Studio Manzanita

Studio Manzanita is a welcoming pottery and craft studio dedicated to celebrating all visual art practices from our global community.  Yasmine and Meha established Studio Manzanita in the 4S Ranch/Rancho Bernardo area in 2026 to serve as a center for craft and community in this neighborhood.  Yasmine is a professional artist and experienced teacher who has worked with ceramics, textiles, metals and more.  Meha is an active member of this community and has been dreaming about a ceramics studio in this neighborhood since 2001 when she moved to San Diego and noticed that there was no easily accessible studio nearby.   Serendipity brought us together and we have built up this space from scratch - we like to think the studio reflects our values and personalities, while being conducive to creativity!Yasmine earned her BFA in Sculpture at Herron School of Art and Design at IU and her MFA at the University of California San Diego. Yasmine has a deep love of teaching and explains that there is almost nothing that beats the satisfaction of watching her students master a concept or technique.  She has instructed students of all ages through community colleges, universities, corporate team building events and k-12 schools. Yasmine is a California Arts Council award winning artist and has exhibited in solo and group exhibitions in galleries and Museums across the US (CA, NYC, WA, WI +) and internationally (Mexico & London) and has work in private and public collections. As an artist, her practice is rooted in sculpture, textiles and installation, exploring themes of maintaining a layered identity as a Queer Muslim and Egyptian-American woman. Meha doesn’t remember a time in her life when she wasn’t making art or learning about the art traditions around her: from asking a friend to teach her how to spin sisal strands together to weave a kiondoo (traditional Kenyan basket) to learning about paper binding and printing from a fifth generation book binder on a recent visit to Florence to researching how intricate Islamic mosaics can be made with just a compass and a straight edge, Meha is always ready to be inspired! Meha grew up in Kenya in a home with open doors: long term guests, last minute dinner visitors and lunch with friends who just happened to pop by were the norm and Meha’s mom explained the controlled chaos using the gujarati proverb that translates to “every grain of rice has the name of the person who’s going to eat written on it.” Despite identifying as an introvert, Meha loved this warm, curious and connected community and brings this welcoming attitude wherever she goes, and especially at Studio Manzanita.