Jessica Putnam-Phillips is a ceramic artist, USAF Veteran, illustrator and activist. She received her MFA from the Art Institute of Boston and her BA from UNC-Wilmington. She was a resident artist at SCAC and recently attended residencies at Haystack and AIR Vallauris. She currently teaches ceramics at CCV and VAE.

Clary Illian is a true treasure for the clay community around the world. Her book, A Potter's Workbook, has been played an important role in the development of potters' skill and understanding of clay and making. An award winning documentay, A Year in the Life, focused on her work and principles. PBS also featured her work in Craft in America. Having studied as an apprentice in Bernard Leach's St. Ives Studio, Clary eventually made her way back to the United States and set up a studio in Ely, Iowa. For over half a century Clay has worked in earthenware, stoneware, and porcelain with the idea of making pottery for ordinary people at affordable prices.

Anna Mulders studied and worked in science while taking evening classes in art, including over ten years of sculpture and five years of ceramic courses. Since the end of 2013 Anna's focus has moved from science to art. One of Anna's favorites are coffee cups with rich colors and random effect due to glaze dripping or irregular firing.

Sheldon Ceramics is located in the Silverlake neighborhood of Los Angeles, CA. Sheldon Ceramics is owned and operated by ceramic artist, Peter Sheldon, and all around awesome fiancé and business partner, Ellen Woglom. Together, Peter and Ellen create beautiful, one-of-a-kind, functional wares and accents for the home. Each piece is crafted by Peter to embrace the unique variations and personality of the materials. Peter and Ellen hope to provide something that will be used and enjoyed for years to come. Whether shared around a dinner table with friends and family, or displaying fresh-cut flowers, their pieces are designed to enhance the home.

Tom Kemp is relatively new to pottery. Tom has spent the past four years as a part-time self-learning with a few courses thrown in. For many years Tom studied lettering and formal writing which translated into an abstract painting technique which Tom now applies to his pots. Tom also trained as a computer scientist.

Ben Carter returns for a third appearance on The Potters Cast. This time he talks about his new book, Mastering The Potter's Wheel. That isn't all that we talk about, but it is a big piece of the action. So Enjoy today's episode with Ben Carter.

Patrick Gibson focus is on creating ceramics to enhance people's everyday rituals. Eating meals together, drinking a cup of tea, or even grabbing that morning cup of coffee, can be transformed from something ordinary into a meaningful experience through the use of beautiful and thoughtfully designed vessels. Patrick enjoys clean lines and utilizes surface design that favors spontaneity over more laborious techniques. Patrick glazes impart an ethereal buoyancy and calming serenity to the pots.

Jordan Jones is a potter living in Freeland, WA who recently completed a 3-year apprenticeship with Robbie Lobell. She creates functional pottery in a home studio that she shares with her housemate Clovy Tsuchiya. Part-time, she glazes & fires kilns for Cook on Clay. Aside from clay, she enjoys animals and plants.

After graduating from St John University in 2001 with a major in art, Nick DeVries has worked as a production potter, taught classes at local art centers, and since 2011 he has pursued his studio work full time. Nick has exhibited his work nationally and maintains a studio in Minneapolis MN.

Jenn Gauer and Meghan Radick make pottery that is functional and lovely. Jenn uses a fine porcelain and throws the pieces on a potter’s wheel, and Meghan decorates them using cake decorating techniques. Each bowl, cup or vase feels great and looks elegant—this is art that you are meant to use and enjoy!

Joseph Travis is a maker of functional ceramic objects, which are either filmed or live streamed straight from the Red Fox Pottery Studio. Currently Joseph is updating his pottery portfolio and placing the rest into an archive. Digital Ceramics Researcher: Joseph is currently a research student within MIRIAD at Manchester Metropolitan University, researching how we can use e-learning to help teach traditional skills like ceramics.

Kim Press likes to think of her work as her story. Each piece of art that Kim makes is a feeling, a thought, or a small moment in her life that is screaming to get out. Kim loves that she can make things that are uniquely her own. In a time where you can have anything you desire delivered to your doorstep with the click of a button, Kim loves that she is able to create things that require time to make. For Kim, being a maker in a world run by machines is incredibly gratifying. Kim's work is Kim's story. Kim's work is Kim.

Annie Chrietzberg took her first ceramics class in 1991, and then went on to acquire both a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Ceramics. In addition to making and selling work, she has written more than twenty articles for Pottery Making Illustrated, taught at the college level, and has given workshops around the country and in Canada.

Branan Mercer graduated with a BFA in Ceramics from Auburn University in 2008. After graduation, he spent two years in St. Petersburg Florida as a resident artist at the Craftsman House Gallery and four years in Fairhope Alabama as Studio Manager and Instructor at The Kiln Studio and Gallery. Currently he resides in Birmingham Alabama where he is setting up a private studio.

The Ceramic Showcase in Portland Oregon in the largest ceramic showcase and sale in the United States. I am fortunate enough to live within a few minutes of the event. So I grabbed my recording equipment and headed down to the event. The work was amazing and the people are even better. Here are just a few examples of the great people and work that was found in the halls of the event.

Sikiu Perez was born in Venezuela. At early age, Sikiu started art school, where her father worked teaching ceramics. While in Venezuela, Sikiu acquired an Advertising and Marketing degree. In 2001 Sikiu moved to The United States, where she now lives with her husband who built her studio on the shore of a beautiful lake.

Brandon Schwartz is a full time Title 1 teacher, husband and father. He is also a part time potter, photographer, and designer. He grew up in Brooklyn, MI, earned an Art Ed degree at Huntington University and currently lives and works near Goshen, IN. He is currently focused on wheel thrown, functional pottery fired to cone 6 in oxidation.

Will McCanless is a second generation potter from Seagrove, NC. Will has been very fortunate to have been exposed from an early age to some of the best potters in the country while living and training in Seagrove, NC. Will's training has primarily been on an apprenticeship basis early in life with his parents, which was then followed by lots of informal travel and exposure related to all things clay. Will does a variety of styles and he is striving always to evolve.

Marianne Tolosa is a ceramic Artist living and working in Northern Virginia. Marianne makes functional, whimsical, wheel-thrown, and hand-built pottery! Marianne's background is in oil painting -> teaching english overseas -> interior design -> coffee -> graphic design -> pottery. A very round about creative route!

Didem Mert was born and raised in Cincinnati, OH. She was featured on the cover of Pottery Making Illustrated’s January/Febuary 2016 issue. Mert was included on C File’s list of 15 Potters to Watch in 2016. Didem is currently attending Edinboro University’s MFA (ceramics) program and is expected to graduate in 2017.

William Baker is a full time studio potter living in the mountains of western North Carolina. His work begins on the wheel, and is focused on refined forms subjected to the intense atmosphere of a wood fired kiln. When not in the studio, he is often found building kilns for other clay folk.

Hedy Yang is a sophomore at the University of Michigan. Her interest in ceramics began in her senior year of high school where she was afforded an amazing space to work in and a creative teacher to provide inspiration. When she’s not in class, she spends her days in the studio trying new techniques and styles of work.

While most of Brooke Millecchia's work begins on the wheel, the majority of her time is spent altering the form and manipulating the surface with texture. She further works the surfaces by applying a bold, but warm color palate.  Brooke allows her work to evolve while working in the studio.  She has never kept a sketchbook.

The SkandiHus brand is inspired by a love for Scandinavian design in which beauty is radiated through light colours, the ample use of natural materials, minimalism and functionality. Like many Scandinavian designers before her, Stine believes that quality design should be affordable, stylish and relevant to the modern human being by providing minimal distraction and maximum functionality and beauty. Stine both throws and hand-builds her pieces. It is very important to her to minimise her impact on the world in which she lives, so she reuses materials whenever possible and many of her pieces are made from reclaimed waste clay from her students and fellow studio members. Before becoming a full time ceramic artist, Stine worked in London, England as a lawyer, never quite feeling fulfilled or happy. She says that quitting her job to follow her dreams was the best decision that she ever made.

NCECA 2016, 50th ANNUAL CONFERENCE

This is a recap of my visit to NCECA. I brought my mic along with me and did the man-on-the-street style of meeting the people of NCECA. In this second installment I talked with:

Troy Bungart
Nikki Johnson
Kwok Pong "Bobby" Tso
Ian Thomas
Jonah Amadeus
Joel Cherrico
Jess & Jamie Wade
Shannon Garson

Osa Atoe started taking community pottery classes in New Orleans in the fall of 2012. Osa quickly became obsessed with the medium so she made a small in-home studio for herself in the spring of 2015 and Pottery by Osa was born! Osa makes handmade terracotta pottery inspired by her love of simplicity and geometric patterns. Osa is influenced by African and Native American ceramic traditions, folk art of all mediums, and the work of other contemporary artists and craft people. Osa makes functional ware for everyday use, including drinkware, dishware and household items such as planters and vases. Osa's goal is to bring the creativity and intentionality of handmade crafts to everyday rituals. She loves expressing herself creatively through practical, functional forms. Osa also makes all of her glazes.

This is a recap of my visit to NCECA. I brought my mic along with me and did the man-on-the-street style of meeting the people of NCECA. In this first installment I talked with:

Mark Shipero
Hayne Bayless
Hannah Niswonger
Mike Carlson
Denise Joyal
Nicholas Meyer
Preston Talbert
John Cummings
Ray Brown
Herrick Smith

Daniel Johnston digs most of the materials he use to make and glaze his pots. Daniel's pots are fired in a large 850 cubic ft wood kiln. Daniel enjoys the hard work and it leaves no part of the process separated from him. He does not try to control his materials, rather Daniel tries to understand them. From digging the clay to firing the kiln, Daniel puts all his efforts into creating pots that have a powerful presence. It is important to Daniel to create pots that are timeless, but reflect the culture and times in which he lives.

Kate Johnston opened her pottery studio in Seagrove, North Carolina in 2010. Kate’s pots are made with local materials, boldly carved with organic patterns inspired by Art Deco design, and fired in a large wood-burning kiln. Kate shows her pots throughout North Carolina and has lectured and taught in North Carolina, Tennessee, and New Jersey.

Robin Hopper | Episode 195

Robin Hopper is an internationally known potter, teacher, author, garden designer and arts activist. He has taught throughout Canada, and in England, U.S.A., Australia, New Zealand, China, Korea, Japan and Israel. His ceramic work is in public, corporate and private collections throughout the world.

Originally from Illinois, Debra Oliva earned a BFA from Northern Illinois University. After a decade working in the printing industry Debra began exploring ceramics. She has worked as a full time artist for 24 years. She creates utilitarian ware and vessel forms from unglazed colored clays, celebrating form and surface through the use of color, texture and pattern.

Paul Schneider lives in Dallas, Texas and is 31 years old. First exposed to ceramics in high school (St. Mark's), attended Rhodes College - played baseball, majored in International Studies. No ceramics program at Rhodes, tried unsuccessfully to start one. One semester I got access to nearby Memphis College of Art to continue throwing. Spent a semester in Madrid - took a ceramics class there - that would be considered my only 'formal' education in ceramics. I've been working full-time on ceramics (my business) for the past six years. It's been a roller coaster. Went to a trade show in NYC -March 2014 - Architectural Digest Home Design Show - got a lot of great press there - AD wrote a profile piece on my work. Currently focus is on table lamps.

Based out of his studio in northwest Montana, Tim Carlburg specializes in making Handmade Growlers for Handmade Beer! Tim also works with multiple distilleries to create simple, meticulously hand-made functional ceramics for the discriminating microbrew and distillery aficionados. Tim is also the inventor of the SwitchLift. SwitchLift is a revolutionary way of using the potters wheel by making the wheel's height adjustable. The SwitchLift is helping to bring relief to the problem of back pain that is so common in potters.

Melina LaVecchia Daniels specializes in creating tableware that is not only functional but relates to food and the user in an aesthetically-minded way. Each piece is made to inspire you to linger around the table just a little bit longer and to enjoy the luxury of gathering around food together.

Jeremy Ayers' recent pottery is about elemental relationships between form and surface.  Jeremy has simplified his color scheme  and  is rejecting a colorful glaze palate. This allows textural and visual contrasts between the glaze, raw clay and form to be highlighted. Contrasts between sharp lines of glaze and the repetitive forms puts a sharp focus on both elements.  The exposed clay is presented on equal footing with the glazed surface.  The white glaze flashes the exposed clay body, warming the raw clay surface.  Jeremy's focus with this recent work is to make pottery that is about pottery. He loves the raw clay of an atmospheric firing,  but his work is fired in oxidation.

Eric Knoche touched clay for the first time 15 years ago and has had dirty hands ever since.  Eric lives and works in Western North Carolina where he is currently building a new wood kiln and studio.  Besides clay, Eric's other great passion in life is dancing the Argentine Tango.

S. C. Rolf lives and works as a studio potter in River Falls, WI, creating one-of-a-kind functional pots. His work reflects an ongoing search to unite his ideas with the generosity and the intimacy that the functional pot offers.
S. C. Rolf holds multiple degrees in Art and exhibits his work nationally and internationally. Rolf has received a number of national and international awards. He lectures and teaches workshops throughout the country. His work has been included in numerous publications, Museum collections, and Kitchens cupboards.

The Claw and The Sea is the brainchild of two lovers, Ronald Shaw and Jeni Licata. Together, Ron and Jeni create an array of functional and sculptural ceramics inspired by botany, mycology, marine biology, and astronomy. These pieces range from handmade, soda-fired tableware sets like plates, cups, bowls, and serving pieces, to their sea-urchin-themed salt and pepper shakers, starfish Christmas ornaments, or salvaged pallet wood urchin towel racks. Jeni and Ron also have intricately-carved sporenet terrariums with homegrown and propagated succulent plants. 

Gerard Ferrari, 2011 McKnight Artist Fellow for Ceramic Artists, holds an MFA(VCU) and a BA(Berea). His artistic career began in 1989 and his Professorial career in 1999. In 2009 he left academia to become a stay-at-home parent, artist, and micro-homesteader. Above all, he has an active imagination and creative spirit.

As part of her undergraduate studies at the National Art School, Sydney, O’Sullivan spent a semester on exchange at the Glasgow School of Art, Scotland, where she learnt and refined a number of industrial ceramic processes such as designing and printing decals, plaster model/mould making and slip casting.  These skills have stayed with her and form the foundations of her current art practice.

O’Sullivan focused her 2012 Masters of Fine Art research project on Australian imagery on porcelain. During this study she undertook a three-month internship at a remote Indigenous Art Centre in Ikuntji, NT. Since completing her MFA O’Sullivan has exhibited at the 4^th ASNA clay triennial in Pakistan, had her work toured through the Emporio Armani stores in Australia, selected as a finalist for Qantas Spirit of Youth Awards and held a solo exhibition at Sabbia Gallery, Sydney and Craft Gallery, Melbourne. O’Sullivan has just returned from a mentorship with Sung Jae Choi in Gimhae, South Korea.

Melissa Weiss is a self-taught studio potter in Asheville, NC. All the pots Melissa makes are made from the clay she digs from her land in Arkansas and is minimally processed. Melissa makes functional pottery and fires it in a gas reduction kiln with reduction cooling. Melissa also runs an 8000 sq ft warehouse which houses over 20 artists.

Adriana Christianson is a studio potter based in Croydon , an outer eastern suburb near Mt. Dandenong in Melbourne , Australia. All of Adriana's work is made and fired in her tiny garden studio that is surrounded by a rambling garden behind her 1920's original farmhouse. Adriana began potting in High School and continued at Prahran College of Advanced Education, graduating with a Diploma of Art & Design majoring in Ceramics. After graduation Adriana started working in the production pottery of Jan Lewis and Tabletop Ceramics as a Studio Assistant and decorator . Her 30 year journey with clay has always run paralell with 'growing' her family and teaching adults and children pottery in community settings . The inspiration for Adriana's work comes from the beauty and intricacies of floral wallpapers and fabrics of the 1800's, (especially William Morris and Liberty) also the blue and white Willow pattern dinnerware, which she constantly collects.

David Voorhees is a western North Carolina potter. David has spent 40 years working in wood-fired porcelain and stoneware, oxidation porcelain, and a bit of raku. David is relatively new to wood-firing with his own wood kiln since 2009. He is passionate about this process, the community it requires, and the rebirth it has caused in his artist journey.

Anna Eaves is the owner, designer, and ceramic artist behind Arrow + Sage, her brand and studio based in Raleigh, NC.  Anna is a native North Carolinian and self taught potter with early instruction coming from her mother, also a potter.  Ceramics from Arrow + Sage are handbuilt utilizing high quality clays and glazes.  She retails her work online and around the globe in the U.S., Canada, and Australia, and has recently received recognition from Elle Decoration and Vogue UK.

Minah Kim was born in 1991 in a small and complex city with lots of people and buildings. The city was always lit up with lights even in very late night til dawn. Minah often enjoyed playing with her camera and catching those lights from the buildings. To Minah the lights shining over the window seemed like stars. Naturally she got to think about the life of individual a lot in the city that never sleeps. The individuals she observed were usually her peers. She became more interested to observe the changes happening around those individuals. She constantly drew and tried different material rather than only-using ceramics and has interests in philosophy.

Tim See fancies himself as a studio potter that loves wood firing. Tim's work is primarily wheel thrown industrial forms, decorated with a sprawling narrative. When Tim is not stacking wood, he teaches at a wonderful studio called Clayscapes.

In 1993 Simon Levin fell in love with the movement of flame through a wood-kiln. Its sensuous quality is something Simon seeks to capture in his work. This quest led Simon to an M.F.A. from the University of Iowa. Recently the work explores the deep, dark, primal connections between all of us. Simon owns Mill Creek Pottery in Wisconsin, where he and his apprentices work to advance the cause of wood-fired pottery.

Richard Peterson is currently working on his MFA candidacy at The University of Arkansas, and received a BFA at the University of Akron in Ohio. Richard has spent almost all of his life within Northeast Ohio, which is where most of Richard's narrative is based. Recently Richard dove into graduate school headfirst where he is currently continuing his education and expansion as an artist, as well as an individual. Richard's work has been published in Clay Times December 2014 issue, Graphic Clay: Ceramic Surfaces and Printed Image Transfer Techniques (Lark Books 2015). and will be published in American Craft Magazine in Feb-March of 2016.

Richard has also had the privilege to have his work shown at Charlie Cummings Gallery, Forum Artspace, AKAR Gallery, Red Star Studios, Baltimore Clayworks, Morean Art Center, and awarded Honorable Mention at "Drink This" juried by Sam Chung at Workhouse Ceramics in Virginia.

Born in New York City, Lisa Neimeth was influenced early on by the multiples of objects and icons surrounding her, as a young collector. After college, Lisa returned to New York City, where among other things, she sold lemonade on the streets and studied ceramics in private sculpture studios. Creating art remained in the background while pursuing Social and Community work, another passion, throughout the five Boroughs. Traveling was key for her after receiving two Masters Degrees in Social Work and Urban Planning. She traveled extensively throughout Mexico, Central and South America where she was deeply influenced by color, texture and forms observed there.

Lisa moved to San Francisco in 1994, drawn there by the open land, light and ocean. She continued doing Community Work while contemplating new relationships between materials in her sculpture work. In 1997, she gave birth to the first of 2 children - leading her to change her focus and to do art more full time. Capturing images and applying them to clay enables her to create a vision of whimsy and directed randomness. She now focuses mainly on creating rustic, yet refined tableware. She describes them as photographs of her observations transcribed onto clay and made to be used.  They incorporate impressed vintage and found object imagery with hand-etched detailing.
Her work continues to be influenced by her surroundings and travels and extended time she spends on her property in Northern New Mexico.

She has been featured in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, House Beautiful, Anthology Magazine, Food and Wine, C magazine, San Francisco Chronicle, Western Art and Architecture, Sunset, California Home and Design as well as multiple features in high profile design blogs.

Paul Jessop started potting when he was twelve-years old. Paul's first full time pottery gig started when he was eighteen. Eventually he gave up the potter's life by the time he was twenty-three. For the next 20 years Paul spent his time selling ceramic tiles to architects and designers in central London. In 2008 Paul lost his job when he was made redundant. It was then that Paul returned to his first love and started Barrington Pottery. Paul is making "Simple Honest Pottery" based on traditional west country slip ware.

Di Marshall makes a brand of pottery dinnerware called Wonki Ware.  Di started off with herself and one other potter 15 years ago and Di is now employing 60 potters.  Di trained these potters up using the slab-rolling method of draping the clay over moulds.  Wonki Ware is now world-wide suppliers of thier brand.

Jeremy Randall Ceramics was officially started in 2009, with energy placed on making, showing, and selling work nationally and internationally.  Retail shows in the New England area have been a new venture with pleasant results, and being able to have personal interactions with my audience has been wonderful. Thank you for visiting, and hope to see you at a show or out in the ceramic world in the future.

Alison Smiles currently shares a studio/small retail space in a small suburb of Adelaide, South Australia. Currently, Alison's group is the only group independent ceramics studio in their city. Alison loves working with clay as it has also afforded her the opportunity to travel and connect with makers from all over the world.

Thomas Quayle graduated an Honours Degree from the National Art School in 2013. Since completing his studies Thomas has been a successful applicant to Bondi's Sculpture by the Sea exhibition two years running as well as receiving the Clitheroe mentorship prize in 2014 through Sculpture by the sea. Thomas also attended a mentoring program in South Korea working with Korean artist Young-Sil Han.

Selected as an Emerging Artist by Ceramics Monthly (2002), Martina Lantin received her MFA from NSCAD University.  She has completed several residencies and her work has been recognized in numerous juried and invitational exhibitions internationally.  Martina currently teaches at the Alberta College of Art and Design.

Gunyoung Kim was born and raised in Seoul, South Korea. She received her Bachelors of Fine Art in Ceramics from Kook-Min University in Korea in 2010 and her MFA from The Ohio State University in 2014 where she developed her studio practice and gained teaching experience. After graduate school, Gunyoung was the long-term ceramic artist-in-residence at Lawrence Art Center in Lawrence, Kansas. She is currently a short-term resident at the Archie Bray Foundation in Helena, MT.

Originally trained as an architect, Sandra Torres eventually transferred her creative outlet into clay work. Sandra got started at an experimental studio in Mexico City, and then continued working in California in different studios.
Sandra traveled in Mexico and China to learn about traditional techniques. An apprenticeship with Pieter Stockmans in Belgium, had a great impact on her work. Later Sandra was an Artist in Residence at the ICSHU in Hungary and since then she has established her home studio in Ojai, CA.

Ronan Kyle Peterson grew up in Poplar, NC, a small community deep in the mountains of western North Carolina. Currently, Ronan maintains Nine Toes Pottery, a ceramics studio in Chapel Hill, NC, which produces highly decorative and functional earthenware vessels. His work is drawn from processes of growth and decay in the natural world and is translated into a ceramic comic book interpretation of both real and imagined phenomena.

Sam Scott has been a ceramic artist working in Shoreline, WA since 1968. After graduating from the University of Washington and setting up his studio in 1975, Sam has continued his studio practice and taught at area colleges. Sam's work consists of three distinct styles including functional and non-functional objects.

Noel Bailey is a utilitarian potter and teacher, currently living in the Mad River Valley, Vermont. Noel was born and raised in Southwest Colorado. He has a M.F.A. from Southern Illinois University Carbondale and a B.A. in Art Education from the University of Northern Colorado. He has had several residencies at Laloba Ranch Clay Center in Steamboat Springs, Colorado.

Leili Towfighcreates wheel-thrown and hand-built stoneware pieces in a studio at MIT in Cambridge. She’s enchanted by the rich ceramics traditions of her parents’ home countries—England and Iran—and creates work inspired by nature, mathematics and biology, in addition to the decorative techniques of sliptrailing, carving, sgraffito and nerikomi.

Influenced by Donna Haraway's Cyborg Manifesto and the cyberpunk classic Ghost in the Shell, his is figure sculptures investigate gender using the cyborg. In addition to sculpture he produces a line of vessels with irreverent characters on them. Rob is currently faculty at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia.

After earning an MFA from Alfred University in 1990, Eric Van Eimeren moved to Montana to become a resident artist at the Archie Bray foundation. At the end of his residency in1993, he set up a pottery studio, and has enjoyed living and working in Helena ever since. You can find his pots in collections and kitchens throughout the U.S. and abroad.

Zach Houillion is a high school senior at St. Mark's school of Texas. Zach is going into his fourth year of pottery doing primarily wheel thrown work, Lately Zach has pursued carving his pieces as well.

Derek Reeverts grew up in rural Illinois surrounded by faith and farming. He received his MFA in ceramics from Miami University of Ohio in 2009 and his BFA in ceramics from Western Illinois University in 1999. He has been the Ceramics area Teaching Lab Specialist for the University of Florida since 2013. His work continues to be a part of many regional, national, and international exhibitions and is represented in many private collections.

Sarah Pike makes slab-built, functional pots on the edge of a little ski town in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, Canada. If you went to Fernie, you would probably find her in her studio, which is just off the highway, next to the beaver pond and under the Lizard Range. Unless, of course, she is out doing her other favorite things… playing in the mountains, eating food somewhere or digging in the garden.  Sarah studied ceramics at ACAD in Calgary, the University of Colorado, Boulder and the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis. Her pottery is inspired by many things, including the landscape around her home, the crazy rich history of pottery, specifically Japanese and Islamic ceramics, but also by antique tinware, textured metal, and old things you might find in barns.

Lora Rust is a studio potter and pottery instructor in Atlanta, Ga. Lora shares her love of working in clay teaching beginning and intermediate pottery classes at Callanwolde Fine Arts Center in Atlanta, including focus on the soda firing process. She also teaches hands on and demonstration workshops regionally. Lora creates heirloom quality porcelain table and serve ware, fired to cone 6 oxidation and soda. Her goal is to bring a touch of artistry and elegance to the home.

Heidi Fahrenbacher is a ceramic artist from Plainwell, MI that creates slipcast ceramics with vibrant colors and images that observe a simple moment in time. Heidi loves ceramics and, until recently, was throwing everything on the wheel until she had hip surgery.

A native to Minnesota, Mark Skudlarek began his fascination with wood-firing while living in the pottery village of, La Borne, France. In 1983, he began a four year apprenticeship in Connecticut with Todd Piker at the Cornwall Bridge Pottery and in and in 1988, moved to Cambridge, Wisconsin to establish Cambridge Wood-fired Pottery.

Martha Grover is a functional potter, living in Bethel, Maine creating thrown and altered porcelain pieces. She attended Bennington College in Vermont, where she received her undergraduate degree in Architecture. Martha received her MFA in ceramics from the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. She received the Taunt Fellowship at the Archie Bray Foundation. Her work can be found at galleries throughout the country. Her work has been published in Ceramics Monthly, Clay Times, Pottery Making Illustrated, 500 Pitchers, 500 Platters and Chargers, and 500 Vases.

Tom Budzak is a ceramic artist living in Tempe, AZ with his wife Melissa, his newborn son Ezekiel and dog Boba Fett. He received his BFA from Arizona State University and his MFA from New Mexico State University. He is an Adjunct Professor at South Mountain Community College and a Master Instructor at the Mesa Art Center.

Roberto Lugo was born in the Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia. Roberto was his mother’s third child by the time she was 21. Growing up Roberto was exposed to prevalent drug use and gang activity. The crack epidemic left half of the houses in Roberto's neighborhood abandoned. His childhood neighborhood gave very little hope for a future outside of its boundaries.

Roberto didn’t have any experience with art in high school. He did, however, take up writing graffiti with his cousins on the streets of Philadelphia. After moving away from Philadelphia Roberto found himself in a community college taking art classes.

After undergraduate studies Roberto realized how important it was to share his experiences through presentation as well. In 2011 Roberto had an opportunity to speak at the National Council of Education for the Ceramic Arts in Seattle, WA. His lecture was entitled “Activism Through Ceramics”. The following year at the NCECA Conference held in Houston, Texas where Roberto delivered another lecture titled “From the Wheel to the Wall”, a presentation on how graffiti relates to ceramics.

Rachel Wood is a nationally and internationally recognized potter who exhibits extensively in the UK and overseas. Her work is recognized for its complex and textured surfaces on vessels which are pinched and coiled, or thrown and manipulated.

Mariko Paterson has been around the ceramic block. Born and raised in Vancouver, she first attended Langara College and then completed her bachelor's degree at the Alberta College of Art. Kent State University was her next destination where she knocked out her MFA degree. While she has also made New York, Michigan, Ohio and Manitoba as just some points of her professional pursuits, Halifax, Nova Scotia now serves as ceramic headquarters. Forage Studios strives to produce a subversive strain of wheel thrown and ceramic work as well as serve the community with an education of the arts.

Historical meets handbuilding where her sculptural interests lay and a dalliance with the pottery wheel has resulted in both forms and a forum for exploring her love of creamy cone 6 clay bodies and illustration.

This is a special episode of The Potters Cast. Former guests, Steve Kelly and Brian R Jones, join me in a live interview recorded in Georgies for Georgies special 50th anniversary open house. We had a great conversation about social media and building a business.

Jessica Brandl holds an MFA in Ceramics from The Ohio State University and a BFA from The Kansas City Art Institute. Her work has been shown nationally and internationally in numerous solo and group exhibitions, including “Ceramic Top 40,” and at RISD Rome. Her work addresses the object as artifact, and its recollection of human time and environment.

Joel Cherrico is a potter, entrepreneur and former author for the American Craft Council website. After graduating college with a degree in art, he immediately launched his business, Cherrico Pottery, LLC. For the past five years, he has supported his livelihood full-time by creating and selling handmade pottery.

Portland, Oregon potter Steve Kelly’s work is rooted in rural Asian ceramic traditions but offers an American urban sensibility. He draws inspiration from street art, typography, and the kinetic human form.

Yoko Sekino-Bové was born in Osaka, Japan. She graduated from Musashino Art University in Tokyo, Japan with a Bachelor of Fine Art degree in graphic design before moving to the United States. She worked as a commercial designer in Los Angeles before her passion for ceramic art took her onto a new path.

She received a Master of Fine Art degree in Ceramics from the University of Oklahoma in 2004. After working as an apprentice at Rowantrees Pottery in Blue Hill, Maine, to study tableware production, Yoko served as an artist-in-residence in the ceramic department of the Armory Art Center in West Palm Beach, Florida from 2004 to 2005.

Her ceramic works are featured in “500 cups”, “500 platters and chargers”, “500 teapot volume 2”, “Humor in Craft” and “Surface decoration techniques for potters” as well as other craft books and a wide variety of periodicals including “American Craft” and “Ceramics Monthly” magazines. Her technical articles are featured on “Ceramics Monthly” and “The Pottery Making Illustrated” magazines occasionally. Yoko was selected as one of the “emerging artists 2011” by the Ceramic Arts Daily Council.

Beyond being the chief curator and proprietor of YONDER, artist Linda Fahey spends much of her time in the shop's studio, making her own line of ceramics, all inspired by a life lived by the coast. At YONDER, her open studio is a space for exploration, innovation, and collaboration, where she welcomes customers, artists, and friends to pull up a seat at her worktable for conversations and creating. Her work is shown at respected shows in the Bay Area throughout the year, and is available nationwide through design-focused stores such as Anthropologie, Voyager, and Rare Device.

As the artist and designer behind Paper & Clay, I make modern functional ceramics that are designed to be both beautiful and very usable. I draw inspiration from my love of Scandinavian design  in the design of my forms and development of glazes, but also in a broader sense. I love having simple but well made elements as a part of my own home, and I strive to create work that fits that form.

John Britt is a studio potter in Bakersville, North Carolina who has been a potter and teacher for over 30 years. He lives in mountains of western North Carolina although he grew up in Dayton, Ohio. John is primarily a self-taught potter who has worked and taught extensively, both nationally and internationally, at universities, colleges and craft centers, including the Penland School of Crafts where he served as the Clay Coordinator and then, as the Studio’s Manager.

He is the author of the “The Complete Guide to High-Fire Glaze; Glazing & Firing at Cone 10” which was published by Lark Books in 2004, and his most recent book “The Complete Guide to Midrange Glazes: Glazing and Firing at Cone 6” which will be published October 2014. He also has and two e-books (PDF’s): “The Quest for the Illusive Leaf Bowl and Other Assorted Articles” and “Aventurine Glazes”. He also has a DVD produced by Ceramics Daily entitled: "Understanding Glazes: How to Test, Tweak and Perfect Your Glazes”.

He was the juror for the book; "500 Bowls”, Technical Editor for “The Art and Craft of Ceramics”, and the “Ceramic Glaze: The Complete Handbook” by Brian Taylor and Kate Doody. He has written numerous articles for ceramics publications including: Ceramic Review, Studio Potter, Clay Times, Ceramic Technical, New Ceramics, The Log Book and is a frequent contributor to Ceramics Monthly.

Brice Dyer received his BFA in ceramics and sculpture from the University of North Texas. After graduating in the spring 2012 he moved to St. Petersburg Fl where he was a Artist-in-Residence at the St. Pete Clay Company. After spending two years in Florida he moved to Kansas City to be a Foundation Resident at Redstar Studios. His work is influenced by geology and landscape and is primarily hand-built.

A professional potter for more than 45 years, Bill van Gilder began his clay work at age 15, as a studio apprentice to the late Byron Temple. During the following years, he apprenticed in Ireland and England, and received a degree from Harrow School of Art, London, England. He then established and managed two large teaching/training centers in Southern Africa (Lesotho & Swaziland) under the auspices of The World Bank. Bill returned to the U.S. in 1979 and established a studio and craft gallery atop South Mountain in Central Maryland, which he continues to operate today.

Molly Allen is an emerging sculptural ceramic artist. Originally from Colorado, She completed her BFA at Sierra Nevada College as the 2014 Valedictorian. Since then she has completed artist in residency programs at Watershed Center for the Ceramics Arts and Mendocino Art Center. Molly’s work uses animal forms to explore the human subconscious.

Shannon Garson is an Australian ceramic artist specialising in thrown, decorated porcelain. Her work is available at galleries and stores and in her online store.

Shannon's studio is based in a small rural town of Maleny in the hinterland of the Sunshine Coast. Each piece of porcelain is unique, the result of many hours work. In add
ition to her artistic practice Shannon runs innovative workshops incorporating nature in porcelain and surface design for schools and small groups.

Shannon's drawings about the strange beauty and wonder to be found in the marginalized eco-systems of the littoral zone. Details of shorelines, rock pools and coastal wallum scrub are revealed in the sgraffito and oxide drawings that crawl over the surface of these delicately thrown porcelain vessels. Exhibition work is available from these galleries.

"I want the surface of the pot to be part of the drawing, not just a surface for the drawing to sit on. I want the whole pot to be experienced, from the weight of it as you pick it up, the texture, the drawing, colour, smoothness of the glaze, all the elements draw the viewer into experiencing the vessel."

Michael Kline is a potter working in the mountains of North Carolina. The Penland School of Crafts brought Michael to the area to be a resident artist in 1998 and he has called it home ever since. Michael also keeps an online journal called "Sawdust & Dirt" where he chronicle his life as an artist.

Danielle Clare Pomorski is Ceramics and Theatre artist from Erie, PA. She has been working with clay since 2003.  She has studied at Ohio Wesleyan University under Kristina Bogdanov.  In 2009 she moved to Athens, Greece where she was taught by a couple that were both third generation Greek potters. In 2010 she moved to Brooklyn and took a few classes at Choplet taught by Damien Garcia. She is now working at Clayspace1205 at the tippy top of Greenpoint, Brooklyn.

Alex Matisse grew up in a converted white clapboard church in the center of a small New England town in a family of artists.

For three years, Alex apprenticed in the workshops of North Carolina potters Matt Jones and Mark Hewitt. Their work combines traditions, from the Anglo-Oriental school of Leach, Hamada, and Cardew to the folk pottery of the south-eastern United States and many places between. In their workshops Alex learned to love simple pots; adorned or bare, quiet and strong, they make their place comfortably in the home and speak to the thousands of years of pots before them, and all that is to come.

Alex's work is made in a fusion of pre-industrial country traditions in both process and material. It is fired in a large wood burning kiln and made of as many local materials as the chemistry will allow.

Ales believes in the beautiful object; that there are inescapable aesthetic truths, physical attributes, that remove time and place from the defining characteristics of the made object. These objects can be viewed today or many years from now and be understood as beautiful. Though their quotidian value may become antiquated, their aesthetics will save them. Alex believes in making pots that carry this truth while, as Henry Glassie told Alex in passing one day, holding one hand to the past with the other outstretched to the future.

Jessica Kanaley is a ceramic artist who celebrates her American roots with pottery inspired by the garden. She was raised in Rochester NY where she graduated with a bachelors of science from Nazareth College. After working in special education she completed an apprenticeship at the Rochester Folk Art Guild and founded the business Old Soul Clay. Jessica is currently participating in residencies and seeking adventure through her travels.

Julie Wiggins is a full time studio potter living and working in Charlotte, North Carolina.  She graduated from East Carolina University in 2001 with a BFA in Ceramics. In 2005, she received an honorary degree from the Jingdezhen Ceramic Institute in China, where she focused her studies on traditional Eastern techniques. Her work has been shown in galleries across the country, including AKAR Gallery, Charlie Cummings Gallery, Crimson
Laurel Gallery, and Lark & Key.  Julie’s work has been featured at the American Craft Council and the Mint Museum of Craft + Design, as well as several national conferences and exhibitions, including NCECA.  Julie has over a decade of experience as an educator and will be one of the presenters at the Functional Ceramics Workshop in 2016.

Guillermo Cuellar has been making wheel thrown stoneware pots since 1980. Originally from Venezuela, he moved to the St. Croix River Valley in Minnesota in 2005.  He treasures the breathtaking beauty that can be found in pots made for daily use in the home for preparing and sharing food.

Nancy Gallagher received her BFA from Kutztown University, originally in graphic design, then further studied functional pottery for four years with Bill van Gilder. Her recent work in earthenware both harkens back to historical pots, while maintaining a current graphic brush work and textural ethic.

Julie Covington is a potter working in Asheville, NCs River Arts District. Julie feels lucky to be surrounded by an amazing community of craftspeople, farmers, musicians, healers, and teachers who regularly inspire her to be a better potter! Julie makes sturdy, comfortable tableware decorated in a variety of playful designs.

From Roanoke, VA, David Eichelberger has pursued a career in ceramics in school, through residencies, and now as a professor.  He worked at Santa Fe Clay for a few years, then was a resident at the ExergyXchange in Burnsville, NC, then on to an MFA from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, then one year at the Appalachian Center for Craft in Smithville, TN, then 3 years as a Resident Artist at the Penland School of Craft.  David is currently an Assistant Professor of Art at Ferrum College, in Ferrum, VA.  He lives in beautiful Floyd, VA, with his wife, artist Elisa DiFeo, and their two daughters, and are expecting another daughter this summer.

Doug Peltzman is a full time studio potter currently residing in Dover Plains, New York, a rural town on the eastern edge of the Hudson Valley.  After several formative years studying painting, Doug came to earn his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Ceramics at SUNY New Paltz in 2005. In 2010, he received his Master of Fine Arts degree in Ceramics from Penn State.  He has had the honor of being both a juror and curator of national exhibtions.  He has taught workshops at many art centers and universities across the U.S, including Arrowmont, Peters Valley, Goggleworks, Davis and Elkins College, UNT, SUNY New Paltz, The Clay Studio and The Art School at Old Church. Doug is also a founding member of Objective Clay. His pottery has been featured in many publications and can be found in homes and kitchens across the country.

Marian was born in Pittsburg, KS in 1951 and grew up in very small towns in a rural setting.   She received a B.F.A. from Arkansas State University in 1973 and has worked since then in her studio, hand building ceramic vessels.  

Marian lives with her husband in Austin, TX.  They divide their time between the city and a cabin in the Texas Hill Country.

Diana Fayt’s primary medium is clay and refers to her one of a kind ceramic pieces as “etchings in clay.” Drawing on her background as a painter, sculptor, printmaker and clayer, her surfaces are alive with strange and exotic stories. When Diana is not working in clay, you can find her drawing in her sketchbook, carving rubber blocks or scheming about the next online ecourse she is going to teach. Diana also divides her time designing ceramics, teaching technique and inspiring creativity in workshops around the world. Her roster of clients include, Anthropologie, Heath Ceramics and Terrain. She’s taught workshops 
at destinations such as, Clay Push, Austraila, Arrowmont School of Crafts, Santa Fe Clay and Metchosin School of the Arts, online, at creativebug.com and via her self-created online e-course, The Clayer. Diana is a graduate of the California College of the Arts. After thirty years of calling San Francisco home, Diana recently left the big city for the Sierra Nevada foothills with her sweet pooch, Louie

Sarah Heimann is a studio potter in Lebanon, NH. She is a part-time instructor at Dartmouth's Davidson Ceramic Studio, and a 2014 recipient of Northern Clay's McKnight Artist Residency Grant.