Meet Deanna Ranlett and Daphne Dail of MudFire in Decatur

Today we’d like to introduce you to Deanna Ranlett and Daphne Dail.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Deanna and Daphne. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
Daphne and I met in a ceramics class in college in 2002. After graduation, we owned a ceramic material supply shop and MudFire’s former owners were customers of ours – when they retired – we took over MudFire. Daphne and I have degrees in the ceramic arts and pursing art-making and helping others on that path has always been a passion of ours. MudFire offers a unique style of instruction and studio access that allows individuals a lot of flexibility to learn and grow at their own pace. MudFire is where clay meets community. We have a diverse group of members ranging from those spending a little relaxation time with us to those launching a new business or career for themselves.

We mentor young artists in growing their ceramic businesses and teach them about making glazes, firing kilns, developing forms, selling wholesale and retail; we function as an incubator for small art businesses. Alongside our resident artists, Daphne and I have created beautiful dinnerware for local restaurants Bellina Alimentari in Ponce City Market as well as ARI Steakhouse in John’s Creek. Our studio’s date nights have been featured on several reality shows and are a fun way to have a one-time introduction to clay and ceramics.

Has it been a smooth road?
Our retail store opened right before the economic crisis in 2008 and 2009. Facing that in retail was not easy and ultimately led to closing our retail endeavor to focus on the studio in 2014. Our primary challenge now is balancing personal and work lives. With a vibrant and busy studio, it is easy to put personal lives and self-care on the back burner.

We both have a renewed focus for the remainder of 2017 to change our work routine to allow the time we spend away from work to become better quality time.

So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the MudFire story. Tell us more about the business.
We are known for independent studio access, date nights, and summer camp. For a monthly fee – members have access to 56 open hours each week to work in our studio. I am most proud of our diversity in the studio – we welcome everyone at MudFire and work hard to be an inclusive and welcoming space. We are different from typical class oriented studios in that our instructors are on staff daily and people can come in according to their schedules to work in our studio instead of feeling left out if they miss a class. Our resident artist program is also a source of pride – it is important to Daphne and I that we provide as much guidance as possible to future ceramic makers.

How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
With our restaurant and hotel commissions, we would like to grow our local manufacturing – to provide for ceramics what local farms provide in food – a responsibly sourced, economically feasible, local alternative to cheaply imported goods. We would love to continue to work with chefs to develop unique dining options. Making something with your own hands continues to be a strong trend and I predict we will continue to see growth there. We may find technology like 3D printing becoming more available and at a lower cost for studios like ours as well in the next 5-10 years.

Pricing:

• $99 Trial Month
• $100 Date Night for 2
• $1428 for a full year at MudFire’s Studio

Contact Info:

• Address: 175 Laredo Drive
• Website: www.mudfire.com
• Phone: 404-377-8033
• Email: info@mudfire.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/mudfire
• Facebook: facebook.com/mudfire
• Twitter: twitter.com/mudfireclay
• Other: pinterest.com/mudfire

Getting in touch: VoyageATL is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.