100% Handmade

Everything at Shima Ceramics is made by hand, by me. Sculpting is done the old-fashioned way, with modeling clay and hand tools. I make all my own designs, sculpts, and molds. Each piece is slip-cast from an original hand-sculpted master, then trimmed, glazed, and signed by hand.

HOW IT STARTED

Shima Ceramics began behind the bar. I was a bartender at Bull Valley Roadhouse, where I created the Tiki Thursdays program and, for it, sculpted the first Cthulhu Idol mug. That mug became the piece people kept asking for — and ten years later, it still is.

Deviant ceramic oddities

I've always preferred to work outside the box. Sometimes I make horror mugs, sometimes tiki mugs, sometimes nautical — I don't stick to one genre.

If there's an over-arching theme to my work, it's that I'm drawn to all things dark and macabre. I also enjoy a challenge. Can I make this design even though it'll require a 12-piece mold? How far can I push this shape before the clay cracks or collapses? How do I design this horror subject without being cheesy? Usually, the harder I challenge myself, the happier I am with the results.

ROOTS

A lot of my work draws on Japanese folklore — yokai, demons, and spirits I connect to through my own heritage as a half-Japanese artist. It's a tradition I keep coming back to, alongside the Lovecraftian horrors, sea creatures, and skulls that fill out the rest of the catalog.

Thank you

After sculpting and working with clay most of my life, I began making sculptural mugs in Port Costa, California in 2015. In 2025 I relocated to Frederick, Maryland, where I now live and work with my partner Ashleigh and our family. Thank you for supporting independent artists, and for valuing things made slowly, by hand, here in the U.S.

Cheers, Chris Shima

SELECTED WORK & PRESS

The "Stay Out of the Forest" skull mugs were featured on the video edition of My Favorite Murder, episode 466, in a segment showcasing fan-made ceramics. My work has also been featured in an interview. by The Search for Tiki.

I've made commissioned and collaborative work for respected names in the tiki and cocktail world — including ongoing seasonal mugs for Cocktail Kingdom, a custom mug for Smuggler's Cove, an original sculpt for Trader Vic's, and a limited run for Forbidden Island.