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From the artists:
We are a married couple working collaboratively to make woodfired functional stoneware pottery on an old Vermont farmstead. We decorate our pots using traditional slipware techniques and brushwork that is designed to interact with the unique atmosphere in our wood fired kiln.
Kathryn Myers is a potter in Woodstock, Vermont.
Kathryn Myers has been a potter for 35 years, producing functional wheel-thrown stoneware and white stoneware pieces, meant to be used and enjoyed everyday. After apprenticing at Stowe Pottery and graduating in ceramics from Kirkland College, Kathryn moved to Middlebury, VT to her first studio in the basement of Frog Hollow Craft Center.
After a year at Pottery Northwest in Seattle, she returned to Vermont, this time to Woodstock. She began the partnership Woodstock Artisans, a gallery and pottery workshop. For 25 years, visitors were invited to watch potters at work. Kathryn was pleased to bring this experience to cooperatively run Collective, an artisan-run and collectively-owned gallery in Woodstock.
Linda Bracken of Linda B Pottery is a potter in Barre, Vermont.
Originally from Salem, Massachusetts, I worked in the corporate world for many years as a Licensed Customs House Broker. My transition to the life of a studio potter first began when I and my friends decided to spend our weekly "girls' night out" taking a pottery class. I was immediately hooked. I loved it. Those one night a week sessions soon turned to two and three. Then, serendipitously, I became unemployed with a 6 month non compete contract-I was devastated. What would I do for 6 months? I rented space in a pottery studio and never looked back. That was in 1989.
In 1992 my husband and I moved to Vermont and purchased an old farmhouse with an attached dilapidated barn. After three years of hard work and lots of love, we had transformed our barn into my pottery studio complete with a 27 cubic foot downdraft gas-fired car kiln.
My passion for pottery comes from making something out of the earth , something that can, when handled properly, last a lifetime~ I love working with my hands~ The transformation from the earth to that of a finished product never ceases to amaze me!
The kiln firing is the last stage of the entire process. The atmosphere created in the kiln while firing, and the elements of live flame, intense heat and smoke interacting with the ware, greatly affect the outcome. This is what makes each piece unique and different in it's own way. This is also the driving force that keeps me going, because next time things will be even better, then the next time and the next time. See? This final firing takes 16 hours, with a 24 hour cooling time. While firing, the kiln reaches temperatures between 2280 to 2300 degrees. HOT!
YES!, all of my work is Microwave and Dishwasher Safe. YES! all of my work is Food Safe. NO! there has never been nor ever will be lead in any of my glazes.
I have always had an interest in color therapy which has carried over into my work. I do believe color can impact your moods, feelings and emotions. I enjoy experimenting with new glazes and playing with glaze combinations. You can see this overlapping of glazes, thus creating a third color in the majority of my work. As I sit in my studio overlooking the fields and mountains, I can see the colors of my work reflected in the landscape throughout the year. Come visit me in my studio and enjoy the view. A customer once told me: "your pottery makes me smile". It is my intent to have every piece I make, whether functional or decorative, provide my customers with the same joy that I put into and derive from my work. :))
Life is made to be celebrated. Not just what we consider the "big moments" but the everyday moments! We need more fun and laughter in our lives! I hope my work will make you smile, bring you joy and be part of your everyday celebrations.
Heather Stearns is the founder and owner of Muddy Creek Pottery in North Wolcott, Vermont. She has been working in clay since 1991 and teaching since 1993 in numerous capacities. She learned to make pots at Juniata College in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, where she earned a B.A. in Ceramics and Education. Further study in ceramics at Haystack Mountain School of Craft, Truro Center for the Arts, and the Moravian Tile Works have all influenced her work and teaching.
Heather’s own production work features wheel-thrown functional stoneware pieces. Her work is known for its earthy elegance. Many pieces feature strong carving or wax resist design work. Her hope it that both of these techniques will allow the nature of the clay and the handmade process to show through in the finished piece. Muddy Creek Pottery is exhibited regularly in 10 galleries across New England, and has been featured in several catalogs.
Teaching has always been an important part of Muddy Creek Pottery. Heather is a trained public and Waldorf School teacher. She has taught clay classes for ages 3 to 100 (Even one class with 3 year olds AND 100 year olds together!). She has worked with children, teens, adults, library programs, art teachers, special needs adults, blind people, at-risk teens, girls empowerment groups, teen mothers, elders, summer camp groups, and school programs. She has been teaching Pottery I and Pottery II for Sterling College for the since 2009.
Ryan Burch is a potter in Putney, Vermont.
"For me, making with my hands has always seemed to be the most sensible and authentic contribution I can make to the world. Creating utilitarian objects that aid in the daily tasks and routines of everyday life has become the most direct method of articulating my value systems and philosophies to the world. In this sense, functional wares have the ability to bridge the gap and communicate between maker and user. Even without the use of language, handmade utilitarian objects can succinctly express and translate the world’s most basic principles and can connect individuals who may have otherwise remained unattached. This potential bond is what drives my desire to make and allows me to envision my work influencing traditional customs and activating the contemporary imagination. I attempt to entice the modern public by creating utilitarian forms that refer to history but also provide an earnest, eccentric, and forward-thinking tone. By working with this intention, I hope to promote awareness and appreciation of material, process, and product. I strive to reconnect individuals with the source of the commodities and objects they live with and use on a daily basis. It is my belief that by building a stronger connection between maker and user, and a more thorough understanding of this relationship, we will ultimately discover a living system that is deeply gratifying."
Elizabeth Saslaw of York Hill Pottery is a ceramic artist in Lincoln, Vermont.
For as far back as I can remember, I wanted to earn a living as a seller of things I created with my own hands. I think it was pretty clear to me (not to mention my family and friends) that a 9 to 5 job in an office was not a direction I wanted to go.
The realization of this lifelong dream is something I'm truly grateful for. I went from being a young, slightly unfocused college art student who casually stumbled into pottery—to a committed potter in love with the feel of wet, slippery clay between my fingertips. The rhythmic process of slapping a lump of clay on the wheel and coaxing each piece into shape is still something that enthralls and challenges me, even 30-plus years later.
The freedom and flexibility that comes from working in a studio right beside my home—allowing me to be a stay at home Mom and a working one at the same time—I wouldn't have it any other way. Whenever I get “potter’s block” or simply find the weather too good to resist, I only have to step outside the studio for new ideas. We are fortunate enough to be surrounded by 25 wooded acres located off a little-traveled dirt road. It’s amazing what a dip in the pond, a gardening session in the perennial beds, or a bike ride with my daughter will do to rejuvenate the creative process.
I thank all you supporters of York Hill Pottery, who continue to buy, use, and give our handmade Vermont stoneware. And my very special thanks to Susan Kuehnl: my work would not be what it is today without her friendship, understanding, and artistic inspiration.
“My name is Jessica Cedergren LaBonte. I specialize in use-specific pieces, ranging from mugs to sponge holders to garlic grater plates, and many objects in between. I have been making pottery since the mid nineties and it has been a dream come true to do it for a living.”
Leslie Montalto began her ceramics studies in the early 90's working in many different firings! She presently works with an electric kiln, combining unglazed and glazed surfaces to give her pieces a sense of warmth when holding. Montalto combines her knowledge and technique with her love of nature to create her functional pottery. She uses the wheel as a tool and her artist's license to transform lumps of clay into unique individual vessels.
Vermont native Zoé Bedell crafts functional and decorative pottery at her studio in Stowe.
Inspired by the creative freedom inherit in working with clay, Zoé’s creations are characterized by exuberant experimentation in texture and color.
Kileh works in a small studio in a shared space in the heart of the arts district in Burlington, Vermont, firing pieces in a Bailey reduction kiln and a raku kiln. She also enjoys providing workshops where interested ones can learn the basics of glazing, brush making, and wheel throwing.