We’re Obsessed With Ficus Ceramica’s Intricate Ceramic Pipes

Kate Clarke’s gorgeous handmade ceramic pipes elevate the act of smoking cannabis.

Ceramic pipes, vapes, edibles and so much more - there’s no shortage of ways to enjoy cannabis. In our opinion, the absolute chicest way to savor a beautiful bowl of cannabis is with a Ficus Ceramica porcelain pipe. Founder of Ficus Ceramica, Kate Clarke, creates incredibly detailed ceramic pipes that double as a work of art.

Ficus Ceramica: The Origin Story

Since childhood, Kate Clarke was enamored with art. She took her first ceramics class in high school, but it wasn’t until college that she realized she was genuinely captivated by clay. As a result, Kate switched colleges, transferring to UGA art school in Georgia to take advantage of the robust ceramics program.

After college, she worked in historic preservation, restoring some of New Orleans’ most iconic above-ground tombs. On the side, Kate dabbled in all sorts of pottery, selling her creations at local markets on weekends.

All that changed when a friend asked Kate to make an apple-shaped pipe out of clay. Kate was excited to flex her creative muscles. She had no idea that the request would alter the course of her life. “I immediately thought that it would be cool to take a mold of the apple and slip cast it,” Kate recalls. “I'd be able to capture the cute little flower at the bottom of the apple and have all the quirks of a real apple. So I made a mold based on the little info I retained from UGA, and it worked so well!”

Turning Art into a Business

Her method of slip casting allowed her to create realistic ceramic pipes in almost any form imaginable. Kate began crafting a few more pipes to sell at local markets, adding jalapeno and satsuma shapes to the mix.

To her surprise, people were thrilled and her unique creations began flying off the shelves. Her first customers enthusiastically spread the word, and it was then she recalls that “I knew I had something. The pipes are so unique, and people are mentally more willing to spend $100 on unique cannabis paraphernalia than they are to spend $20 on a bowl they could buy at Target. I began to have confidence that this was a viable enough concept to take full time.”

When the pandemic hit in 2020, it was a blessing in disguise for Kate’s burgeoning business. She found herself with a consistent income from unemployment checks and plenty of time on her hands to focus on her craft. Kate utilized Covid-related grants to invest in a studio space and Ficus Ceramica was born.

Kate realized that pandemic had leveled the playing field for many online businesses. “The nature of the attention economy during the pandemic meant that I had just as much access to customers as big box stores, and people WANT to invest in small artists that they find through social media.” It certainly didn’t hurt that many folks turned to cannabis use to deal with pandemic related stress either, and Ficus Ceramica’s online sales boomed.

The Method to Her Madness

Making Ficus Ceramica’s intricate ceramic pipes involves a special technique called slip casting.

Kate explains the process, “I take a real object, look at all the shape complexities, and design a multiple-part mold, made out of highly porous plaster. I take the mold apart, throw away (sometimes eat) the original object. Then, I put the mold back together with giant rubber bands to keep it together. I fill the molds with a special recipe liquid porcelain that I make myself in a 30-gallon tank.

Porcelain is just a type of very fine, white, durable clay. The plaster sucks the water out of the liquid clay, turning it into solid clay, but only where the plaster and clay meet, leaving the inside liquid like a gusher. I can pour the inside liquid out through the entrance hole. Then, I'm left with a hollow shell in the shape of whatever the original object was! Then I use sculpting skills to turn them into pipes, planters, ornaments, and any sort of useful object!”

Who Run The World? Girls.

There’s no denying that Kate’s ceramic pipes are works of art - but Ficus Ceramica is a business. As a female business owner, Kate finds that there’s no shortage of resources for women looking to forge their own path. She shrewdly takes advantage of opportunities designed to level the playing field like grants, art exhibits, and shows exclusively open to women.

Her advice to business owners is to take advantage of abundant local and online resources. “You're not the first person to go through all this rigamarole. Utilize free videos, paid professionals, and all the other resources that are out there for small business owners, including grant opportunities when they are possible. Talk to other local artists about what they have found to be successful. People don't usually start businesses because they're good at all these business things. Be humble about learning how to be a self-sufficient business person.”

Art (and Cannabis) As Self-Care

As an artist and business owner, life can get a little stressful. Kate intentionally takes time to find the beauty in the little things.

Ficus Ceramica Ceramic Pipes are made by Kate Clarke

“It calms me down to investigate and immerse myself in the beauty and wonder in the things that are already around us, which is also often an effect of cannabis,” she explains.

“You can get lost in the complexity of the inside of a fig, the way the light comes in your living room in the mornings, or weeds growing in the sidewalk. My art is definitely an exploration of those real-life details that make life rich. I think this practice is a form of external mindfulness, and that is an aspect of self-care and soothing. Art in general, is a form of self-care because it can take you out of your normal mental monologues."

Isn’t It Ironic?

Ficus Ceramica is an incredible example of turning a passion project into a profitable, thriving business. Kate’s dedication to her art is evident in each intricately detailed ceramic pipe.

“I guess I can't gush enough about how much I love the concept of turning squishy, soft, perishable, yummy, live things into hard, glassy, permanent objects that might be studied by the anthropologist aliens that will study our ruins in thousands of years,” she muses. “Like, fuck you, money and NFTs and expensive paintings and computer chips! My art and concrete rubble are all that will be left. I also am really motivated by the irony of creating a successful business from the type of objects that my high school ceramics teacher would break, fire, and then tell the kid that made it that it was the "kiln fairies" that broke his bong masterpiece. It's a dream come true to be making my living this way.”