FARMHO– USE POTTERY

New England native and Farmhouse Pottery founder Zoe Zilian wanted to create a place with a modern farm aesthetic that represented farm-to-table values infused in traditionally crafted designs. Determined to sustain the next generation of local makers and farmers, she was compelled to bring authentic gifts with a deeper meaning and useful purpose to market. After living in Vermont for four years, Zoe found herself selling work at craft shows and walking weekly farmer’s markets. Immersed in a culture rich in agricultural and craft heritage, she began cultivating a network of farmers and craftsmen. In 2010, she began learning the art of fragrance and designing products in her pottery studio. The pottery and its surrounding farms were the landscape that encouraged her vision; this led her to naming the company Farmhouse Pottery.

Zoe grew up in Camden, Maine, a charming maritime village with all of the quintessential New England elements. It was this countryside at a very young age that defined her appreciation for nature’s seasonal elements and the importance of community values.

Studying design and fine art at the Maine College of Art and the San Francisco Art Institute were most formative in her foundational training. Early on, Zoe’s camera came to be the most important tool in her creative process. She looked up to Richard Avedon and Annie Leibovitz for their work’s honesty and raw approach to storytelling.

She started her career working in cross-disciplined fields in sales, marketing and creative firms located in Providence, New York and Boston. In 2003, Zoe and her husband co-founded a high-end collection of lighting and décor, which gave her valuable, first hand experience in taking products to market. Today, she continues to sell to some of the first stores that supported her.

Zoe lives in the pastoral town of Woodstock, Vermont. She is married to an artist, James, and is the mother of two little energetic girls, Mia and Ava.