Ceramic Artists
Nessy Barzilay 
After years of working in high tech, I became passionate about art. Currently I spend most of my time in the ceramics studio and enjoy working with clay.
My inspiration comes from surrounding objects, jewelry, my garden, and my travels. In my work, I combine geometrical shapes with organic ones, with an emphasis on round objects, which I am especially drawn to. I like to explore the negative spaces in my functional pieces and my garden sculptures. I also like working with coils, connecting them into fragile shapes while exploring the strength of the clay. Artist website |
Carol Bevilacqua
Carol Bevilacqua’s love of tramp, folk and outsider art has inspired her to create art in the medium of clay and mosaic. Her joy in art making is to encourage people to touch, laugh, enjoy and make art. She includes visual puns and surprises; she creates treasure hunts that engage the observer to dig deeper and find more prizes. She specializes in design, illustration, clay, and mosaic installations for fine art, residential, community and public art projects.
Artist website |
Susan Brody
I work in both stoneware and porcelain, throwing on a kick-wheel and now firing in an electric kiln, having joined the ranks of the energy conscious. The teapot has long been a favorite shape of mine. I take particular pleasure in the traditional round shape with its evocative association of family gatherings. But I have also experimented with a more distinctive, stylized flat pot.
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Wendy Draper
I discovered clay and its creative possibilities over 15 years ago and have been hooked ever since. My ceramic designs are influenced by my prior interest in fiber and textile arts. Like fabric, I can print on clay and embellish it in multiple ways. High fire porcelain is my clay of choice because it can be translucent and delicate yet at the same time very strong. I love to stitch clay pieces together to emphasize an object’s structure and give it a one of a kind look. I like to think that my ceramic work reflects my interest in the simplicity and refinement of Japanese design while incorporating an earthy, hand-built appeal.
Geraldine GaNun-Owens
Geraldine’s ceramic art is influenced by her innate love of all flora and fauna. A native of New York City, the close proximity to many wonderful museums and parks nourished her love of art at an early age. Birdwatching, a favorite past time, is reflected in many of her ceramic pieces. Imagery on clay has been an exciting addition to her current work which combines many techniques including screen printing, hand painted underglaze images and china paint decals.
Artist website |
Mary Hammond
I fell in love with clay 50 years ago. After decades of centering perfectly round functional pots I am now enjoying more sculptural forms and firing raku or pit methods. Sometimes they don't hold water but the fumed surprises are reward enough. I hope you will enjoy.
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Glenda Jordan
Landscapes and nature have always been a powerful presence in my life. My garden planters, birdbaths, and shrines combine a love of this region and an interest in some of its earlier history. My glaze colors inspired by the nature of the Bay Area, are reminiscent of the Arts and Crafts movement of the early 20th century. The Victorian embellishments gleaned from antique stores and junk yards also evoke an earlier era of California culture.
Dania Lukey
Dania Lukey is a full time studio potter in the Sacramento area. After receiving her architecture degree from Cal Poly at San Luis Obispo and studying in Italy, Dania discovered her love for clay while pursuing her Masters in Education at Sacramento State University. There her interests in architecture, Japanese poetry, contemporary art, and ancient textiles found a natural expression in form and function. She currently works from her home studio in Carmichael where she lives with her husband, dog Lucy, and their three chickens.
Artist website |
Kimi Masui
The solitary process of working with clay has rewarded me with an experience of peace and centering. Dealing with the unpredictability of clay and fire has developed a patience and quiet strength that is evident in my compelling colors and elegant forms. I strive to impart these qualities and the joy of using a piece of art into the lives of those who use my vessels everyday. My hope is that the final piece stands as an exquisite witness to a moment when clay, glaze fire and potter were one.
Artist website |
Daniel Oliver
There is something mystical about a box. It is a special place where you can escape, your own small little world. It is where your treasures, your secrets are put on hold until the next visit. It is your private place, for you to share, if you wish. A box arouses your curiosity. The Mystery is unveiled when you lift the lid, the story is told. I like to make my boxes interesting with different textures, handles and glaze designs; I use the "Raku" firing technique, which gives my pieces an earthy and rustic look. They are each one of a kind.
Artist website |
Jon Oakes
I was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota and raised in North Dakota. As a boy in the mid-west during the 1970’s, I had limited exposure to the arts. Sitting down at the potter’s wheel for the first time in a high school ceramics class, I immediately felt comfortable and know I was meant to throw clay. I’ve been doing just that since moving to California about thirty years ago.
Artist website Bob Pool
I was merrily pursuing a career in research when I took a casual course in pottery (1979). I immediately fell in love with clay and the transformation of amorphous blobs of mud into beautiful forms. I felt as though a hidden part of me had been revealed and it demanded expression. Soon I found that I wanted to devote all of my energy to making pots. I gave up my life in science for that of a studio potter (1982). I am basically self-taught in the craft.
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Susan Press |
My years of art study were done at the San Francisco Art Institute, focusing on printmaking and ceramics. When creating my sculptural pieces, i have chosen imaginative characters with which to show the lighter side of life. Working with clay allows my to squeeze and twist the pieces just so; to capture feelings and expressions that I hope will bring a bit of tickled enjoyment to those viewing my work. Recently, I have become intrigued with integrating mixed media into my work. Slices of old black and white photos, wire and beads adorn the figures and vessels I make.
Paula Ross
One day there was a bag of red clay in the hallway near my studio. The sign said, "free." So I took it and started to experiment with this low-fire clay. Until now I only used high fire clay. The red earthenware gave me a freedom I hadn't known before. Slips, glaze crayons, and colors were now exciting. My pots became more playful and spontaneous. I fire everything in an electric kiln to cone 04.
Artist website |
Ross Spangler
Elegant form and brilliant glazes are the hallmarks of Ross Spangler's work. Reminiscent of the refined styles of ancient Chinese and Japanese pottery, Ross' pieces reflect a timeless balance of graceful form, delicate glaze techniques and meticulous craftsmanship of porcelain. All pieces are completely lead free.
Artist website |
Gail Splaver
I like my work to tell you that it was made by hand - the shaping, texturing, and glazing - and as you can see, not even two parts to a pair are exactly alike. The basic material is clay plus ideas suggested by nature.
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Anne Stewart
After a formal education in fine art and sculpture, I turned to clay. I'm now constantly challenged to make a functional piece that brings beauty and aesthetic into people's daily lives. I'm attracted to the strong clean white quality of porcelain, but also to the wonderful raw, warm earthiness of sculpture clay. I guess working in both media somehow keeps me balanced.
Artist website Katie Swan
Katie Swan is from Southern California and a UCLA graduate. She moved up to the bay area to pursue her art where she now teaches Yoga and Art during the day and sculpts by night. Katie finds joy and inspiration in her teaching and the healing arts.
All of Katie Swan’s work is handmade without the use of any sculpting tools. She forms the texture as she individually builds up each piece. The amount of clay that she starts with is the same as she finishes. The work of Katie Swan shows the dance between handmade and fully natural. Artist website |
Jacqueline Thompson
I consider myself a painter/potter because I choose to paint images on clay rather than canvas. I enjoy the decorative process of combining form, function and decoration. Whether its a complicated repeat pattern or an abstract overall design, form and usability are very important and an integral part of the finished piece.
Artist website |
Ray West
I make one-of-a-kind thrown porcelain pieces using crystalline glazes and other similar high-fire fluid glazes, some matt and some high gloss. These kinds of glazes require an exacting application of glaze and firing schedule to be successful. I experiment with new glazes and applications in every work cycle, which are fired in a large commercially manufactured electric kiln with a modern electronic controller which I rebuilt to fire these kinds of glazes. I gravitate to and select glazes that reflect to me some property of nature, whether the cosmos or lichens growing on a rock. My studio is in the Southern Sierra on a tract of private land in what is now Sequoia National Monument.
Artist website |
Susan Wolf
My inspirations come from nature, someone else’s work, a daydream…
The ‘style’ of my work is directed by the clay. When I use a fine white porcelain my work becomes very painterly, but porcelain is extremely temperamental: sticky, prone to cracking, slumping when thin; though the thinness and translucence keep me coming back. Coarse sculpture clays lead me in a more gestural, visceral direction: they are very plastic, forgiving, and the work holds together like iron, but the surface itself is often unbeautiful. A white stoneware is in between, without the best features or pitfalls of either. Looking for grace and humor, I use them all! Melissa Woodburn
I am inspired by using a variety of media to express statements about the rhythms and cycles of living. The creative nature of the universe excites me and I filter this through my lens of female experience.
I started making pine needle baskets in 1996, a direct result of living under some messy long needled pine trees. I enjoy the meditative aspect of making a coiled vessel, connecting to the greater rhythms, cycles and circles of life. In 2011, I added ceramic to my mix of media, exploring sculptural forms, mosaic, and primitive pit fired clay. Artist website |
Jane Woodside
Jane Woodside is an independent ceramic artist working in Fairfax, California. She works primarily in red and black stoneware clays because she loves the unusual effects they have on glazes. She decorates each piece with wax resist and several layers of glaze to achieve a unique textural surface. Her work is inspired by the Arts and Crafts movement, the ceramic arts of Morocco, various textile arts and the geometry of the natural world.
Artist website |
Itsuko Zenitani
Itsuko Zenitani, from Kyoto, Japan relocated to the US in 1980 and began her work at the Potters' Studio in Berkeley, CA. Itsuko's current emphasis is on creating pieces that, while perfectly functional are still pleasing to the eye. Her delicately thrown porcelain forms are quite thin but very strong and feel right in the hand. Further depth is added through subtle patterns of a traditional Celadon or Tenmoku glaze.
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