The Potters Cast

Erin Shafkind is an artist, writer, and educator living in Seattle, WA. Erin studied art and earned a BA and teaching certificate at California State University, Humboldt and received an MFA from Lesley University's College of Art and Design in Boston. Erin has been teaching art in Seattle Public Schools since 1998. These days Erin hand-builds and throws on the pottery wheel using stoneware and po...

One of the great things ab0ut NCECA what happens after NCECA is shut down for the day. All around the city potters have gotten together to do their own special events... Popups! And they are so much fun. This popup was called Not My Hobby Popup and it will give you a flavor of the night life popups. https://ThePottersCast.com/1217

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://ThePottersCas...

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,...

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://ThePottersCas...

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, c...

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 1,50...

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. htt...

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 o...

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