Visiting Marinski Heartmades in Croatia

In 2020 – in the middle of the corona pandemic – I wrote to a ceramist in Croatia whom I had been following for some time. Her ceramics were something very special: fairytale-like, poetic, and a beautiful contrast to the Nordic, more stringent style.

At unika:k, we love the Nordic aesthetic – but we also love when design can be mixed across countries and traditions. The Croatian ceramist's name is Marina, and her brand is Marinski Heartmades.

How the collaboration with Marinski began

When we first ordered ceramics from Marinski Heartmades for the webshop, it was with a slight flutter in our stomachs. We were excited to see if the handmade porcelain cups with gold details would be well received in Denmark.

Fortunately, it quickly became clear that our customers really liked them.

The cups with gold bands, gold dots, or other gold details from Marinski Heartmades have become very popular with our customers. Each cup is handmade, and the colors vary slightly from cup to cup – therefore, no two cups are exactly alike, but they still belong to the same beautiful family.

This was the start of a harmonious collaboration between Marinski Heartmades and unika:k.

The visit to Marinski in Croatia

After five years of collaboration, I went to Croatia in 2025 to visit Marina in her workshop and see the production with my own eyes.

When you work together for many years, you get to know each other well – even when contact primarily takes place via emails and messages. Therefore, it was something very special to finally meet face to face.

I brought my daughter on the trip. She also loves ceramics and creative processes, so it was an experience we could share.

We stayed in Opatija, and Marina had invited us for lunch at the workshop a little north of the city. The day we were supposed to leave, a heavy downpour hit the area, so her husband offered to pick us up – for which we were very grateful.

A look inside the workshop

It was a great experience to visit the workshop and meet Marina and her employees.

After photographing and sending so many cups to Danish customers over the years, it was fantastic to see part of the process behind the handmade work.

The next day, we met again for a walk and coffee in the small town of Volosko, where we also discussed future collections and ideas.

Why meeting the artists matters

unika:k is a small company that works closely with small workshops and artists.

Therefore, it means a lot to us to visit them – both to understand their work processes, and also to get to know the people behind the ceramics.

When you meet physically, a different respect for each other's work and craftsmanship arises. The visit to Marina was therefore both inspiring and very rewarding.

Marinski cups at unika:k

At unika:k, you will find a large selection of Marinski cups with gold details. The selection changes continuously – especially in color combinations – but some favorites always return.

This includes:

• The Landscape cup with gold band and blue shades

• The Character cup with a face and gold details

If you love Marinski ceramics, you can always find the current selection in the webshop.

The popular personalized Christmas ornaments

A special tradition at Marinski is the personalized Christmas ornaments with names.

They are only made once a year, and orders typically open in the autumn leading up to Christmas. They are very popular, so it's a good idea to keep an eye on the webshop or our newsletter.

We hope we can help you find your new favorite cup – perhaps a beautiful Marinski cup with gold details. You can see the entire selection of Marinski Heartmades ceramics here.

Thank you for reading.
Best regards,
Tine Marie
unika:k