Naomi Peterson’s Playful Ceramic “Cup-Cakes” Take Confectionery as a Starting Point

Frosted sponge and overstuffed pies are just a few of the sweet treats Naomi Peterson crafts from clay. Her playful “cup-cakes” take confectionery as a starting point, adding layers reminiscent of fondant, ice cream scoops, berries, and sprinkles.

Naomi Peterson crafts playful ceramic pieces that are inspired by confectionery. Her work is often functional, incorporating lids or handles to be used as vessels or coffee mugs. Many of her pieces feature bright colors and whimsical patterns, and she often adds elements of nature, such as flowers or leaves.

Peterson's process is intuitive, and she combines wheel-thrown techniques with hand-building methods like coils, slabs, and pinching. She begins by constructing a basic form, and then she adds or removes elements through darting—cutting wedge-shaped pieces from a cylinder of clay—and embellishing with sprig or press molds.

Once the basic form is complete, she begins to add surface decoration. This can involve multiple applications and separate firings to achieve vibrant, layered effects. Her surfaces are often influenced by her previous experience painting with oils.

For Peterson, her work is about more than just creating beautiful objects. She is also interested in exploring relationships and the way our actions and emotions entwine us with others and our communities. The spaces in between the dot patterns on her work are essential, she says, "not to keep each element distant but to connect them."

Although not physically connected, each of us is important as part of a whole.

Peterson's work will be part of Dirt Folk: Planted, a pop-up exhibition running concurrently with the 2025 National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts conference in March in Salt Lake City. If you're on the East Coast, you’ll be able to see her work in Lines and Patterns from March 22 to May 24 at Baltimore Clayworks. Find more on the artist’s website and Instagram.