Artists as a whole have been one of the largest catalysts for change in our world. Art can amplify our voices and visually connect with hearts and minds to provoke us to ACT.
My name is Lyndsay Meiklem Dean. I make unique, fun, and functional stoneware pottery in my studio in Stonington, Connecticut, which also houses my small retail shop. I am largely inspired by nature and wildlife, and I often use my Art as Activism to collaborate with animal sanctuaries and other non-profits for fundraising and advocacy.
I’ve been a potter and a vegan for nearly 30 yrs. Being a full-time potter can be challenging, but each new day presents an opportunity to bring to life functional pieces of art and use them as a platform to Spread joy, Cultivate Activism, Shed light on Injustice, Prompt Positive Dialogue, and Support Social Change. I have been a pottery instructor for over 2 decades and I enjoy sharing my knowledge in person and online. When I’m not creating pottery I’m usually creating vegan food!
Artists as a whole have been one of the largest catalysts for change in our world. Art can amplify our voices and visually connect with hearts and minds to provoke us to ACT. I hope my work serves not only its intended function but also sparks respectful dialogue that provokes shifts in perspective leadingto the betterment of the world for animals and humans alike.
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Hometown:
Norwich Connecticut
Currently living: Stonington, Connecticut
Reading:
I really don’t read, I listen to podcasts and audiobooks
Family:
My husband and I are currently living with my parents while we finish building our dream home.
Hobbies:
Cooking, nature walks, gardening
Listening to:
True Crime Couple Podcast, Ten Percent Happier
Podcast, Ear Hustle Podcast,
What music do you enjoy?
80’s Pop music is my favorite but I
also love early Joni Mitchell, Beatles, Indigo Girls, Folk music
Favorite Quote:
Let food be thy medicine & medicine be thy food
Hippocrates
Do you collect anything? I collect handmade pottery mugs by
other potters I’ve met or admire
Favorite life hack: simple mantras, ‘work smarter, not harder’
‘you can do anything but not everything’
Favorite joke: I can never remember jokes
What motivates you? I’ve always been tremendously self-motivated and require very little outside my own brain to get me moving on a project or idea. In the last few years I’ve really found a niche I adore in the form of working with animal sanctuaries that align with my vegan values.
“It takes nothing away from a human to be kind to an animal.”
Joaquin Phoenix
Using my Art as Activism I have designed a single item or small collection of items for a sanctuary or animal organization and then make prototypes of the items to use to promote a pre-order. The pre-
order model really allows me to control how many of any one item I can comfortably create as
well as using my time to create items that have already been purchased, in turn donating a
portion of the sales back to the sanctuary to support their work.
Making work that resonates with people’s love of animals and the valuable work that sanctuaries do everyday has connected me to a wonderful community of like minded supporters which in turn has
motivated me to want to do even more!
What book has impacted you the most and why? The book The Four Agreements by Don Muigel Ruiz is by far the most impactful book I’ve ever read. It’s my bible in essence, as I really use the principals the book outlines to guide my outlook on life and how I choose to respond to various situations. I have rarely found a situation that I’ve not been able to reflect on which of the 4 agreements might apply that I’ve then not been able to reframe my thinking about in context of which of the four agreements I might have broken.
The basis of the book is a guide for adopting 4 principles or agreements into your life on an everyday basis: Always do your Best, Taking Nothing Personally, Make no Assumptions and Be Impeccable with Your Word.
What in your life do you find exciting at the moment? A lot of things excite me, especially when it comes to pottery making and collaborating with other artists but the most exciting thing I’ve been collaborating on creating for the last 3 years has been building a house with my husband.
We are building an Earth Sheltered home, it’s a home we’ve been dreaming of building and living in for well over a decade and it will be the first of its kind in our home state of Connecticut on the East Coast of the U.S. In addition to our living space, we are also building studio spaces where my husband can have a carpentry workshop and where I will have my first-ever home pottery studio.
This home build has been the most challenging thing either of us has ever undertaken and has tested our patience, our will, our determination, our finances, our marriage and every other facet that could possibly be tested over the course of the last 3 yrs.
We hope to be living in it by 2025 and I’ll be just as excited to look back on the journey we’ve survived to build the dream as I will be to live in the home, grow lots of our own food, welcome friends and family for vegan feasts and teach clay, cooking and music classes as my husband is a percussionist trained to
play African Drums.
Tell us about some of your personal goals:
In business my immediate goals are to offer more virtual and in person clay and art classes with guest instructors. I also plan to continue expanding my Art & Activism work with other sanctuaries and raise more awareness and funds for the animals.
Obviously my main goal outside of my business is to finally move into our new house but in the near future I’d love to host in person and virtual vegan cooking classes.
I’ve also been really excited to have a garden again and learn to jar our own garden veggies, make tomato sauce, jam, etc., and become more self-sufficient with food production to cut our consumption and costs of living as much as possible. I’m very much about sustainability and learning to reduce and reuse wherever we can and with that in mind, I also want to create a rainwater collection system so we can water our gardens as efficiently as possible.
Do you have a recipe that you would like to share?
This recipe was born from my love of baking, a newfound passion for sourdough post-pandemic and my husband’s adoration for cinnamon buns. I am always looking to adapt recipes or ‘veganize’ them if they are not already vegan and I wanted to create something different from the mainstream cinnamon bun. Suffice to say these have become my husband’s most requested baked good but because they are a bit labor intensive I only make them a few times a year. They are absolutely worth the effort.
Lindsay's Vegan Almond Sourdough Swirls
This recipe was born from my love of baking, a new found passion for sourdough post
pandemic and my husband’s adoration for cinnamon buns. I am always looking to adapt
recipes or ‘veganize’ them if they are not already vegan and I wanted to create something
different from the mainstream cinnamon bun. Suffice to say these have become my
husband’s most requested baked good but because they are a bit labor intensive I only make
them a few times a year. They are absolutely worth the effort!!
Ingredients
- Dough:
- 160g plain unsweetened plant milk
- 28g plant based butter
- 100g active starter
- 24g sugar
- 300g all purpose flour
- 5g salt
- Filling:
- 1/2 cup plant based butter room temp
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 cup almond flour
- 2 plant based eggs (I used Bob’s Redmill Egg Replacer)
- 1 tsp almond extract
- Topping:
- 2 Tbl almond milk
- 1 tsp agave
- Chopped almonds
- Simple Syrup :
- 3 Tbl Sugar
- 3 TBl Water
Instructions
The night before baking day:
1 . Prepare the Dough. Combine warm butter and milk in a small saucepan until butter is
melted and well combined, let cool so it’s not boiling hot but room temp or mildly warm, if it’s
too hot when you add it to the starter it will kill the starter.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer combine starter and sugar and mix with a Danish whisk or
wooden spoon to combine.
3. Add the warm milk/butter mixture to the starter/sugar mixture and blend well.
4. Add the flour and salt to the mixture and combine until a shaggy dough forms. Cover and let
dough rest 30 min.
5. Use the dough hook on the stand mixer and set on speed #2 or #3 for 6-8min until dough
becomes supple, smooth and pulls away from the bowl when ready. Perform a set of stretch
and folds and cover.
6. Perform 2-3 more sets of stretch and folds 30 min apart covering dough in between each set.
7. Cover and proof 8-12hrs the dough should more than double
On baking Day : Prepare a baking sheet with parchment
8. Mix the filling in a shallow bowl with a spatula combine butter and sugar. Add almond flour,
plant eggs and almond extract and mix until well combined and set aside.
9. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead it for 30 seconds or so to wake it
up and then use a rolling pin to roll into a rectangle approx. 21” long and 14” wide. It’s
important to get it as close to a rectangle as possible
10. Carefully spread the butter/sugar mixture evenly over the bottom 2/3 of the dough
11. Fold the rectangle by taking the bare 1/3 and side and folding it to the center and then
folding the last 1/3 over the top. Take a moment to pinch all the edges together to seal and
then gently roll the dough out again flattening the thick rectangle until the short side is about
8” in length. If the dough becomes too soft you can pop it back in the fridge for 10-15 min.
12. Using a knife, cut the rectangle in have lengthwise and then cut each of those pieces into
fourths to create 8 long strips. Starting at the end, roll each strip into a tight bun and tuck the
end underneath. Transfer to the parchment lined baking sheet and cover loosely to rise in a
warm spot approx 45min -1hr
13. Preheat the oven to 350 and brush the tops of the buns with the egg wash and sprinkle with
almonds. Bake 20-25 min or until the inside temp reaches 200F If the tops are not golden by the
time they are done, set your oven to low broil for 2-3 min to lightly brown the tops.
14. Remove and set on cooling rack. While they are cooling bring the simple syrup sugar and
water over medium heat to a boil and then remove from heat and lightly brush the mixture
over each bun.
Notes
hese are best enjoyed the same day!
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