project started in 2015. Botanical studio photography taught Nico to closely observe and capture what grows in our natural world. The transition from blossom to tree was enormous: Capturing that inner feeling of release as well as raised awareness, when you are amongst trees. These time-based photographs allow you to stand in the light as he perceives it; surreal and in motion. The visual impression of the final multi layered image, allows the mind to float between space and time for one moment.
HOME GOODS
CERAMICS
Shop Anacapa Ceramics
Bob Dinetz is an accomplished graphic designer and a member of The Berkeley Potter’s Studio. Years of collecting Japanese and American pottery inspired him to explore making pottery of his own and we were thrilled when we saw Bob's stunning ceramic work. His wheel-thrown pottery happily lack the industrial precision of machine-made ceramics—sensual shapes, naked clay and glazes. Each piece is numbered to indicate the pounds of clay used and the type of clay—from mix, mix with grog, recycled and soldate 60 to black mountain and porcelain.
Following a mixed-media arts program in Bath, England, Dana Chieco's fascination with the alchemical process of transforming supple earth into vessels resulted in her creating her own ceramic collection. In her pottery she aims to convey the beauty, presence and uniqueness of objects made by hand, while making your dearest spaces feel even more like home. The collection at Poet and/the Bench is inspired by the colors of the sea.
Ian Hazard-Bill makes his ceramic work on the wheel and with a unique slab-building technique. The one-of-a-kind glazes are a result of firing his pieces in wood or salt/soda kilns. Born and raised in Marin County, Ian started working in clay in high school and earned a B.A. in Ceramics and Community-based Sustainability from Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington. Various apprenticeships, artist in residency programs and teaching workshops followed. He is currently the Ceramics Program Coordinator at the Mendocino Art Center.
Shop Julems
Originally from the Netherlands, Judith Lemmens' roots can be found in Dutch Design. After a career in interior design and later illustration, she has been working in ceramics since 2015 from her Mill Valley studio. Jeffrey was a 2016 judge for the annual Mill Valley Arts Festival where Judith Lemmens was exhibiting her handmade ceramics. All three judges on the panel unanimously honored Judith a Best in Show. It was only natural we would then visit her studio—and get to know more about the Julems collection, her strong sense of object and her decorative approach.
Kyra Payne's Kiki Plz ceramic art collection is at once cheeky and irreverent. Influenced by the envrionments of Mexico City where she lives and Mill Valley, California, where she was raised, the bright colors, watercolor paintings, and a charm in the rudimentary approach the artist takes in her ceramic sculpting make this art approachable and delightful.
Daily life is connected to mysterious and fantastic lands, home of dragons and other incredible creatures–where people from foreign lands dance with celestial maidens. “The fantastic world is my hometown, it captured me once and never let me go.” Kikuko Kohno creates stories expressed through inlay designs carved into wheel thrown porcelain. You can feel the moist whiteness and texture of the unglazed porcelain in her collection.
A trained architect, Linnan Ye's Neko Co Neko ceramic collection embraces design thinking and methodologies that come from spatial concepts. Her objects have both an earthy aesthetic that can complement every decor and a hand feel that is sublime.
Shop Shimoda Ceramics
Kelly Shimoda of Shimoda Ceramics makes hand built ceramics, including jewelry, tableware, and sculptural pieces from her Berkeley studio. Her work has a visceral quality, inspired by observations of landscape, the natural world, textiles, and metallic elements. Her blocks and figures capture a strong element of play. Her wallhangings beg to be transformed regularly. Her jewelry is a study in texture, both tactile and visual.
A former librarian, Amy Breed turned to art full-time more than 6 years ago. With Spacecat Ceramics, she uses whimsy and imagination to create a variety of objects. Mostly monsters, merging weirdness and cuteness in the best way that makes people happy and lifts their spirit. “I realized that if I made a monster, I could make it look as weird as I wanted. Humans sort of always need to look like humans, but monsters can be anything you can imagine.”
HOME GOODS
CANDLES
Shop Candles by Poet and the Bench
Our own Poet and the Bench Atmosphere luxury house candle line is all about sinking in. Sinking in to the moments in between. Giving ourselves time to be idle and awoke to what’s around us. To both recognize the space of just being—and to enjoy being in it. It’s a kind of healthy hedonism because the candle, body care and home scent ingredients are clean, natural and decadent.
HOME GOODS
ACCESSORIES
CULINARY
Cru Chocolate founder Karla McNeil-Rueda was raised in Honduras and moved to the US to pursue degrees in Engineering and Sustainability. She then studied Cacao technology and fine chocolate confectionery at the Chocolate Institute of Latin America and the Caribbean in La Habana, Cuba. Karla and her partner Eddie Houston make hand crafted bean to bar cacao creations–cacao chocolate bars and cacao drinking chocolate– with migration stories we can all taste. Sharing the richness and beauty of the ancient and still living cacao and chocolate culture while advocating for justice both at the farm level and for the climate.
Made to Order Japanese Knives with Custom Handle that Fits Your Hand and Your Cooking Style. A most meaningful and rare bespoke gift for professional chefs and home cooks alike. We are offering handmade Japanese knives by Otsuka Hamaonokaji. Made in the mountains of the Tottori Prefecture, Japan, Otsuka San’s knives feature unparalleled craftsmanship. A third generation blacksmith–who has a waiting list by chefs in Japan, Italy and France–his knives aren’t easy to come by and he has graciously extended his blacksmithing to our customers.
Spice Tribe is a new addition to our Ethical Pantry. Created by Trent Blodgett, a passionate foodie who grew up in both the family kitchen and as a professional in restaurants. Discover gourmet, Chef-driven and travel-inspired spice blends and single-origin spices, herbs and seasonings. A world of flavor for your table, and imaginative gifts that celebrate the beautiful cultures that make up our global communities.
HOME GOODS
OBJECTS
Kaja Skytte is an architect and home goods designer out of Copenhagen, Denmark and with a special focus on materials and the playful interaction between space and gravity. We discovered Kaja and her studio when we were walking through the Vesterbro neighborhood of Copenhagen. The Galaxy Globe mobiles hanging in the window captured our attention with their modern, jewel-like elegance resembling small solar systems. Her Planteplaneter are based on a traditional Japanese technique and we loved the way they made the plants heroic in their suspension. We wanted more. While bringing plants from overseas wasn't possible, we're excited to share Kaja's Galaxy Globes, Halos and Hangers.
Shop Moebe
This Copenhagen-based design company is the product of 2 architects and a cabinet maker who believe in keeping it simple, yet still aesthetically pleasing. Moebe focuses on the essentials, keeping their output analogue while staying curious, thereby creating intuitive and honest products. We were drawn to their inventive use of elegant wood materials held together by rubber bands and sought out their showroom while we were in Copenhagen.
HOME GOODS
APPAREL
Mute by JL was created with deep appreciation for craftsmanship and sustainability, using materials that are of the highest quality and tailoring. Every piece of cashmere, vicuña, wool…are brought to life in sophisticated and chic ways in Joanne's expertly tailored outerwear, clothing and accessories. This apparel collection is your timeless, approachably luxurious choice for modern design, elegance and streetwear.
TEXTILES
HOME GOODS
MUSIC
Originally from the east coast, Macoe calls San Diego home. She fell in love with electronic music and started mixing in the late 90s. Her influences include DJ's and producers from around the world–Germany, France, Brazil, Russia, Hungary. Her genre-bending mixes are made for more than just dancing, although feel free to move your body to the beats if you feel inspired! Macoe is also an art director at a branding agency, a vegan, and a kitten foster mom. She loves thick novels, foreign movies and matcha tea on a daily basis.
Now based in NY but always focused on the world, Caribbean-born Marlon 'DJ Pelau' Regis (pronounced “Peh-Laow”), is a multi-talented music stylist that has always lived being surrounded by rich music via life’s travels. Whether in his youthful days on the festive, multicultural streets of his birthplace in Trinidad, right home in Petit Valley listening to his dad's enormous jazz collection (his older brother's name is 'Miles') or in his adopted homes of Atlanta, NYC, Los Angeles and now Brooklyn, the direction of his music through DJing or producing compilations first aims to connect to the people. With an unwillingness to limit himself to one particular genre or social scene for that matter, expect a wide variety, but always with soul.
APOTHECARY
PERFUME
Shop Ineke
Ineke Rühland is a classically trained perfumer who studied at the ISIPCA in Versailles, France, the only university-level perfumery school in the world. Ineke's experience as a professional nose, travels in the Netherlands, England and France, continued studies with sojourns to Grasse and a 3 year apprenticeship at a fragrance house in Paris coalesced in her own perfume "stories". From her base in San Francisco, she continues to expand her Alphabet Collection, a journey of the ABC's, currently with the latest release of J for her stunning, suede-like scent Jaipur Chai.
Shop S+M Fragrances x Poet and/the Bench
Sense + Memories Fragrances by Manuela King explore the harmonious connection to nature and our own nature. As a landscape architect, Manuela's familiarity with the botanical nature of plants and their natural properties influences her foundation in perfume design, with parfum, the most concentrated form of fragrance, as her sublime result. Her beautifully crafted botanical perfume oils capture the idea that nature can bring humans into a more balanced living relationship, while scent can transport you to another time and place.
WALL ART & ART PRINTS
Grace Estrada is a multi-hyphenate: artist and entrepreneur. She formerly operated two outposts of her and husband Oliver’s Scout West County retail shops and previously, the Kitty Hawk gallery, both of which exhibited her paintings and drawings alongside Oliver’s illustration work. A graduate of The School of The Art Institute of Chicago with a Bachelor of Fine Arts, she paints in a narrative style that evokes an “out there” charming, and a bit edgy, sensibility.
Michael’s ideas come to him “like a lightbulb on top of my head.” He has been creating art professionally since 2005, honing his screenprinting, painting and drawing. “My favorite thing to do is watch someone smile ear to ear when they see my art,” he says. “When I found art, I dropped my sword and shield and picked up my paintbrush.” Michael is mentored by Alchemia, a nonprofit organization that supports neurodiverse artists to share their voices through the visual, performing, and creative arts. www.alchemia.org
Shop Melissa Holden
Melissa Holden is a Bay Area printmaker. She uses shape, color, line, space and pattern to create the balance and counter point in her abstract limited edition prints. Her graphic block prints are produced using a relief block printing method that she developed, mixing her own colors for full control over the result. The technique highlights crisp lines and shapes as well as the natural texture left from a hand pulled block print; printed by hand on handmade Japanese papers with safe wash oil-based inks. Melissa’s original illustrations in black and white communicate a delightful narrative with their distinct creative style, use of heavy black ink and white space. The minimal silhouettes and vignettes are charming individually, for any age, and we love them paired together and combined on a collage wall.
Largely self-taught in the disciplines of drawing, printmaking, collage, book making, and painting, Karen McAlister Shimoda is influenced by materials, color, and size. She has found that working with semi-transparent Dura-Lar, a plastic substrate, is encouraging her to paint more freely and fluently. She uses both sides of the Dura-Lar in her micro paintings, giving them added depth and contrast. These "littles" are 4" square and explore color and discovering how colors and combinations of color can portray an emotional expression. Through her Field Notes, Karen is developing an ethics of seeing and inhabiting the natural world, in which she interprets both an affirmation, in arrangement and evolution, of the human-made world, as well as an exhortation on how to function and behave in an organic, responsible way, within the human-made world’s increasing digression away from it.
PRINT & PUBLICATIONS
Shop Obi Kaufmann
A birthday gift to Jeffrey of The California Field Atlas introduced us to the world of Obi Kaufmann, naturalist, author, artist, poet, teacher. Obi pairs data with art in his stunning and compelling way; each page, each experience with his books invites us to discover aspects of our beautiful and complicated state and inspires us to joyfully adventure, dig deeper and help protect its natural environment. Come take a walk in Obi's world with us!
Jelani Memory, Founder & CEO, built a company around the idea that kids were ready to talk about the important stuff of life, and that books were sort of a magical way to open up those conversations. His premise is that kids need to see themselves in the stories they interact with, to see their experiences and a space where they learn how to understand and overcome what they face on a day-to-day basis. Each book is by a different author with subject matter experience, and designed and printed in the USA.
Marina Abramović is a Serbian conceptual and performance artist. A pioneer of performance art, she is known across the globe for conceptual art practices that push human endurance and boundaries to the limit. We describe it as taking her studies to the point of failure. Her work explores body art, endurance art, feminist art, the relationship between the performer and audience, the limits of the body, and the possibilities of the mind.
Jaton is a writer, poet and Certified Sommelier. He runs Grapes & Sand Publishing, releasing his first book, "Fruit In Glass: Wine Myths, Facts & Opinions." In this book, Jaton makes learning about wine approachable and enjoyable. He's also collaborated on "It's a Vibe" cookbook featuring wine pairing with amazing recipes from Armando Tam and a soundtrack curated by them both. Jaton also wrote a poetry book, "Thieves in the Night" during the COVID pandemic.
A roadmap to positivity, our I Married Me self-love ritual features a kit with the tools to create your own symbolic ceremony and daily affirmation cards to continue the practice. Additional accessories include a daily reminder ring.
Shop Pretty Good Advice by Leslie Blodgett
Leslie Blodgett's story is anything but ordinary. As CEO of BareMinerals, she reinvented how beauty was sold by tapping into the power of community before the idea of social media existed. She led one of the largest cosmetic IPOs of the decade, and in 2010, the company was acquired for $1.8 billion. Pretty Good Advice features 97 candid and entertaining insights on business, life, and beauty. Personal and often surprising, it's full of frank, actionable advice to help light a fire under you.
Stay tuned for more cards online.
For Truth to Paper, artist duo Rachel Hebert and Kate Nicholson work together in a collaborative process writing poetry, making visual art and creating experiences. We love how they are bringing contemporary poetry into the world and off the page–language that speaks to the human condition and moves us. Stunningly romantic, powerful, compelling. We are enamored with Truth to Paper’s printed matter that feels more like art in any form: place card, greeting card or artwork.