The Potters Cast

Ella Watson and Rainy Bray set out on a mission to make glazes more accessible... Founded by studio owner Rainy and glaze scientist Ella, Five Glaze combines creative vision with scientific precision to deliver dry batch glaze systems that make custom color development accessible, affordable, and exciting for potters at every level. https://ThePottersCast.com/1216

One of the main attractions at NCECA every year is the vendor hall in the main hall. Every potters dream tool and tools we've never even dreamed of. So many amazing resources! This year I decided to interview a few of these vendors. https://ThePottersCast.com/1215

Dr Cathy Franzi is a ceramic artist based in Canberra. Cathy's science background inspires her approach to representing plants and the environment. In 2015 Cathy was awarded a PhD from the Australian National University School of Art & Design, the culmination of four years of intense research into the intersection of ceramic studio practice, botanical science and printmaking. https://ThePottersCast.com/1214

Neeti Gokhalay Kheny is a ceramic artist and former graphic designer whose practice is inspired by nature, particularly the ocean and its fragile ecosystems. Drawing from shells, corals, and anemone-like forms, Neeti creates sculptural works marked by intricate ornamentation and architectural sensibilities. Neeti's work explores reverence as resistance, inviting reflection on ecological fragility, conservation, and our evolving relationship with water and shared responsibility. https://ThePottersCast.com/1213

Anshula Tayal is a Portland-based ceramic artist creating functional pottery for everyday use, with each piece serving as a canvas for storytelling. Inspired by Indian art and architecture, textile traditions, and regional folk forms, her wheel-thrown and hand-built work explores surface decoration as a way to share cultural narratives. https://ThePottersCast.com/1212

Caryn Newman creates functional stoneware and porcelain ceramics with a focus on timeless, accessible design. Caryn trained in traditional Japanese production techniques during a two‑year apprenticeship with Richard Bennett at the Great Barrington Pottery in the 1970s. Caryn later co‑founded Crow Hill Pottery in Abbot Village, Maine, and established Willowood Pottery in 2012. https://ThePottersCast.com/1211

Diego E Armentano is an Argentine ceramic artist and potter based in Buenos Aires, where he lives and works. Diego practice operates within contemporary ceramics, combining functional and sculptural work to explore clay as territory, landscape, and scale, grounded in material thinking and conceptual inquiry rooted in making. https://ThePottersCast.com/1210

Brian and Naomi Menkis are husband and wife potters who make wheel thrown, functional, and beautiful forms for daily enjoyment. Firing in both oxidation and wood/soda kilns they explore the receptivity of clay to the mark of the potter – from its ability to take the subtlest impression of a delicate flower to the way it records the path of a flame through the kiln. https://ThePottersCast.com/1209

Tracie Griffith Tso works in her studio at the Torpedo Factory Art Center in Alexandria, Virginia. Featured works include a hand-built koi pitcher with maple and bamboo painting on rice paper; a stoneware bamboo pomegranate platter with birds symbolizing longevity, resilience, and abundance, cone 6, electric-fired; and a brown stoneware giant panda teapot with bamboo blossom and sculpted detail, cone 6, electric-fired. https://ThePottersCast.com/1208

Amber Faktor is the sensitive-souled ceramicist behind Sunfish Studio. Over a decade ago Amber traded city life for clay, coastlines, and the grounding rhythms of island life. When Amber is not making pots, teaching workshops, or mentoring fellow tender-hearted makers, she's likely puttering on her little homestead beside the sea. https://ThePottersCast.com/1207

Diamando Koutsellis is an Australian artist with a 30-year career in public art, exhibition practice, and community collaboration. Working nationally and internationally with diverse and marginalised communities, she creates inclusive, site-responsive artworks. Diamando now leads The Australian Ceramics Association, producing The Journal of Australian Ceramics. The organisation supports over 1,500 members by connecting, elevating, and promoting Australian ceramics, while Diamando continues her own active arts practice. https://ThePottersCast.com/1206

Albany, Western Australia artist Janelle Peterson creates whimsical, sometimes melancholy doll like sculptures of animals, robots, figurative lamps, and budgerigars. Rooted in childhood imagination, her characters wander gentle storybook worlds where little birds guide the lost, affirming self worth, protection, and the freedom to be uniquely oneself. https://ThePottersCast.com/1205

Nicholai Busch is a potter and the founder of BuschKraft in San Diego, California. Stoneware and porcelain pieces balance function with modern design and are often finished with carving, slip, or illustration inspired by ceramic art traditions from around the world. Beyond ceramics, BuschKraft designs and produces high-quality pottery tools. https://ThePottersCast.com/1204

James Stanley Watson is a Belfast-based ceramic artist known for his playful, characterful creations and his appearance on The Great Pottery Throw Down. A former cake maker turned full-time potter, James finds joy in storytelling through clay, exploring themes of place, memory, and transformation. https://ThePottersCast.com/1203

Daniele Perillo is an Italian potter and the creative force behind Fango, a studio dedicated to contemporary ceramics located in Spain. Daniele's work blends traditional craftsmanship with modern forms, emphasizing texture, earth tones, and functional design. Through handmade collections and workshops, Daniele celebrates clay's expressive potential and slow, intentional making in every piece. https://ThePottersCast.com/1202

Dan Mack started working with clay in high school, where he was immediately captivated—maybe from a family history of artists, or from being introduced to clay at a young age by his uncle. That early spark took hold, and Dan spent his school lunches in the pottery studio, teaching himself the craft by watching old videos of Hsin-Chuen Lin, carefully deciphering throwing techniques purely through observation. Dan now works out of his studio in San Francisco, California, using stoneware and reduction firing techniques. Surfaces are often left raw or minimally glazed to highlight the natural character of the clay. This keeps the focus where it began: with an obsession for form and technique, seen in the tension in the walls, the precision of trimming, and the timelessness of his shapes. https://ThePottersCast.com/1201

The Potters Cast | Episode 1200 The Potters Cast is 1200 episode old! Today people "called in" on SpeakPipe and shared their thoughts of the podcast. And as a special treat, Shoji Satake swapped places with me and took on the role of the host and interviewed me. https://ThePottersCast.com/1200

Kaneez Zehra Hassan (Zia) is a Pakistani-American ceramic artist based in Utah. Zia hand-builds vessels that explore identity, memory, and cultural inheritance. Influenced by archaeology, Sufi philosophy, and wabi-sabi aesthetics, Zia creates forms that honor endurance and the quiet histories held within everyday objects. https://ThePottersCast.com/1199

Michelle Truslow is a small bath potter with an emphasis on functional ware. Michelle is striving for a fearless exploration of clay in Cape Charles, Virginia where she runs her studio. https://ThePottersCast.com/1198

Shiyuan Xu was born in China and is currently an assistant professor teaching at California State University, Chico. Shiyuan received her BA from China Academy of Art and an MFA from Arizona State University. Shiyuan has exhibited nationally and internationally and is the recipient of 2021 NCECA Emerging Artist and 2017 Ceramics Monthly Emerging Artist. https://ThePottersCast.com/1197

Adeline Engelstad creates wheel-thrown porcelain luminaries, which are carved to translucency. They echo the gentle patterns of plants, fungi, and natural growth. Rooted in a family of artists, Adeline found her passion for porcelain in 2015. Adeline lives in Fort Collins, Colorado, and works in pottery part-time. https://ThePottersCast.com/1196

Ruthie Schulz became a studio potter by accident, inspired by handmade ceramics she encountered in Spain and South America. After years of self-directed learning and mentorship, she transitioned from full-time potter to teacher, founding Twisted Clay Studio, now a thriving community ceramics space. https://ThePottersCast.com/1195

Niko Haese is a Swiss-based potter whose modern, minimalist work explores stacked forms and cohesive tableware sets. Originally rooted in handbuilding, Niko now works primarily on the wheel. Drawing on his background in filmmaking, Niko creates approachable pottery tutorials, helping beginners explore the craft and develop their own creative practice. https://ThePottersCast.com/1194

Mon Martinez is a Mexican ceramic artist dedicated to thoughtful making, material exploration, and the creation of emotional narratives through clay. Mon's work blends experimentation with glazes, sculptural form, and symbolic detail. Mon strives to create pieces that hold introspection, transformation, and a quiet sense of presence—artworks meant to be discovered intimately over time. https://ThePottersCast.com/1193

Michael Millam is back! Way back in episode 247 Michael had been a guest on the show. At the time Michael was a high school teacher here in the United States. But much has changed since then. Michael has since moved to Japan to be teacher there. In this episode of The Potters Cast we catch up with Michael to get the whole story on this new venture. https://ThePottersCast.com/1192

Deanna Wong, creator of Dwadlings Art, is a Chinese-American non-binary artist creating functional ceramics and large-scale murals featuring wiggly critter-filled illustrations. At an even five foot tall, Deanna could be described as "just a little guy" and also a "very long yardstick." https://ThePottersCast.com/1191

HYUNUKO is the studio of ceramicist Henry Kim, blending function and fantasy through sculptural furniture, lighting, and vessels. Formerly Head of Ceramics at The Haas Brothers, Kim draws on themes of nature, sci-fi, and escapism to create narrative-driven works that blur the boundaries between fine art and design. https://ThePottersCast.com/1190

Jurga Hoffman is a potter living in Vancouver, Canada. Jurga is a self-taught artist with a deep appreciation for color, texture, and detail. Her background in drawing rarely lets her leave surfaces untouched - she loves to carve, draw, and paint nature and animal inspired designs on her pots. https://ThePottersCast.com/1189

Robert Hunter is a Scottish ceramicist based in Glasgow, soon to be relocating to Yorkshire in 2026. Robert's work is inspired by themes of time and place, using natural materials such as wild clay and his own developed ash glazes. Each piece reflects both his stage in life and the landscape around him. Having studied in Aberdeen, worked and learned in Mallorca, Spain, and completed a recent two-month residency at Starworks in North Carolina, Robert has travelled widely and gained insight from many great potters. https://ThePottersCast.com/1188

Ashley and Caleb Morford are the partners in clay behind ClayMateOfTheYear. Ashley is the start of the process in that she is the one who makes the work. Caleb, who has a tatoo practice, then steps in and adds his creative flare as the surface with a nod to his tattoo designs. https://ThePottersCast.com/1187

Rebecca Gerendasy has been a creator all her life, and clay is her first love. Majoring in sculpture in college, she later built a career as a video journalist and filmmaker before returning to clay full-time. Focused on hand-building, Rebecca draws inspiration from her surroundings and human nature, looking for the magic in the everyday and bringing it to life with expression, color and surface illustration in her figurative and functional ceramics. https://ThePottersCast.com/1186

Originally from New Jersey, Marianne Robilotta moved to Montana in 2015 to pursue pottery full-time. Although she received a degree in Ceramics, Marianne considers herself self-taught. Focusing on production, Marianne strives to produce large quantities of consistent pieces while retaining the craftsmanship and artistic expression of a studio potter. https://ThePottersCast.com/1185

Jenny Palmer is a Vancouver-born artist and potter based on Vancouver Island. An Emily Carr graduate (BFA, 2008) in Photography, Jenny spent years working her way through breweries and children's art studios before running a home-based childcare program. In 2019, she discovered clay and began exploring pottery as a creative outlet in the evenings. When Covid hit, the world slowed down and that pause helped push Jenny to grow her late night pottery hobby into something bigger. Working from her cozy home studio, she creates vibrant, textural, functional stoneware that brings color, warmth, and joy to everyday life, reflecting her love of process, play, and the beauty of handmade craft. https://ThePottersCast.com/1184

Laura Williams is a UK born, US based ceramic artist whose practice explores material, narrative, color, and play. Laura studied ceramics at the University of Wisconsin - Madison and has worked as a ceramics educator for the last decade. Laura co-founded the Chicago Ceramics Crawl after teaching at many of Chicago's community art centers. The tour aims to connect and celebrate the city's clay community. Laura is interested in the way clay records our every choice... throw lines, finger prints, brush strokes, and sometimes our moods. https://ThePottersCast.com/1183

Marcello and Miki Massoni are the co-founders of Gaya Ceramic and Gaya Ceramic Arts Center in Ubud, Bali. Their work blends Italian sensibility with Balinese craft, creating refined tableware, installations, artworks, and sustainable design projects. Through studio production, education, and collaboration, they celebrate clay as a living, tactile language of beauty, culture, and community. https://ThePottersCast.com/1182

Stacie Forest is a potter who accidentally fell into clay, and now can't seem to wash it off. What started as mugs and bowls quickly turned into a zoo of whimsical and mythical creatures. Stacie loves exploring, teaching, and writing about the deep metaphor found in the connection of clay to creator. https://ThePottersCast.com/1181

Dan McCabe is a Chicago based potter and high school art teacher. Dan's work is largely functional ceramic pieces painted with a bold base layer of underglazes, then glazed and adorned with sepia tone decals of both his drawings and assorted vintage decals. Dan's work is busy and layered and teaming with life; intended on celebrating being alive! Bumping into clay at college, Dan's donned muddy paws for nearly 25 years now. https://ThePottersCast.com/1180

Peggy Twist is a ceramic artist working out of her home studio in western Massachusetts. Sgraffito is Peggy's primary decorating technique on both white and brown stoneware. Peggy thinks of herself as both a functional potter and ceramic artist. Crafting functional forms and imagining and executing her ideas with thoughtful consideration for its purpose and beauty. https://ThePottersCast.com/1179

Carl Mankert is a ceramic artist working in Chicago and Malmo, Sweden. His work ranges from functional terracotta gardenware to decorative raku and mosaics. The work often explores themes of emigration and immigration, belonging and blending in. His company, Chicago Kiln Service, Inc. provides sales and service of studio equipment. https://ThePottersCast.com/1178

Michael Dickey is a Brooklyn-based ceramic artist whose sculptural earthenware explores texture, muted palettes and geometric form. A painterly thinker with a BFA from Colorado State University, Michael creates layered surfaces on his vessels to reflect urban rhythm and calm abstraction. Michael's work bridges craft and contemporary art with quiet intensity. https://ThePottersCast.com/1177

The Clay People, Lynn Beach and Mary Schloss are a mother-daughter pottery duo from the Saskatchewan prairies. Lynn and Mary do not use a wheel, but instead make all their pieces using slab and hand building techniques. They first found their love of pottery in 2016 and officially became "The Clay People" in 2018. https://ThePottersCast.com/1176

Gabriel Kline is the director of Odyssey ClayWorks in Asheville, NC. In addition to making large scale pots, Gabriel works with Veterans, recovery groups, and at-risk youth. He is also a founding member of the Loud Jackey Society (L.J.S.) at NCECA. Bill Collins, PhD, is a professor of chemistry at Fort Lewis College in Colorado. He joined the college in 2011. With a background in synthetic organic and materials chemistry, his research focuses on developing and analyzing chemically durable glasses for ceramic applications, bringing a rigorous scientific approach to the testing and formulation of food-safe glazes. He is a co-author of Amazing Glaze Food-Safe Recipes. Before joining Fort Lewis, Dr. Collins was a postdoctoral fellow at MIT, studying graphene and carbon nanotube chemistry. He lives in Durango, Colorado. https://ThePottersCast.com/1175

Amy Breed, the artist behind Spacecat Ceramics, makes weird and whimsical monsters. Each is one-of-a-kind — a little odd and a lot joyful, like they escaped from a dream and fell into a cartoon. Every monster gets a name and a story before heading out into the world to find their forever place. https://ThePottersCast.com/1174

Amy Henson is a ceramic artist exploring figurative hand-built functional forms. Amy's concepts blend maternal feminism, pest animals, and fantastical beasts. A 2022 MFA graduate from UNT, Amy exhibits nationally, teaches in the Dallas area, and helps lead Garland Creates. Amy lives with her family and two cats in Garland, TX. https://ThePottersCast.com/1173

Doug Jeppesen earned a BA in Art History and a BFA in Art with an emphasis in ceramics from the University of Tulsa, and MFA from Northern Illinois University. Specializing in wood firing, Doug's work has appeared in numerous national juried and invitational exhibitions across the United States and he was a panel member during the International Wood Firing Conference hosted by Northern Arizona University, and at the 2nd European Wood Fire Conference hosted by Guladagergaard International Ceramic Research Center in Skaelskor Denmark. https://ThePottersCast.com/1172

Khalil Jannah is chasing giants. Khalil makes big pots that seem to defy the laws of physics and boggle the imagination. In 2025 Khalil captured to world record for the largest vase. And though not a Chinese national, Khalil has been recognized as a Jingdezhen Master. Over his eleven years of wheel work, Khalil makes human-sized bottle, has an impressive demonstration record, and fulfils massive restaurant orders. https://ThePottersCast.com/1171

Michael Magliochetti is a ceramic artist based in Seattle, Washington. Michael's work blends craft with curiosity, exploring functional and sculptural clay forms through wheel throwing and hand building. Influenced by modern design, architectural motifs, and art history, Michael experiments with wheel throwing, glazing, and contemporary surface techniques. https://ThePottersCast.com/1170

Sela Stazzone's love for pottery started in high school and quickly became an obsession in college. Sela fell in love with the medium, getting her hands dirty, and spending hours on end creating fine and functional art. She took a ceramics course while studying abroad in Florence, Italy which reignited Sela's love for the craft and pushed her to purchase a wheel when she returned home. Before she knew it, Sela had so much pottery and wanted to share it with others. https://ThePottersCast.com/1169

For the past 30 years Sadhana Peterson has mainly exhibited with her 3 siblings who are also creatives (blame it on their mother's influence). Sadhana's love of clay was ignited in 1970 when she was 10 years old. Sadhana was handed some clay by Barbara Quittenbaum, the pottery teacher at a school where her mother was teaching. Sadhana proceeded to make a pig inspired by an ancient Egyptian hippopotamus and she knew at once that she wanted to be a potter when she grew up. At 15 years old Sadhana started serious classes with Margaret Tuckson who was well known for her documentation of New Guinea ceramics and her love of wood firing. https://ThePottersCast.com/1168

Barbara Murphy is a Canadian potter and owner of Alchemy Clay Studio. Barabara is a maker specializing in small batch original pots for use. https://ThePottersCast.com/1167