Eugene Barnett & Associates is a Chicago-based ceramics atelier focused on bringing the garden into the home.

Our favorite form, and current fascination, is the flower vase. As both a functional and aesthetic object, the vase offers us the challenge of balancing the beauty of flowers with the presence of the vase itself. Like a fine rhythm section in a band, or an actor with a strong supporting role, a well-made vase showcases the flowers while holding its own as an interesting object.

Using every aspect of traditional ceramic manufacturing - slip-casting, wheel-throwing and hand building - a new vase design goes through a process that may take up to a dozen drafts. Once in production, a design is produced in a limited series of no more than sixty pieces. We keep runs small so we can continually work the new ideas each previous design suggests. We are never entirely satisfied, which might explain my favorite axiom: “Good Enough is Never Good or Enough.”

Along with my wife and co-owner, J. Lynn Barnett, we have four decades of experience in art and design, working as both creative talent and event/project management. Our youngest associates, and sons, Harper & Owen, are discovering the arts at our side, while bringing a lot of plant and gardening knowledge to projects.

When not critiquing and editing designs, Lynn works as the Director of Education Technology Solutions for the University of Chicago.

I am the stay-at-home parent, as well as Eugene Barnett’s primary maker.

We are currently building a new studio space at our home in Chicago’s Beverly neighborhood.

We look forward to making something for your home.
Daniel Eugene Pugh
Winter 2021


-Who We Are-
Daniel Eugene Pugh …The love-child of Sol LeWitt and Kurt Schwitters who, none-the-less, grew up to be a craftsman. Dan is a conceptualist, maker, manager, & design aficionado. He received his BFA in Sculpture from the Kansas City Art Institute and an MBA from the Illinois Institute of Technology’s Stuart School of Business.
www.eworzero.com

J. Lynn Barnett …Carver of milestones and cartographer to the process map. Lynn is the clean lines and organized mind of mid-century modern. She holds a degree in Biology from the University of Chicago and a BFA in Visual Communication from The School of The Art Institute of Chicago.

Harper ...Scientist, Engineer, Computer Programmer, Tailor, and Marathon Runner in the making. At eight years old, Harp doesn’t yet understand quarterly budgets; otherwise, he would already be tasked with the purchase, installation, operations, and maintenance of a 3-D printer.

Owen …Horticulturalist, Illustrator, Ocean Explorer and Astronaut…Owen loves to get his hands into materials. At age six, he is already making an impressive pinch pot.