About Julems
Hi! I’m Judith Lemmens. A combination of my first and last name will give you Julems, the ceramics brand that I first started making in my home studio in beautiful Mill Valley, California. In 2021 I moved back to the Netherlands where I will continue to work on my clay wares.
Clay? If you ask my daughter, she’ll tell you she’s the reason I got into ceramics. For her 8th birthday she wanted to have a pottery party, so I went looking for a studio nearby that could host such a thing. I found the Mill Valley Potters Studio and we held the party there. While the girls were building the cutest birdhouses you’d ever seen, I explored the studio and looked at all the ceramics made by students of various classes and signed myself up. Shortly after I was literally dreaming ceramics, the clays, the glazes, the different ways to create imagery and textures. I saw never ending possibilities!
Studio. About a year later I started my own home studio and started figuring out what I wanted to be making and finding my style. During this exploration phase I applied to a local juried Art Show and was accepted, which forced me to choose a more focussed direction in my creations for the show. I choose my favorite looks and buckled down. I ended up receiving one of ‘Best of Show’ awards and a ton of positive feedback. This was the last bit of confirmation and a huge confidence boost for me to keep pursuing this ceramic dream.
Design. I am originally from the Netherlands and my roots can be found in Dutch design. After a career in interior design I had my kids and switched to Graphic Design and Illustration. This design background is something you can probably detect in my work. My style ranges from subtle to bold looks, always staying true to my aesthetic of keeping designs simple in shape, color and graphics.
Inspiration. My inspiration mostly comes from geometrics and elements in nature. One piece inspires the next, I like creating different variations on a design, making each piece unique on its own and harmonious in a group. This way I create items that can go together without being the same.