Meet STOPPOTS, the Palindromic Pots by Two Santa Barbara Artists

Meet STOPPOTS, the Palindromic Pots
by Two Santa Barbara Artists

Best Friends and Longtime Collaborators
Pecos Pryor and James Hapke Find New Ways to
Challenge and Inspire One Another Through Ceramics

Story & photos by Ingrid Bostrom
September 3, 2026

Read more Home & Garden Fall 2026 stories here.

For Pecos Pryor and James Hapke, home is together — and the garden is their newest venture, specifically in the form of pots for plants.

These best friends met in a printmaking class at Westmont, went on to attend two different graduate schools in the Midwest, and maintained their bond and parallel artistic careers along the way. Both eventually found themselves in pivotal roles at art museums: Pryor as head of exhibitions at the Santa Barbara Museum of Contemporary Art, and Hapke as head preparator at UCSB’s Art, Design, and Architecture Museum.

Their shared trajectories eventually led them to establish an art studio together in Carpinteria two and a half years ago. The studio is home to multidisciplinary practices including drawing, painting, printmaking, sculpture, and, most recently, an expanding body of ceramic work.

But before you envision standard cylindrical pots, stop right there.

Each vessel is shaped with eight sides like a stop sign or incorporates octagonal elements. The collection is branded as STOPPOTS, which also happens to be a deeply satisfying palindrome.

One morning, Hapke was looking out the window of his home in Ventura when he saw a stop sign. “And I noticed, oh, it’s ‘pots’ backward,” he said. “And then I thought, ‘Oh, stoppots … like, is that enough of a concept or idea to make something out of?’ ”

While anticipating the birth of his daughter, Hapke was also nurturing this artistic vision, holding onto it for a few months.

“I love palindromes. I love the text of the stop sign. And so maybe three or four months later, I told Pecos. And Pecos said, ‘Yeah — let’s do it.’ ”

“Being in the studio feels like a second home… even if I don’t work in here everyday, I like to try to come through… looking at ideas and sitting and drinking coffee.” — Pecos Pryor
“We have Tuesday morning coffee STOPPOT meetings.” — James Hapke
Credit: Ingrid Bostrom

Pryor, who doesn’t self-identify as someone who acts quickly on an idea, knew this one was a green light.

The two have not only shared similar artistic lineages, but have also collaborated on many joint works over the years. Their styles and practices are refreshingly complementary, and working together challenges and refines each of their perspectives.

“Pecos’s pace is really different than my pace, which is cool,” said Hapke. “I have to slow down.”

“And sometimes I gotta speed up, you know? It pushes me,” Pryor replied.

“I am a little loose, a little more off the cuff,” Hapke said. “And Pecos is a little more precise. So, Pecos’s influence is really helpful because it’s nice to have a thing that looks finished and considered and cared for.”

“And on the flip side, get some more energy and life from some of James’s spontaneity,” Pryor replied.

From their studio and personal style to their work, there’s an effortless aesthetic to everything they do — cool without ever feeling contrived. Their work is playful yet layered, inviting curiosity. They recalled a moment when they were observing a weathered parking lot, weeds sprouting from cracks in the concrete, and found themselves drawn to the sensibility of that tension: the collision of human engineering and the natural world.

“Someone paves over a field,” reflected Hapke, “and it busts through slowly.”

After a year of generating ideas and products, their business is popping up too. It’s GO time for STOPPOTS on Sunday, September 6, 4-8 p.m., at 500 Maple Avenue in Carpinteria. They invite the community to “come get au naturale” at their studio sample sale and experience their “all-process approach to ceramics.”

See @ssstoppotsss on Instagram.

Read more Home & Garden Fall 2026 stories here.