Was named after the hardy native conifer that thrives in the sandy, windswept soil where we grew up around Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

It's there that we first started dreaming about a life dedicated to handcraft, folkloric storytelling, and exploring the ancient allure of painted and carved clay pots.

To our surprise we weren't alone in our interests, and through the support of many friends Pitch Pine evolved from dream to reality and over ten years has become the culmination of our life's work together. 

But our story goes back even further, to when we first met one fateful winter's night at a high school dance. It was love at first sight, and would become the defining moment of our lives.

Our journey has brought us from the coasts of Cape Cod to the high desert of New Mexico, and now to our cabin in the woods of northern Vermont. Where you might find us buried under teetering stacks of stoneware, or wading through icy rivers searching for the spirit of things (and otters), and always trying to make the very best go of this strange thing that we call life.  

- Tara & Matt of Pitch Pine Pottery

Tara Brault's fascination with the natural world and pottery began from a young age. She credits long meandering walks to the beach with her grandparents as foundational in shaping her lifelong curiosity and earthy outlook.

Her grandmother, a housekeeper for a wealthy widow, exposed Tara to a prized collection of antique porcelains and art nouveau-era artifacts, and encouraged her to pursue a life in the arts. 

At 18 she enrolled as a ceramics major and art history minor at Bridgewater State University. After graduating she worked many odd jobs as a cake decorator, a manager of an ice cream store, as a housekeeper, and as a nanny.

Her luck changed when she secured a position as a production potter at a local museum. She apprenticed for several years with Ron Dean, a Cape Cod potter that pushed her to hone her design skills in clay and her illustrative abilities. 

In 2016 she went independent by founding Pitch Pine Pottery, and has been full time ever since. Over 20,000 pots later, her work has traveled to 36 countries and adorns over 5000 homes. Her collectors are like family, without them she would not be able to pursue her life's passion. She credits that support as the animating force behind how hard she pushes herself, to continually make the best pottery she can and in her own ways help to keep this ancient handcraft alive. 

When she's not covered in clay, Tara loves to swim and to read, especially on a warm summer day. She loves watercolor painting, collecting vintage field guides, and long walks in the woods with her striped and spotted cat, Honu. 

Matt Brault found his footing as an artist in fits and starts, but the telltale signs of an inventive eye were present from a young age. He credits early childhod memories living rurally interspersed by trips to the big city to see his grandmother, as foundational in shaping his creative mind.

His parents kept a large garden, and frequent family hikes in the forest with bike rides along the ocean built in him a lifelong desire to live close to nature. A voracious reader by the age of five, books like "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea" and "Where the Red Fern Grows" were read by flashlight under many blankets.

Matt pursued an art history degree with an asian studies minor at Bridgewater State University. When his brother Peter died unexpectedly in 2011, Matt used art as a way of processing his grief. 

Matt worked many odd jobs to make ends meet: as a line cook, a landscaper, a carpenter, an organic vegetable farmer, and an antiques dealer. He started blacksmithing in his mothers garage, formed an early Etsy shop in 2011, and as luck would have it he managed to land a job as an apprentice to master blacksmith Mark Atchison. Together, they made museum-quality reproductions of medieval & early modern ironwork for museums, furniture-makers, and films like Robert Eggers' The Witch and Ric Burns' The Pilgrims.

His brother Peter had always wanted to start a family business, so when Tara was forming Pitch Pine Pottery it seemed the universe was trying to say something. Matt joined up a year later after saving as much money as he could. He taught himself photography and videography to promote their work online. 

Ever the student, Matt still considers himself an apprentice of sorts...but this time to his wife Tara. From her teaching he has learned the ins and outs of studio pottery, and is devoted to bringing their fantastical designs to life in clay and metal.

When he's not making pots, Matt loves to learn about history and write short stories of folklore, especially when it's too cold to go outside. If he's not hiking in the woods, he's probably learning another language (currently Turkish), cooking mediterranean food, or playing the drums.