What is this stuff? Binx Ceramics are small handmade collectibles made from earthenware clay – likely the same material as your favorite mug.
Did you make all this? Yes. We work in small batches and hand-sculpt, hand-paint, and kiln-fire each piece in our home studio in St. Louis, MO.
Is this a real business? It is! Binx Ceramic accepts payment with all the appropriate measures in place to protect your privacy, is a registered LLC, and can proudly claim over 16 years of happy collectors.
What do you do with this stuff? If you have to ask, you probably don’t want it. But if you didn’t need to ask, welcome! We get you. You found a new spot for unique collectible trinket delights you’ll want to come back to time and again.
It’s so small, why isn’t it $10? Each piece requires a lengthy process from inspiration to completion. I price my products higher than comparable mass-produced collectibles, but not so high. I want my work to be as attainable as possible while still paying my bills and getting some little middle-class treats.
Can I give it to my small child? Can I put it outside? So, if it breaks, it's sharp. The outside is covered in a thin layer of glass. Basically, if your child will play with it, keep it over a rug. Also, extreme temperatures expand and contract ceramics, and moisture can get in, so if you want to put it outside, bring it in in the winter and be ready for it to look like garbage eventually. We aren't responsible for any of it being stolen by squirrels.
You ship for free, but I have to spend $50? Who do you think you are? I’m just one person, and a fairly low-energy person at that. I can’t wrap, pack, box, tape, weigh, and ship the volume of orders I’d have if I accepted smaller sales. I’d rather be creating and watching TV.
My order came with a bag of random stuff, like I went to a kid’s birthday party. What’s that about? That is our signature Binx treat bag, and it's about fun. I’m guessing if you like tiny, cute stuff, you’ll like even more tiny, cute stuff in a bag as a surprise.
Can I ask you to make something special? No, and not just because I’m not nice. (I’m actually annoyingly nice, to be honest). No matter how hard I try, I will spend 10 times longer on something if I know it’s going directly to someone. It breaks my flow and costs me time. If I could relax more, it would be a different story, but I’m old enough now to know that isn’t going to happen.
Will you ever make (fill in the blank) again? Probably. There are infinite things to make and more ideas than I have hours, but if something did well and sold out, my desire to make it again is strong. I make things in seasons. Watching my social media or joining my email list is a good way to know what’s coming.
It’s imperfect. I hate that. Can I return it? Nope. If you need something impeccably made, we’re probably not a good fit. Clay and glaze isn’t as easy to control as polymer clay or resin, and acrylic paint. There are imperfections, there are marks on the bottom from the kiln. The oldest known clay shards date back to around 20,000 years ago. I love the very human practice of pushing my fingers into mud and the variations that come of it. We will issue refunds for items that arrive broken. We need a picture though. So we can cry about it.
Who are you anyway, what’s your deal? My name is Karen – but I’m not a Karen. You know that whole “Karen” thing was a real blow to me, because I make it my business to be as chill to others as possible. Besides, I’m a whole generation behind the stereotypical “Karen.” I’m Gen X, which means I’m absolutely blown away that I’m a working artist since I expected the worst most of my life for no particular reason. Which brings us to most of my life… I’m a midwestern, middle-aged, round woman with glasses, and generic white-lady hair. You’d likely never pick me out in a crowd, and when I say crowd, I mean the parking lot at TJ Maxx. But inside my heart and brain I’m a one-person carnival complete with colored lights and prizes. I love animals and plants and antiques and music and food and comedy and rocks and swimming and paintings and the ocean and people and color and so much more. I’m overwhelmed much of the time by the amount of love I feel. I’ve been doing arty farty stuff since I was a kid but got serious about sharing it and selling it around 20 years ago. I did some art stuff in school but focused on education and liberal arts. I worked most of my life in higher ed as a support admin for the cutest professional smart people ever. When Binx Ceramic got too big to manage both, I made the jump. Now I work for myself. My team has two other members, our Vice President, who loves a good streaming series, fresh bakery goods, and white, fluffy clouds, and our General Manager, who is just as much trouble as you might think.
Really though, how is it made? I’m really into that kind of thing. Okay, weirdo. We hand sculpt it, and depending on the piece, wheel-throw it, roll it out, cut it, stamp it, squish it, smooth it, sand it, make it cute. Then we let it dry. There’s not much to that process. We just kind of… walk away. Once dried, we clean it with soft, wet sponges to make it smooth and neat. THEN! We paint it using underglazes, which are a mix of clay, pigments and water. We’re so careful though, because unfired ceramics are delicate. We break a lot. Most colors have two or three coats. Then we fire it. In a kiln – in our garage! We named her Bertha. She’s about the size of an old-fashioned metal trash can, but smells so much better. Our pieces fire to around 1900 degrees, and that seems hot, but we use a low temperature clay, so it’s actually not hot compared to for example, porcelain which can fire close to 2300. After the first firing, the pieces are bisque – which is a piece of ceramic that has been fired, but not glazed. It’s porous and dull, like chalk but stronger. Then comes the glazing! Each piece gets two coats of brushing glaze – imagine glass pulverized into a powder with liquid added so it sticks. The glazed pieces are put in the kiln on hard ceramic platforms with tiny nails poking out of them, so each piece is balancing on just a few metal points, or “stilts.” This is a delicate balancing act. This allows us to glaze the bottoms of most of our pieces without them melting onto the shelf. You may notice small burrs on your pieces; those are from the stilts. After firing, we use a diamond sanding block to remove any sharp areas.