From writing Roswell scripts to tattooing mugs and teaching ceramics

Steve Stringer works his dream job out of a shed in Melrose Hill, Los Angeles, in the US state of California.

The 500 sq ft (46 square-metre) outbuilding was not where Stringer, a Los Angeles-based ceramicist, imagined setting up shop. The day he found it, he was touring a neighbouring property. When that space turned out to be too big for an art studio, the landlord told Stringer to take a look at the shed out back.

At first glance, the place looked a bit shoddy, Stringer recalls. But it had good bones and a secret treasure sort of appeal. He told the landlord he would take it.

“But I’m calling it a backhouse,” he says.

After a month-long DIY renovation, Steve’s Backhouse opened its doors in May. Each month since, Stringer has hosted a slate of creative workshops – most of them sold out – at the studio, including his signature Tattoo a Mug class, during which participants decorate mugs hand-spun by Stringer in a patchwork tattoo style.

Stringer formerly took his workshops to vintage stores and coffee shops across LA. Back then, he lugged his supplies around the city and did his best to adapt to whatever seating arrangement his host venue had available.