HOMETOWN GIRL

Using her years in retail and design, Annie Parker has created a perfectly curated shop.

- JANELLE ERLICHMAN DIAMOND

GROWING UP IN BEL AIR, a young Annie Parker adored making stuff. “I loved crafts. I was never a sports girl,” she admits. Instead, you could find Parker adorning and creating, often with her hands covered in papier-mâché.

She studied graphic design at Towson University and, after graduation, got a job doing design work for Baltimore Clayworks. But soon, “I ditched design and picked up ceramics,” says Parker, now 28. At Clayworks, they let Parker— who was self-taught—play with the wheel and then they would fire her creations. Soon, she was selling her wares—under her full-name, Ann Margaret Ceramics—at local markets and wholesale throughout Baltimore and Washington, D.C. Her pieces are beautiful—with a neutral and earthy vibe. Simple shapes that are functional, with her signature oversized handles on her mugs.