M. C. Escher lives anew in the magic creations of Lisa Schmidt. In her Seattle studio, opened in 2021, sits Good Press Ceramics, a place where the freedom of clay is explored and enjoyed.
With huge amounts of freedom from finish, texture, shade, and shape, ceramics offer endless opportunities to learn new skills, hone techniques, and play with new ideas.
For Schmidt, ceramics add uncertainty to design, injecting a distinctive dynamic into pattern, and breathing life into each creation. You simply can’t replicate handmade tiles en masse, and that’s what makes them so captivating.
To create her works, Schmidt starts with paper, forming tessellations with hours of intricate cuts. This eventually leads to sculpture (usually animal), which is then made into a plaster mould.
Striking shapes form interlocking installations, from swinging monkeys to leaping hares, and flying pigs to swimming squid. Each work is fabulously unique, blending playful whimsy with elegant craft.
A new post by Hanna Simpson, Diary of a Tile Addict, February 2026.