At a glance: Young In The Mountains is a line of handmade goods including ceramics with delicate yet bold graphic patterns and jewelry made from reclaimed silver and hardwood.
Who’s behind the brand? Mariele Ivy grew up in Montana, raised by an avid gardener and a builder of boats and musical instruments, so it’s not really surprising she would grow into the kind of hands-on artist who creates a multitude of beautiful objects, almost always with a sense of connection to nature and organic shapes. Right now she’s focused on ceramics and jewelry, but she’s tried her hand at making all sorts of thing, from skateboards to shoes to diaper bags and everything in between. She handcrafts every one of her pieces at every stage, including the manipulation of the porcelain, the painting and glazing of all her ceramic pieces, as well as the crafting of the jewelry from silver and wood.
What do they do? Young In The Mountains is a brand built around such a disparate collection of goods one would almost think it wouldn’t hang together, but it does. There’s a sense of nature, an organic quality, and an immaculate attention to detail that runs through everything she creates, and we love it all. There’s the jewelry, bold and graphic without being too chunky or overwhelming, all in glorious combinations of silver and hardwood insets. Then there’s the ceramic pieces, which are all hand sculpted and very organic in an appealing wabi-sabi kind of way. As a result, each one is different and unique, as are the geometric patterns she intricately works into the surface. Mariele also used to do a series of tote bags, which are temporarily unavailable at the time of this writing, but which will be back in the Fall/Winter collection of 2014.
What materials do they use? The jewelry is all made from reclaimed hardwood, primarily ebony, and recycled silver. The ceramic dishes are made from white porcelain and coated in a food-safe glaze, though she does advise that they are for “light food use only”.
Where are they based? The Montana transplant is currently located just outside of Boulder, Colorado.
Editors’ favorites from the line? We love the punk hippie feel of the Obscuro earrings and the graphic chevron inlay Apex bracelet. But of course we can’t deny the pull of her etched ceramic pieces either, and we’re especially drawn to the larger odd-shaped ones. She also makes stunning hand-sculpted deer antlers that we’re not sure what we’d do with, but we’re sure we’d love to own.
Where can I get the goods? As with most artists we feature, the number one place to buy her goods is on her website. But Young In The Mountains is also carried at a number of stockists all over the US (check here for specific locations if you want to try and see her work in person) as well as at other online stores including Coveted Home, Straw & Gold, The Heirloom Blog, Rilla, Nest Gather and Burkelman.