HEADS of TALES
PRESENTED BY CAPIZZO GALLERY
SHOW OPENING RECEPTION: SEPTEMBER 18th AT 6pm | CLOSING: SEPTEMBER 29th AT 4pm
A captivating cast of characters, from a stuffy Socialite in Grosse Pointe to a drifty Party Store Cashier in Grayling. These aren't just figures; they are memoirs in clay. With subtle gestures or a knowing glance, they share secrets of unexpected passions, hard-won triumphs, and the quiet magic found in the heart of the Mitten State.
Fired Clay bodies (Porcelain, Red with Grog, Grey and Hazelnut Stoneware), finished with mixed media (paints, inks, graphite, waxes)
SALES: contact: info@capizzostudio.com
(269) 455-5864
3279 Blue Star Hwy, Saugatuck, MI 49453
MARGUERITE: Grosse Pointe Socialite | $1,400 | 2025 | Fired Clay, Mixed Media Finishing | 9”W x 16”H x 9”D
Marguerite, with her voluminous polished updo and poised demeanor, seems the picture of Grosse Pointe grace, but beneath it simmers a fierce competitive streak. This is especially true for the annual Garden Club's "Heritage Bake-Off," where Martha van der Vliet's "perfectly bland lemon tarts" have infuriatingly claimed the blue ribbon for years. Marguerite is determined to end Martha's reign. Her true strategy lies with her pristine white poodle, Baguette. Marguerite subtly signaled Baguette to swiftly devour every single one of Martha's tarts before the judges can even approach.
MATEO: South-West Detroit Savior | $725 | 2025 | Fired Clay, Mixed Media Finishing | 7.75”W x 10”H x 6”D
Mateo, his calloused hands often clasped around a well-worn rosary, is a man consumed by faith. In Southwest Detroit, amidst the grit of Michigan Avenue and Livernois, he walks the streets nightly, offering hot coffee, sandwiches, and hygiene kits to sex workers. They'd often heckle him for better bread and more sugar, then quickly dip into his bag for hygiene kits they'd sell. He's never once considered quitting, believing his prayers for them are heard regardless.
CHESTER: Leland Oral Historian | $750 | 2025 | Fired Clay, Mixed Media Finishing | 9”W x 11.7”H x 7..75”D
Chester carries the story of the colossal Leland Iron Works in his face. His scorched skin and charred nose are the living marks of the furnace fires he tended for decades. Now a self- proclaimed historian, he re-enacts the past every night on his back porch. He performs the intense labor of stoking the massive furnaces with local coal, but his most poignant re-enactment is of the brutal, constant toil, living and working under a permanent cloud of smoke. His audience: a cast of bewildered squirrels.
WILLOW: Grayling Party Store Cashier | $1,200 | 2025 | Fired Clay, Mixed Media Finishing | 9”W x 17”H x 8”D
Willow, a part-time cashier at the Stephan Bridge Party Store in Grayling, has a lucrative secret.
Her side hustle is concocting potent gummies for the Electric Forest festival, a trade fueled by stealthy raids on a local licensed pot grower. After her 9 p.m. shift ends, she creeps onto the property to nab a few fragrant flowers from the Jenny Kush and Blue Dream plants. The rest of the time, she is almost perpetually high and utterly content, drifting down the lazy curves of the Au Sable River in her canoe.
GARRET: Kalamazoo Craft Beer Salesman | $650 | 2025 | Fired Clay, Mixed Media Finishing | 6.5”W x 7”H x 6”D
Garrett Van Der Zee isn't just a craft beer salesman; he's a walking, talking encyclopedia of Michigan's brewing scene. From the smallest nanobrewery onthe Keweenaw Peninsula to the grandest taproomin Benton Harbor, he knows every fermenter, every brewer, and every quirky tap handle. He often arrives unannounced, a wild glint in his eye, ready to recite the tasting notes of a dozen new IPAs from memory. Brewers don't just buy from Garrett; they brace themselves for his passionate, hour-long monologues on hop varietals and obscure yeast strains.
SUTTON: Lansing Emergency Medical Technician | $825 | 2025 | Fired Clay, Mixed Media Finishing | 7”W x 12”H x 6”D
Sutton, a night shift EMT in Lansing, presents an unflinching facade, her sharp bob and angular face perfectly suited for the job's demands. But in the quiet moments between calls, she's an avid listener of modular synth music—a chaotic tapestry of electronic beeps, static, and ambient drones. It's her strange way of finding calm, but the line between her music and her work blurs. Sometimes, a beeping from a distant monitor or the static of a muffled radio call blends seamlessly into the music, and for a fleeting moment, she misses it.
RUDY: Saginaw Library Assistant | $850 | 2025 | Fired Clay, Mixed Media Finishing | 8”W x 10”H x 8.25”D
Rudy’s one extra-large ear is the unfortunate legacy of her father, who, frustrated by her perceived inattention at the dining room table, constantly pulled it, convinced she wasn't listening. In truth, Rudy is quite deaf, a fact unbeknownst even to her, which explains her silent, intense observation through hooded eyes and her narrow lips that rarely speak. For pocket money she works at the Saginaw Public Library on Saturdays – a place where people don’t speak much either, though their staring eyes often speak louder than words.
SUSAN: Marquette Butcher & Taxidermist | $475 | 2025 | Fired Clay, Mixed Media Finishing | 6.5”W x 10.5”H x 6”D
Susan Bimmel, daughter of a Soo Locks Security Officer, runs Trophy & Tenderloin, a unique taxidermy and butcher shop in the Upper Peninsula. Her small, tough frame embodies an inherited resilience. Hunters regularly bring deer for her expert butchering and to help her hone her processing time, as she aims to challenge Josh Webb, a Mississippi legend who can field dress a deer in an astonishing 1 minute and 46 seconds. Fridays feature her popular "mystery meat packs"—surprise assortments of quality cuts like porcupine to wild boar.
EARNEST: Grand Rapids Assisted Living Orderly | $450 | 2025 | Fired Clay, Mixed Media Finishing | 7”W x 13”H x 5.5”D
Earnest, a man with a kind face, shuffles down the linoleum corridor of the assisted living facility daily. The nurses all adore him, even as they fret over his aching back from the countless beds he's made. He’s taken on the duty of an orderly in his late seventies for one bizarre reason: to keep an eye on his schizophrenic twin siblings. He checks in on Agnes, who insists she’s a teapot, her arms outstretched like spouts, and hears his brother Arthur singing faint lullabies to a Ficus plant. Earnest just hopes Arthur hasn't traded his dentures for a box of paperclips again.
ROSE: Flint School Bus Driver | $850 | 2025 | Fired Clay, Mixed Media Finishing | 8.25”W x 14”H x 7.25”D
Rose, 72, pulls the bus through the fractured streets of Flint, a strand of pearls nestled against her starched collar. Her rule is simple: "You can't be a proper lady driving a bus if you aren't dressed for it." She insists the bus itself is haunted. The kids, at first skeptical, now point out the cold spots, the phantom tapping, and the strange, whispered song only Rose can hear. She carries a small, ancient tuning fork, ringing it softly at each stop to appease the spirits she believes are simply looking for a ride home.
DESHAWN: Vicksburg Animal Control Officer | $850 | 2025 | Fired Clay, Mixed Media Finishing | 8.5”W x 13”H x 7.75”D
DeShawn, the animal control officer for Vicksburg, dreads summer calls. He’s seen what happens at the county shelter—the endless noise, the overcrowded cages, the way hope slowly drains from a lost animal's eyes. DeShawn, a man built for wrangling pit bulls, finds himself an expert in gentle kitten retrieval, carefully pulling out each tiny, lost snowball from sewers and tangled weeds. He’s up to twenty-five, his house a cacophony of purrs and tiny meows—a soft-hearted sanctuary.
RANDY: Detroit Paint Shop Helper | $450 | 2025 | Fired Clay, Mixed Media Finishing | 7.25”W x 8.75”H x 7.5”D
Randy's overuse of his vintage Fisher Dietz binoculars draws suspicion from his trailer park neighbors, even though he swears he's just "observing nature." Friday nights are his absolute favorite. With a fresh wad of $20s in hand for a week's worth of labor at a Detroit auto parts factory, he picks up a rack of ribs, a 12-pack of Coors Light, and kicks back. He eases into his lawn chair with his only playlist—70s rock—and meticulously diagrams the optimal angles to catch the reflection of the evening news on his neighbor's satellite dish.