The Potters Cast

Kirstin Davidson, Hilde Lambrechts and Kim Lulashnyk are three potters from the Ottawa Guild of Potters who have put together a community-based ceramic art installation of over 9000 roses, fleurs de lis and feathers as part of Canada's 150th year celebrations in 2017. Populace will be set in a park at the Canadian Museum of Nature and will be on display from June 17-September 4, 2017. Community studios, individual potters, high school students, seniors and members of the public will participate in guided making-sessions throughout the year. Kirstin, Kim and Hilde are honored to bring their love of clay into the community on behalf of the Ottawa Guild of Potters and share in the making of a significant public art inst

Sharon Greenwood is a full time potter living in Portland, Oregon. She grew up outside of New Orleans and received her BFA from the University of Southern Mississippi in graphic design, with a minor in sculpture. This is where she first learned to love clay. After 15 years in advertising, she took a sabbatical and enrolled in a local clay class. She loved it so much, she decided to retire and start her second career as a potter. She works out of her home studio, creating wheelthrown, handcarved home decor and tableware that are inspired by the Oregon coast and her garden.

San Diego potter, Merle Lambeth, is known for her delicately folded thin slabs of clay,use of textures and green glazes. Each piece shows her attention to detail and finishing. Merle's training is mainly through attending workshops. She splits her time between creating new work and managing Clay Artists of San Diego, a non-profit clay organization.

Jen Fontanella is a ceramist in Overland Park, Kansas. She makes brightly colored contemporary pieces for the home and garden. Everything is made in small batches honoring the art of handmade. She's a California native, a mother to a two-year-old, an ethnic food junkie and a craft beer enthusiast

Mike Flower is a potter and teacher in Los Angeles, CA. Primarily an educator, his days are largely spent running a thriving high school studio that sees 200 students daily. He also serves as an Adjunct Faculty member at Cal State University, Dominguez Hills. His ceramic work is mostly utilitarian.

Amy Hamley is a ceramicist living and working in Berkeley, California. Her work draws inspiration from her travels and daily hikes around the Bay Area. She lives with her husband, Ryan, and her shih tzu, Perro.

Sage Cortez is the hands of Hand & Fire Ceramics. Sage is a designer, ceramist, and craftswoman focusing on perfecting qualities of hand within functional tableware. Sage's work is intended to bring life to any table it is brought to--to be a refresher in a world of casted, symmetrical, and manufactured goods. Currently Sage is finishing up her BFA as a sculpture major in her hometown of Portland, Oregon. It is important to Sage that all her materials are locally sourced, food safe, and well made to provide you with the best quality to her ability. Hand & Fire is Sage's inspiration towards being creative every day; whether it be clay or flour, Sage always has her hands in something.

Laurie Goldstein is a potter who is in love with ceramics, with function, with beauty. Laurie is a mother to two great kids and a wife to a great guy named Guy... Laurie was born in NYC and when she was 8 her family moved to Israel where Laurie grew up, went to school, served her 2 year compulsory army service, and got her BFA in set and costume for theatre. Laurie then returned to the states for studies at NYU and then Alfred University. Then back to Israel where Laurie started her studio 22 years ago and has been working away happily since.

Chris is a ceramic artist living in Virginia He has been a ceramic artist for 14 years Chris is married to his wife, Jordan, who is also an artist and they have a 4 month old baby, Cambrie. He recently publish an article titled "Winter Blues" in Pottery Making Illustrated

Leilani Trinka is a ceramic artist, born and raised in Hawaii but now living in Singapore. She works exclusively in porcelain and specializes in creating hand built objects with a functional approach. Her work is made from textured slabs, is generally small in scale, is highly detailed and meticulously crafted. Leilani is enthused by pattern and inspired by both the manmade and the natural worlds. She produces work that brings her joy and makes her smile.

Elaine Fallon trained as a potter in Thomastown Pottery Skills course in Co Kilkenny. Elaine is now 45 years old, mother of 3, and a puppy. Elaine's husband is an architectural photographer and after the recession they jokingly set up what they call Brookwood Enterprises. (Brookwood is the name of the road they live on!) Donal moved from his studio from the city centre and built a studio next to Elaine's pottery. So Donal and Elaine have a very busy house with work, studio assistants, children, and everyday life mixed altogether. Elaine makes functional wheel based work mostly in porcelain stoneware. Elaine lived in New York in her early twenties and used to take the train to Kew Gardens to splash around in a studio called the Potter's Wheel which still exists today!

Sarah is a ceramic artist in Portland, Oregon. Sarah's business, Wolf Ceramics, is just over a year old. Sarah found ceramics in high school and had a healthy clay obsession throughout college in eastern Washington while working on a degree in geochemistry. Sarah's initial years after college were spent traveling, farming in the San Juan Islands, and climbing in the Cascade Mountains. Sarah couldn't bring herself to get a real job in the field of geochemistry, and after seriously considering and then scraping the idea of architecture school, Sarah came back to clay. Sarah decided to go back to school for ceramics and studied at the Oregon College of Art and Craft, where she hatched the idea for her business. A year and half ago, Sarah entered a matched savings grant program with Mercy Corps Northwest that supports new businesses. The funds from this grant came in August of 2016, kickstarted her business into a new space, and helped fund the purchase of studio equipment. Now that Sarah has a space of her own, she is taking on larger wholesale accounts with local businesses and eager to collaborate with other local businesses and crafts people!

Adrienne Eliades is a studio artist living in Vancouver, Washington. She has been extremely fortunate to move all over the country for her work. A recent MFA graduate in Ceramics from the University of Florida in May 2016, Adrienne is currently working at the Ash Street Project in Portland, Oregon.

Maggie Beyeler started her studio, Magpie Pottery in the desert outside of Santa Fe, New Mexico 17 years ago. Formally trained at the University of Colorado, Boulder, Maggie earned her MFA in ceramics in 1993. Since that time Maggie has operated her own studio, taught at various colleges and universities throughout the area, and has become known for her image transfer tableware.

Marla Benton's work is colourful, humorous, and playful. Marla's clay pieces are influenced by everyday adventures combined with nature, children, and daily living. Marla earned her education through the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, the Ontario College of Art and Design (BFA), and Nipissing University (BED). Through all her experiences, Marla has been exposed to many different materials. Marla found that clay is the most complimentary medium, as she loves to play in mud, sculpting three dimensional, fanciful objects that echo the joys in her life.

Zoë Johnson is a ceramicist living and working on the Big Island of Hawaii. Much of her work occupies the space between functional and decorative, her vessels are embraced as physical representations of memory or gratitude, evoking a fleeting sea breeze or the salty reminiscence of a day at the beach.

Luke Eastop is a ceramicist with a background in the creative arts, and more recently as a chef. Both occupations have informed the development of his work, focusing on pared-down ceramic pieces, exploring the basic material qualities of clay, form, function and utility. He started making ceramics following the passing away of his grandfather, British studio potter Geoffrey Eastop, and is currently working in his studio in Berkshire.

Connie Pike started her clay journey in 1971 and since 1978 she has been making her full-time living as a ceramic artist in Alberta, Canada. Connie's approach to working with clay evolves as she investigate a balance between function and aesthetic. Shapes and designs build upon themselves and new versions of form and decoration filter through the body of work and refresh the process. It is Connie's desire to create forms with rich surfaces. is interested in how her work can be used every day to bring art into our lives, enhancing our experience with food, adorning our homes, and providing a necessary ritual to nourish our soul and mind as well as our bodies. Connie is trying to make pottery that is successful in several ways: comfortable to use, enjoyable to look at, and interesting to think about.

Patty Bilbro is a displaced southerner with a craft degree in clay and a BA in Psychology. She has been a resident artist at Odyssey Ceramic Arts and Baltimore Clayworks. Currently, Patty lives in Wilmington, DE and works out of her windowless leaky basement. She loves to teach.

A lifelong native of the Philadelphia area, Theo Uliano completed his MFA in Ceramics at the Tyler School of Art, Temple University, Philadelphia in 2011, after earning his BFA in Ceramics at Kutztown University of Pennsylvania in 2007. Theo is currently Adjunct Professor in Ceramics at Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia and at Middlesex College in New Jersey. Recently Theo completed an artist residency at AIR Vallauris in the South of France and was also selected as an Emerging Artist 2015 by the publication Ceramics Monthly.

Adam Field is fascinated with antique artifacts, the way they can speak of mastery of lost peoples, places, and cultures. This inspires Adam to create works that both radiate history and capture his own place and time. Adam's works toward a clean aesthetic that celebrates the masterful simplicity of antique Far Eastern pottery, while retaining the modest utility of colonial American wares. The surface of Adam's pottery is meticulously carved with intricate designs that borrow from nature and incorporate the human touch. Much of the carving on Adam's work is informed by the pattern languages found in indigenous fiber art, such as Hawaiian tapa, Incan cordage and Zulu basketry.

Bhairavi Naik is a biochemistry graduate turned media professional. Bhairavi worked in several advertising agencies for many years, before finally accepting that she prefers clay over client servicing. As the senior partner at Curators of Clay, Bhairavi works at the studio as a potter and curator. Bhairavi mainly creates functional ceramics that can be used everyday. Curators of Clay's vision is simple, they want their work to be loved cherished and used everyday. Curators of Clay started out as a pursuit of beauty, peace, and happiness.

Ron Geibel received his MFA from the University of Montana. Ceramics Monthly Magazine recognized Geibel as a 2015 emerging artist. Currently, Geibel is a Visiting Assistant Professor of Art at Southwestern University in Georgetown, TX. His work toys with the intersection of public vs. private and confronts matters concerning, sexuality, gender and identity.

Hannie was born in San Jose, Costa Rica but also spent part of her childhood in New York. She graduated with honors from the Universidad De Costa Rica with a degree in Fine Arts. Although her major was sculpture she was interested in all mediums, experimenting with ceramics, wood, metal, stone, textiles, mosaic, handmade paper just to mention a few. Hannie has participated in many collective art shows as well as being accepted into the Costa Rican National "Biennial" on numerous occasions. Together with her husband Leo Gotlibowski they created "Lugar del Espiral" to combine their talent as artists. They have worked together on many projects. They received high praise for their work for the Costa Rican Pre-Columbian Gold Museum where 8 life size human indigenous sculptures they made are on permanent display. They have recently moved with their son to Los Angeles to embark on a new life and creative career.

Gregory Miller is known for his sculptural ceramic installations. Gregory's style includes various forms and finishes to create a metaphoric microcosm of subjects. Gregory uses an array of clay bodies, from porcelain to stoneware, with each piece hand formed with textures, mixed media and glazes to create the desired effect.

Mallorie Terranova was born in Richmond, VA and raised in Huntersville, NC. After graduating high school, she moved to Wilmington, NC to attend the University of North Carolina Wilmington. Mallorie eventually found her way into the Studio Art program, where she got her hands in clay for the first time, and fell head over heels for the ceramic craft. In December 2015 she graduated from UNC Wilmington, earning a Studio Art Degree with a concentration in Ceramics. While still in school she founded her own pottery business, Jars of Dust. She is driven by being able to create functional vessels, essentially from dust and water, that can be used every single day. Now Mallorie is living on Hatteras Island off the coast of North Carolina with her husband, PJ, and their chocolate lab, Brown Bear. Currently, she is working at a pottery studio called Kinnakeet Clay where she teaches several different classes, as well as striving to grow her own business.

Yoshi Fujii received a B.F.A from the University of Southern Mississippi in 2002 and a M.F.A. from Southern Illinois University in 2008. Yoshi was selected as a recipient of the 2008-09 Lormina Salter Fellowship from Baltimore Clayworks where he currently serves as a resident artist, instructor, and gallery manager.

Lorna Meaden grew up in the western suburbs of Chicago. She received a B.A. from Fort Lewis College in 1994, and an MFA in ceramics from Ohio University 2005. She has been a resident artist at the Archie Bray Foundation in Helena, Montana, and at the Anderson Ranch Arts Center in Snowmass Village, Colorado. Her work is represented my several national galleries. She has taught numerous workshops nationally and internationally, in addition to being featured as a demonstrator and lecturer at the National Council on Education in Ceramic Arts, and Utilitarian Clay V: Celebrate the Object. Lorna is currently a studio potter in Durango, CO.

John Newdigate has worked as a professional artist and ceramist since 1991, exploring the properties of many different materials, including metal, paper, fibre, plastic, paint and clay. In ceramics John has specialised in high-fired translucent carved porcelain and reduction-fired celadon glazes. John's work is mostly functional, as it enriches day-to-day life, bringing art and design, imagination and inspiration into otherwise ordinary moments. John does not believe in being different for difference´s sake; instead he has respect for tradition, without being bound to it. The most important theme in John's work, and his constant inspiration, is the ever-changing sea, which has always fascinated John - not just the creatures in it, but also the interplay of light and water. From the ordered chaos of white horses on a choppy sea to the synergy of a school of anchovies, there seems to be enough inspiration in and around the sea and its shores to last many lifetimes.

Wife and husband team, Kelly Lever and Adam Russel co-own Key West Pottery. Their studio and gallery are in the southern most city of the United States, Key West, Florida. Formally trained as painters, Kelly and Adam both take a very colorful and charismatic approach to their ceramic work, which is reflective of the tropical island they call home. Kelly and Adam are creating a modern interpretation of an ancient art form.

At the end of 2008 Sue Scobie switched from a career as an environmental scientist to working with clay full-time. Sue spent 2009 finishing a Diploma in Ceramics (by distance from Otago Polytechnic). Since then she has continued developing her simple vessel-based forms in colored clay, inspired by landscapes and the environment.

Lina Alvarez was drawn to art at an early age. Before moving to Los Angeles in 2006, Lina graduated from the University of Georgia, where she taught art to children at Lyndon House Arts Center and earned her BA in Studio Art with a concentration in Ceramics. Originally from Medellin, Colombia, Lina's art is a hybrid of cultures and embodies many qualities—some pieces may be precise and simple, while others are loose and organically shaped. Lina currently focuses on chic and functional utilitarian pottery, which is available inside Good Dirt LA's artist shop and on Etsy. Lina believes in cultivating creativity and encourages her students to leave their expectations behind. "The creating and making processes are truly therapeutic and enjoyable for me," she says. "But nothing brings me more joy than knowing that others actually use my work as part of their daily routines. It's that tea they have before bedtime, or the coffee that helps them start the day. It's like I'm passing along a little bit of my love to them, since I feel that each of my pieces were created with the most loving of intentions."

Elizabeth b. Borowsky is a ceramic artist living and working in the beautiful countryside of South Carolina. She received a BFA from Clemson University with an emphasis in sculpture. She launched Elizabeth b. Ceramics in 2014. Her work is elegant, functional, and often carved or pierced with clean, graceful lines.

Tim Kowalczyk did his undergrad at Southern Illinois University Carbondale and majored in Art Education and Ceramics, with a minor Art History. Tim took a year off before attending Illinois State University for Tim's MFA in Ceramics. In 2011 Tim graduated and moved to a small town 30 minutes north of Normal called Minonk, which is where Tim lives and works.

Helen Levi grew up in the East Village of New York City. Helen's first encounter with clay was as a young child in an after school event. For college she studied photography which became a great compliment to her work as a ceramicist. As an adult she did a number of part-times jobs to make a living as an artist living in New York and teaching pottery classes was one of them. Helen set up her own studio where she makes beautiful stoneware ceramics in Brooklyn.

Amy Fields was born and grew up in Buffalo, NY. Amy was introduced to clay when she was about 8 years old. She received her BFA from the NYSCC@Alfred University with a concentration in ceramics. Lured by the landscape, Amy eventually moved out to Portland, Oregon. Amy feels very lucky to have landed at Stark Street Studios among artists and potters that she admires.

Cindy Gibson is a wood fire/soda fire potter who hails from Ruston, Louisiana. She earned a BFA from Louisiana Tech University. After graduating she spent two years in Goshen, IN interning with several area potters. She recently moved to Brevard, NC to further her ceramic career. Her extraterrestrial body of work combines functional and sculptural elements into a short story about the effects we have in this universe. In addition, she creates exotic and domestic wooden earrings that you can use for pottery tools.

Born and raised in Columbus, GA Mollie took her first ceramics class in High School and from then on has had a passion for turning clay into functional items. While attending Auburn University she began to sell her pottery and then started Mollie Jenkins Pottery. Upon graduating with a BFA from Auburn in May 15' Jenkins moved back to Columbus to focus on her business and in February she made the move to Nashville, TN where she has since been growing her business and pursuing pottery as a career.

Tallie Maughan is the Founder of Turning Earth, the open-access ceramics studio in Hoxton East London. Once a hobby-maker herself, now Tallie's passion is to help new makers make their first steps in the craft - for business or for pleasure - and to support those that are ready to launch themselves into a full-time making career.

Keaton Skyles is a 29 year old ceramic artist and has been working with clay for 15 years. In 2010 Keaton earned his BA in psychology at Boise State University. In 2011 Keaton set up his own ceramic studio space. Keaton's work ranges from raku and saggar to large stoneware forms and functional porcelain.

Kevin Kowalski has always been one to work with his hands since an early age. He had a fascination with the process of how things worked and how things were made and not just the finished product. Kevin started with pottery in his Junior year of High school and fell in love with the clay process. Kevin was finally able to work from start to finish with clay and could learn along the way. Kevin went on to received a BFA in Ceramics and BA in Art education from California State University, Fullerton. He took a year off after Graduation to travel and taught English in Taiwan where he met a local potter and studied with him for 10 weeks. During this time Kevin learned new throwing techniques and began a love for the moon vase form and developed a vast taste of tea. After returning to California Kevin got his teaching credential and landed an art position in the same district he was a student. Two years later Kevin transferred to Esperanza High School where he is currently teaching 5 periods of Ceramics. Kevin works out of his home studio where he has recently been using Periscope to connect with the pottery community. Kevin also uses Instagram and Facebook to help market his artwork and has an Etsy shop where he sells his pottery. Michael Millam was born and raised in Southern, California and graduated high school in 1999. Michael attended California State University Fullerton, earning a BA in art education in 2006. He then spent his first 6 years teaching traditional black and white and digital photography at Kennedy High School. In 2012 Michael moved to Western High School to teach ceramics. In June of 2015 Michael completed a Masters in Art Education from Boston University. Michael was a presenter at NAEA convention and spoke on the subject of high school students using ceramics to communicate identity. Michael also participated on the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CTC) and the Evaluation Systems group of Pearson and served on the California Teaching Performance Assessment (CalTPA) Art Content Expert Panel.

Joy Tanner has been a studio potter in Bakersville, NC for 12 years. She received a BFA in Ceramics at UT Chattanooga, was a Resident Artist at the Odyssey Center for the Ceramic Arts, Watershed Center for the Ceramic Arts and the EnergyXChange.

Steven Young Lee has been the resident artist director of the Archie Bray Foundation for the Ceramic Arts in Helena, Montana since 2006. His work has been collected by the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian Museum, the Daum Museum of Contemporary Art, the Four Seasons Hotel in Seoul, Korea, as well as many private collections.Steve received his BFA and MFA in Ceramics from Alfred University. Originally from Chicago, he lives in Helena with his wife, Lisa and their son and daughter Gavin and Florence.

Mitchell Spain received his BFA and MFA in ceramics at The University of Iowa and the University of Kansas respectively. He has exhibited nationally and internationally receiving awards for his trompe l'oeil ceramic works. He currently resides near Des Moines, Iowa working as a full-time studio artist.

Ashleigh Christelis is a Full time potter living in Johannesburg, South Africa. Ashleigh runs her own teaching studio at a community center and has been working with clay for nearly 20 years! Ashleigh did full time apprenticeship with Kim Sacks that lasted for 4 years. Since then Ashleigh has been running studios on and off. She worked as a woodwork teacher at The Waldorf school in Johannesburg for nearly 6 years during which time clay took a bit of a backseat. Ashleigh works mainly in high fired oxidation 1260c/cone 9 porcelain and stoneware.

Amanda Dobbratz graduated from The Glasgow School of Art in Glasgow, UK, with a Masters in Research in Creative Practice. Amanda makes functional, complex ceramics, which marry the whimsical with the pragmatic, often conveying a sense of play and humor. Amanda is a 2015 Anonymous Potter Studio Fellow and currently works as Northern Clay Center's Marketing and Communications Associate.

Lara Zilibowitz is a yoga teacher and ceramicist living in Sydney, Australia with a longstanding passion for creative expression through the body. She always been fascinated by the Hindu and Buddhist symbolism of the 'mandala', a representation of the microcosm and the macrocosm of the universe. All her ceramic pieces are thrown on the wheel, painted with underglaze and carved into using sgraffito method. The process of carving each mandala is spontaneous, she sits in front of the clay canvas with no plan, giving her hand free reign. Lara approaches working with the clay as a meditation practice.

Samuel Johnson was born on the Eastern prairie of the Red River Valley in 1973. After studying painting and ceramics at the University of Minnesota at Morris, he served a three and half year apprenticeship in pottery under Richard Bresnahan. In 2000, he was invited as a guest of Denmark's Design School to study Scandinavian Ceramic design in Copenhagen; while also working at the International Ceramic Center in Skaelskor and as an assistant in private porcelain studios. After working for a short period in a studio in New York, he traveled to Japan as a studio guest of Koie Ryoji. In 2005, Johnson earned graduate degrees in fine art from the University of Iowa. He currently serves on the Board of Directors for Artaxis.org, and international artist organization, and is an Associate Professor of Art at the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University in Central Minnesota.

Bryan Hopkins went to college to study mathematics, and later earned an MFA in Ceramics from SUNY New Paltz. He lives in Buffalo, NY. Bryan's personal research in ceramics centers on the vessel- both utilitarian and sculptural. He teaches at Niagara County Community College in Sanborn, NY.

Eric Stearns earned his BA from Doane College and MFA from Fort Hays State University in Kansas, returning to Doane to teach after graduation. When not teaching, Eric creates sculptural pierced raku-fired art with a eye toward precision while emphasizing his mathematical patterns.