Collaboration is key in creating art, and in true artistic fashion, two popular Austin businesses — Lick Honest Ice Creams and Mockingbird Domestics — are partnering to release a limited edition housewares collection.

The artisan-crafted kitchenware features a retro-inspired ice cream bowl ($24) and wooden spoons ($8) created by Texas makers using a number of locally sourced materials, including pecan and mesquite wood. Laura Daly, owner of Mockingbird Domestics, worked with Lick’s Anthony Sobotik and Chad Palmatier during the design process.

Both Sobotik and Daly agree that Austin has been very encouraging of collaboration among businesses, especially in the artistic and creative community. “Nowhere else in Texas will you see a community so supportive of its artists,” Daly says. “Everyone I’ve encountered is encouraging of each other’s trade. I’ve never seen it as a cut-throat or competitive marketplace.”

Sobotik echoes Daly’s assertion. “A lot of what you see in Austin is an admiration for each other’s work,” he says. “We’re all on the same page in that we want the local community to grow.”

Daly, who first met Sobotik and Palmatier years ago when they were each opening their shops, says she fell in love with Lick's commitment to utilizing local ingredients in creating unique-flavored ice creams. Mockingbird Domestics also works closely with local artisans and vendors and has home provisions featured all over town, in places like aRoma Italian and Radio Coffee & Beer.

“I’ve always wanted to work with [Lick] on something, and we all just fell in love with this idea,” Daly says. “We worked with Lindsey Wohlgemuth of Foxwares Ceramics on about 10 different bowl ideas, but we all ended up gravitating towards the same one in the end. I’m really proud of the one we settled on.”

The delicate bowl is small in size to match the portions of Lick’s servings and has a bright red lip to mirror Lick’s signature shade. Wohlgemuth hand turned all of the bowls individually to create an initial batch of 150 bowls. The spoon is reminiscent of elementary school days, inspired by the tiny wooden spoons students receive with their mini ice cream cups.

The team turned to Dave Massman to shape the sturdy utensils. “I’m really proud that we were able to incorporate local mesquite and pecan wood into the designs,” Sobotik says. “We wanted to approach this design with the same respect we give to the local ingredients in our ice creams.”

The co-branded bowl and spoon collection will launch at an Ice Cream Sauces Workshop ($90) led by Sobotik at Mockingbird Domestics on Saturday, October 17 at 2 pm, followed by an ice cream social open to the public from 3 pm until supplies run out. The collection will also be available for purchase through Mockingbird Domestics and Lick Ice Creams’ brick-and-mortar and online shops starting October 17.