Kathleen Kalish Ceramics

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Wilmington, NC
Kathleen Kalish Ceramics

Functional art for the home. Created by Kathleen Kalish and Phillip Brady in Coastal North Carolina.

09/10/2026

Every fortune cookie in the Make Your Own Fortune Set starts out as a slab of stoneware clay. Rolled to about 1/8” thick and cut into circles using a biscuit cutter. Underglaze is applied to one side of the slab circle (because I like the unexpected pop of color on the interior of the cookie). Then it is bent and formed and smoothed into the classic fortune cookie shape. They are dried over about the course of a week, slowly under plastic so they don’t crack. Then fired, glazed, and fired again. Each fortune cookie ends up being slightly different in either shape or glaze application or both, so they are as unique as the person welcoming them home.

09/02/2026

“I Am Not My Boobs.” That shouldn’t be a difficult declaration to make, but when faced with the choice of losing them, it feels much more weighted.

I wrote another journal entry (link in profile 👆🏻) about my prophylactic double mastectomy with flat closure. This time in more detail about my thought process and how I made that choice. What factors were involved. And why it was the right decision for me.

My mental health has not always been spectacular. (I mean, whom amongst us, amirite) And I’ve put a lot of work into it over the past decade. So when this huge physical thing happened, I had to allow my mental health into that conversation too.

I also wrote this for someone who might be considering a prophylactic mastectomy. It can be a lonely place to be, sometimes tinged with shame. But I am fervently pro-choice and believe that every woman should make her own decisions for her body, whether it’s to have surgery or not. This is just my story and I’m glad to be living in it.

Also, it’s another excuse to post a pic from my amazing shoot with Alisha at North Carolina Bo***ir Photographer - Wilmington

09/01/2026

Introducing “Tomorrow I Will Change”

When I wasn’t hosting family and seeing my darling son marry my wonderful new daughter-in-law in August, I was stitching together this new wall piece.

She is draped on a wire frame, bring her off the wall and into your space, demanding your attention.

Often when I work, I’ll have a song in my head that matches the energy of the piece, and this piece asked for Meredith Brooks and her iconic anthem “Bitch.” The higher section of gold glazed porcelain protects the neck and shoulders, acting as armor, yet the blues below invite feelings a movement - like water or air. Because we are a little bit of everything. Bitch and lover. And tomorrow I will change.

Getting closer to actual wearables, friends. It’s gonna happen.

07/30/2026

Looking for a unique gift for a unique person? Our Make Your Own Fortune sets are a fantastic gift for someone experiencing a new beginning, stepping out into their dreams, or looking for some focus for their goals. New colorways are now available in our online store!

07/26/2026

New website is live!

Stop by and check out a new batch of Make Your Own Fortune sets, see the gallery of work, and read about The Boobless Project.

All the gratitude to my Lifetime Tech Support for helping me translate my feelings (of which there are a truly ridiculous amount) into html.

07/23/2026

Choosing to go flat after my prophylactic double mastectomy last year felt like a throwback to my teenage years. When I dyed a blonde streak in the front of my hair (where my white streak currently is - coincidence? I think not). When I wore one of my dad’s ties in my senior portrait. Because I wanted to look different.

Society tells us that those who identify as women have breasts. So removing that physical aspect of our gender identity can be a mindf*ck, to put it succinctly. And I certainly look different.

It seems appropriate that my mind reached back to those times while making a decision about reconstruction last year. Back to a time when I was stretching and rejecting and trying to figure out how I wanted to present myself to the world.

So here I am. Boobless. It’s a vulnerable thing, putting my scars out to the world. To an internet that isn’t always kind to people and bodies that don’t ascribe to societally acceptable beauty standards.

But I also know how I felt last year when I found other women who had mastectomies and chose to go flat. I am so incredibly grateful to them for sharing their stories and pictures. Showing us that life goes on without b***s.

Gratitude to Louise Bernadette Butcher, ERICA DELIGNE (DUH-line), Stephanie Germino | Advocate ✨ and others for their fearlessness. And to Tina Martel for inspiring my own kintsugi scars.

And if one person finds my pictures and reads my story and thinks that hey, maybe this will be okay, then it’s worth it. (Side note: not dealing with b**b sweat when it’s hotter than the surface of the sun out there is *glorious*)

Thank you to Dr. Emily Marcinkowski and her team at Wilmington Surgical Associates and Dr. Adam Glener and his team at Wilmington Plastic Surgery & Med Spa for their care.

And thank you to Alisha Browne at North Carolina Bo***ir Photographer - Wilmington for an amazing photo shoot.

I’ll be making small batches of these cups periodically, with other clay colors, and will post when they are available. Net proceeds going to Going Beyond the Pink.

07/21/2026

Everyone wants to get their paws on our Make Your Own Fortune sets. 😻

07/20/2026

Thank you to the art lovers who took home “High In the Clean Blue Air,” both versions of “Be Careful What You Wish For,” and so many Make Your Own Fortune sets at this past weekend’s .

It is so fulfilling when an idea that has been percolating in the back of one’s head connects with others. I’m so excited to continue my work with porcelain tapestries.

Gratitude to , , and the volunteers with for creating a wonderful show filled with incredible art.

07/07/2026

What does any creative do when sh*t happens? We make stuff.

While investigating reconstruction options following my prophylactic double mastectomy last year, one random little memory kept popping into my head - 55378008. That silly middle school joke when you’d enter some equation into the calculator and it would end up 55378008. Aka BOOBLESS. Or it’s shorter cousin, 8008. B***S. (hehehehe you said b***s)

When I had settled on an aesthetic flat closure as my option, I knew I’d end up b**bless. And so The Boobless Project was born.

Phillip printed stamps for me and I channeled that emotion and uncertainty into the studio and these cortado cups. They’ll be arriving on the newly redesigned website in a few weeks, with the net proceeds going to , a local organization that provides support to the breast cancer community in Wilmington.

Yes, I made 5318008 cups too.

07/04/2026

A batch of fortune cookies in progress.

New packaging for the Make Your Own Fortune Set is in process and I’m really looking forward to bringing upgraded boxing and guidance cards to you soon!

Because, as all makers know, it’s never too early to start planning for the holidays.

Address

Wilmington, NC
28401-28412

Website

http://www.latewakeartworks.com/

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