Our story
We may not be Chicago natives, but we’ve fallen in love with the city that we now call home. Marcin moved here from Brooklyn in 2006 to attend the University of Chicago, and stayed for work—and the great friends he made along the way, many of whom will be celebrating with us. Taylor started her career in New York and then moved to Chicago in 2020, after an unexpected summer of lockdown at the Jersey Shore.
In 2021, we both found ourselves at Park West Ceramics. For Marcin, it was a creative escape; for Taylor, a way to build community in a new city. Neither of us expected to meet a life partner there—in fact, Taylor and her friends frequently joked about never dating someone from the studio to protect the "safe haven," and Sunday hangs we all cherished.
After years of existing in the same space, never meeting, we finally landed in the same Wednesday night class. One long group afternoon at a local brewery and a few precarious ceramics sessions later, it became clear that life had other plans. Our "safe haven” didn’t change; it just grew to include each other.n, love, and a little bit of clay. We are so excited to begin our biggest collaboration yet, and we can't wait to celebrate it with you in the city where it all began.
The timing, however, was anything but simple. With both of us departing for separate, long trips to Europe, we found ourselves in a race against the calendar. Our first official date at Duke of Perth and a late night at Parrot’s kicked off a string of whirlwind dates.
While Marcin was abroad, we became old-school pen pals, swapping daily texts and scenery from Scotland across time zones. In the brief window between his return and Taylor’s departure, we managed to fit in more dates than there were days. We then repeated the rhythm all over again: long-distance FaceTime calls and sunset photos sent from the deck of a ship. By the time we were both back in Chicago, it was clear that distance had only made the inevitable more certain.
In the years since, life has been a beautiful, evolving whirlwind. Whether we were on quirky pottery road trips and cozy Midwest getaways, hosting family and friends, or sharing quiet rituals of home-cooked meals and bed bourbons, we’ve spent our time building a world all our own. Through big life changes and international adventures, our story led us to a snowy Christmas in Vienna—and an unforgettable engagement.
Through it all, pottery has remained a shared passion. Four studios, two immersive retreats, soda firings, and a raku workshop later, it is the hobby that allows us to "nerd out" and grow together. Today, we often jokingly refer to each other as “collaborators.” Our partnership is one built on shared curiosity, compassion, love, and a little bit of clay. We are so excited to begin our biggest collaboration yet, and we can't wait to celebrate it with you in the city where it all began.
