While hiking the Inca trail on vacation in late 2013, Erin Przekop and Tom Critchlow had an epiphany. Eager to start a creative business of their own, the Brooklyn couple realized they could combine their respective backgrounds in design and technology to curate and sell the work of artists online. 

They knew many artists in their neighborhood of Boerum Hill. Przekop had been working in fashion design for 13 years – at DVF, Céline, and Rick Owens – and Critchlow, a self-taught internet geek and native of Yorkshire, England, was working in marketing at Google. In March 2014 they founded Fiercely Curious, an online shop focused on fine art made in Brooklyn, and six months later they started Fiercely Made, a sister site that sells handcrafted goods from Brooklyn makers. Fiercely Made now includes more than 20 artisans. 

What makes Fiercely Made different from other high-end craft shops and galleries in Brooklyn? 
Critchlow: We have a lot of friends who are artists, designers, and makers, and we know that they don’t have a ton of time to market themselves. If they’re engaged with a traditional gallery, the gallery takes a large commission. Our model is that we sell artists’ and makers’ work online, do all the marketing and put on pop-up shops in Brooklyn, with plans for some in Manhattan this year. We take a lower percentage than a gallery, and we are non-exclusive, so the artists can sell their work elsewhere or sell directly to consumers. We give artists more options. 

Przekop: Having a store online also allows us to be scrappy and offer dynamic, site-specific work in our pop-up shops. 

What can people expect to find in your pop-up shops? 
Critchlow: For our launch, we rented a 3,500-square-foot theatrical space in Gowanus, Brooklyn, and about a thousand people came in over a week. 

Przekop: We had longboard skateboards by Daniel Moyer of FunkinFunction hung from the ceiling in a Calderesque mobile; he was inspired by the space, and below the mobile was a mulberry dining table that he made. 

Critchlow: We had handcrafted bikes and a bed with a wood frame, which got a lot of attention. Customers got to see how the pieces were made through live demos. Ceramist Signe Yberg was throwing pottery while musician Brandon Lopez played upright bass. 

Who are some of the makers on the site, and what makes their work exciting? 
Przekop: We started with our friends, and then we branched out. Thomas Callahan of Horse Cycles makes beautiful bikes and also carbon steel camping knives. He collaborates with a master leathersmith, Will Lisak of ETWAS, for the sheaths. We want to foster collaborations like that one. 

Critchlow: Colleen & Eric are a husband-and-wife team with a fun, playful style. They make the Opposite Day lamp table; you twist the lamp to turn on the table, which is an LED light. 

Przekop: Chelsea Miller, who makes kitchen knives with gorgeous wood handles – using spalted maple, for instance – introduced us to Robert Sukrachand, who does minimalist furniture with whitewashing and reclaimed materials. His elm coffee table has been popular; every one is custom-made. 

How would you describe your aesthetic and your mission? 
Critchlow: We try to find independent makers who have a unique style and great attention to detail, are focused on their craft, and care deeply about what they’re making. We also choose makers who source their materials ethically. 

Przekop: We visit all our makers’ studios, take photos, and do a Q&A. Our goal is to explore how and why the makers create their work – their materials, their processes. I always leave inspired.

Liz Logan is a Brooklyn freelance writer whose work has appeared in ARTNews and other magazines.