John Riley
I am a potter living and working in District of Columbia where I have resided for over 20 years. I began my creative practice as a painter and started taking pottery classes in 2008. From May to November 2011, I served as an Artist-in-Residence at Omaha Clayworks in Omaha, Nebraska. I apprenticed with Jill Hinckley at Hinckley Pottery in DC from January 2014 to March 2015, and subsequently taught classes and assisted in firing the studio's kiln each week. I currently work out of my home studio--located east of the Anacostia River in the Penn Branch neighborhood of the District of Columbia--as well as at District Clay Center in NE DC, where I have been a Community Artist since January 2017. I have participated in specialized ceramics workshops with potters across the U.S., including Akira Satake, Linda Christianson, Simon Levin, and Kevin Crowe.
ExperienceResidencies: Resident Artist, Omaha Clayworks, Omaha, NE
Workshops: Kevin Crowe, and Akira Satake, Linda Christianson, Simon Levin. Shows: Shino Splendor (Juried), District Clay Center; Tabletop (Juried), The Art League; Daily Companions (Juried), Baltimore Clayworks Other studios: Hinckley Pottery, Washington, DC; The Art League of Alexandria, Alexandria, VA Teaching: Hinckley Pottery, Washington, DC Contact Information: www.johnrileypottery.com
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OfferingsKey forms: Bread bakers, tea pots, butter keepers, teabowls, whiskey cups, canisters, berry bowls, altered vases, decorative wall plates, and large bowls.
Work available to purchase: yes Accept commissions: no Ceramic repair: no Available to teach: no |
Jill Ross Meltzer
My primary interest in ceramics has always been functional ware with a decided bent towards the decorative. With function as its primary touchstone, my work is made to be handled and regarded. I like this sort of connection between art and utility. I don’t consider the parameters of functionality to be limiting; nor do I believe that being suited for a purpose requires my work to be overly predictable or ordinary. Rather, harmonizing the demands of utility with those of imparting some measure of magic to everyday things is a challenge I find inspiring. As I work on a piece, then, I aim to infuse an extra dimension that delights the user’s senses and illuminates what otherwise might have been a mundane moment.
My primary source of inspiration is the decorative arts where enchanting the eye with extravagance and excess is paramount and the principle of “less is more” is delightfully ignored.
My primary source of inspiration is the decorative arts where enchanting the eye with extravagance and excess is paramount and the principle of “less is more” is delightfully ignored.
ExperienceAcademic training: BA, Ceramics, George Washington Univ/Corcoran School of Art
Shows: The Clay Studio, and the Cosmopolitan Club, Philadelphia; The Potters Guild and the Community Art Center, Wallingford PA; Art Centers in Wayne and Haverford, PA; Florida Craftsman Gallery and St. Petersburg Art Center, FL. Workshops: Penland, Arrowmont, Odyssey, Anderson Ranch, Peter’s Valley, Greenwich Pottery, Morean Center, The Clay Studio Teaching: Taught Beginning through Advanced Wheel-Throwing classes at three Art Centers around Philadelphia; Currently teaching Intermediate Wheel Throwing at the District Clay Center Contact Information: jrossmeltzer@gmail.com
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OfferingsKey forms: Thrown and handbuilt serving pieces
Work available to purchase: yes Accept commissions: yes Available to teach: yes 
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John Snyder
I've been throwing pots for two decades, working in several studios in the DMV -- Art League School, Guy Mason and Glen Echo -- and two in Florida: St Petersburg Clay and Art Alley (Gainesville). I currently have a studio in my Silver Spring home and glaze fire my work in DCC's Bailey gas kiln.
I largely produce functional pots -- particularly mugs, bowls and dinnerware -- and neo-functional pieces like covered jars and platters, which can be on the large side.
I produce only cone 10 stoneware. For most of the 2000s, I fired my pots in wood, soda and salt kilns. In recent years, I've exclusively fired gas kilns.
I hope you like my pots. If you have any questions or comments about them, would like to inquire about purchasing one, or would like to visit my Silver Spring studio, please get in touch.
I largely produce functional pots -- particularly mugs, bowls and dinnerware -- and neo-functional pieces like covered jars and platters, which can be on the large side.
I produce only cone 10 stoneware. For most of the 2000s, I fired my pots in wood, soda and salt kilns. In recent years, I've exclusively fired gas kilns.
I hope you like my pots. If you have any questions or comments about them, would like to inquire about purchasing one, or would like to visit my Silver Spring studio, please get in touch.
ExperienceShows: numerous local, regional and national. See Website.
Other studios: Glen Echo Pottery; Art League School: Morean Center for Clay; Art Alley Studio (Gainesville, FL) Teaching: Art League School; Art Alley Studio Contact Information: www.johnsnyderpottery.com
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OfferingsKey forms: large covered jars, mugs, dinnerware, etc
Work available to purchase: yes Accept commissions: yes Available to teach: yes |
Lisa Swanson
I have been a Washington potter since the mid-80s, when I first touched a ball of clay at Eastern Market Pottery; it was love at first spin. I liked then and now the power of the wheel and the usefulness of functional pieces. I find joy in making things – edible, useful, touchable, or merely beautiful. Or funny.
Besides the functional bowls, mugs and plates, holding soup or a sandwich about to be eaten, I have also explored ceramic forms that have a less clear usefulness – giving hands and running feet; vessels that are canvases for words or poetry.
I have coordinated home gallery shows and collaborated over the years with potters from Eastern Market Pottery, District Clay Center, and most recently Green Line potters Carol Herwig and Samantha Gordon. I have pots on display for sale at the Ice House Gallery in the arts town of Berkeley Springs, West Virginia.
Why “Watershed” Clayworks? Find yourself on a map that ignores political boundaries and streets and roads, but shows natural landforms. The path of the water that runs downhill to you, then runs downhill away, is where you really live. In all things, respect the earth.
Besides the functional bowls, mugs and plates, holding soup or a sandwich about to be eaten, I have also explored ceramic forms that have a less clear usefulness – giving hands and running feet; vessels that are canvases for words or poetry.
I have coordinated home gallery shows and collaborated over the years with potters from Eastern Market Pottery, District Clay Center, and most recently Green Line potters Carol Herwig and Samantha Gordon. I have pots on display for sale at the Ice House Gallery in the arts town of Berkeley Springs, West Virginia.
Why “Watershed” Clayworks? Find yourself on a map that ignores political boundaries and streets and roads, but shows natural landforms. The path of the water that runs downhill to you, then runs downhill away, is where you really live. In all things, respect the earth.
ExperienceOther studios: Eastern Market; Jill Hinckley; The Clay Queen, Alexandria, Va.
Workshops: Bill Van Gilder, "big pots" with Kevin Crowe. Shows you've participated it: "East of the River" at Honfleur Gallery in Old Anacostia, DC, 2018 Workshops: Bill Van Gilder; "big pots" with Kevin Crowe. Contact Information: www.watershedclayworks.com
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OfferingsKey forms: Functional stoneware
Work available to purchase: yes Galleries that sell your work: Ice House Co-op in Berkeley Springs, W. Va, 2018 |
Ann Tihansky
I am an artist and geologist who has always played in clay, whether I mined it from a creek bed or beach exposure when I was very young or later in college as one of my art major focus areas. I am interested in the relationship between clay, the planet earth and humans, recognizing that we have always used clay to enhance our quality of life but also to express ourselves. Clay is basic to our existence. As a geologist, I am fascinated with the physical properties and chemistry of clay and other earth materials as I continue to learn new ways to harness them to create meaningful art pieces. I hope to convey both tradition and whimsy in my work. Art is serious business, but importantly, it is fun. I am also very interested in collaborative work and am eagerly exploring new techniques and workshops to broaden my awareness and abilities.
Experience
Academic training : Studio Fine Art Major, Ceramics and Photography focus, 1983, Dickinson College
Contact Information: ann.tihansky@gmail.com
