The Potters Cast

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 fo...

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...

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 Cera...

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.

Anne Pryde is a professional ceramic artist working from her home-based studio in Hatchet Lake Nova Scotia. A graduate of NSCAD University, Anne has been working as a professional in clay since 2006. Her recent work can be found in a variety of galleries and gift shops in Atlantic Canada. Anne's work is influenced by wild medicinal plants, agricultural practices and a strong tradition of pottery i...

Garrett DeLooze is a wood fire potter from Annapolis, Maryland, currently working in Gishen, Indiana. Garrett received his BFA from Frostburg State University in 2012 and stayed an extra year to be the ceramic lab tech/teaching assistant. The following year Garrett was a production potter for a center helping adults with developmental disabilities gain employment through a day program. At the begi...

Matthew Schiemann is a second-generation potter that grew up watching and helping his dad create ceramic works. This early exposure taught Matt to appreciate the handmade object and eventually to choose the field of ceramics for himself. He received his Bachelors of Arts in Sculpture and Ceramics from Ashland University in 2005 and his Masters of Fine Arts in Ceramics at Southern Illinois Universi...

Sarah Thompson works with porcelain and throws it mostly on her potters wheel. Sarah hand paints botanical motifs on the surface of each pot, and then glazes them in her own colors. Sarah's work is functional ceramics.

Robert Piepenburg was born in Detroit, MI and received his Bachelor's, Master's degree and MFA degree from Eastern Michigan University. He is the recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship, three Michigan Council for the Arts Creative Artists Grants and an Outstanding Teacher of the Year award from Oakland Community College.  His works appear in public and private collections from t...

Ian F. Thomas is an installation artist living in Slippery Rock, PA and works at Allegheny College in Meadville, PA. Ian holds a BFA from Slippery Rock University and an MFA from Texas Tech University. Ian received additional training at the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Bratislava, Slovakia, and The Pottery Workshop in Jingdezhen, China.  

Risa Nisimori has been working and teaching ceramics at her studio, N.Y. Togei Kyoshitsu in New York City. Risa studied proper wheel throwing in Japan, but Risa's preferred method is Nerikomi, using different mixed clays and creating new and interesting patterns.

Lauren Gallaspy received her BFA in ceramics at the University of Georgia in 2005 and her MFA from the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University in 2007. From 2009 to 2012, Gallaspy served as co-director and owner of Trace Gallery in Athens, Georgia alongside artist, educator, and collector Andy Nasisse. In 2013, she was recognized by the National Council on Education for the Ceramic...

Herrick Smith is a current MFA candidate at Fort Hays State University. Smith enjoys wood and soda firing as well as casting various metals. His ceramic work focuses on vessels while the cast work is abstracted and organic. After graduation Smith hopes to teach college ceramics and/or sculpture.  

Nikki Mizak is a potter in North Carolina who makes functional pottery featuring hand painted animals and slip trailed texture. Nikki finds inspiration in nature so Nikki features chicken in much of her work. She has a real talent at capturing the individual chicken's personalities on her pots.   

Emily Free Wilson is a ceramic artist and entrepreneur in Helena, Montana. She runs her pottery business Free Ceramics and the Studio Art Center, with her husband Matt Wilson. In 2014, Emily and Matt purchased an old funeral home and have converted into an art center. Emily recently retired from 10 years as the gallery director at the Archie Bray Foundation.

Rachel Donner is a full time potter living in Santa Fe, New Mexico. She grew surrounded by art and history in the small town of Taos, NM. Rachel studied ceramics at the University of Northern Colorado and went on to do a few residencies and assistantships before settling back in New Mexico, for the time being.

Neil Celani makes functional pottery and does most of his firing in a soda kiln that Neil built. Neil is influenced by the psychedelia found in nature. He loves music and dancing and doesn't let algorithms choose what he listens to. Oh, and fire rules.  

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...

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...

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.