Our Featured Artists
Slip N’ Clay Pottery
Candace Bell
Email | (540) 524-8693 | Website
I work out of a home studio in Roanoke, VA, making mostly functional pottery with a whimsical flair: mugs, vases, jars, tumblers, plates, platters, pitchers, and teapots. The pandemic was a very productive time for me, as it created space without the pressure to produce work, to just play and finally find my voice in the clay. I like to create texture and interest using slip, carving, and by altering forms. Most of my current work uses Laguna B-mix fired to Cone 5 or 6 in an electric kiln using a combination of commercial and custom glazes. However, I like the effects of high fire with atmosphere, since it accentuates form and texture the best. I prefer a wood kiln, but have had some good results with a salt gas kiln too. Each year I make a load of pots specifically for high fire using stoneware that flashes in rich brown tones.
Two Dogs Clay
Cynthia Deutsch
Email | Website | Instagram
I like to create work that is colorful, playful, and full of pattern. The intent is to bring happiness through use of daily objects, whether it is on the cup that we use to sip our drinks or the vase that we use to decorate our living and working spaces. Each piece is designed with the intent to bring joy and celebration into our lives.
Each pot is a blank canvas for me to play on. I coat the surfaces of my work, made with stoneware or porcelain, in brightly colored underglazes. Once dried to leather hard, I hand carve my design, patterns, and illustrations, adding additional colors to highlight the designs. The final surface of each piece bursts with shapes contrasted by dancing lines that are meant to complement the form of the pot, bringing a sense of movement and life to an otherwise still object.
There is an intimacy in both the making and in the use of the created piece. As a maker, I am immersed in the experience of creating a piece; feeling and understanding the movement of the clay as I work towards the final form. When a piece is complete, the sensory process continues with touch from our hands and sometimes our lips, our eyes engaged in observing the shape and the beauty of a piece in our surroundings. As the maker of functional ware, I think about this every time my hands touch the clay, focusing on the intention of the piece and imagining how it will be used. From the way the piece hits the eye, to the touch sensation and how it feels as we use it, every part of my pottery is created with daily use in mind.
Cole Frantz Pottery
Cole Frantz
In her home workshop, Cole makes pottery that is mostly functional, round and striped. Look for her pieces for sale at the BRPG annual show and sale.
Nell J. Fredericksen, Sugar Grove Studio, LLC
Nell Fredericksen
Email | (540) 365-7400 | Website | Facebook | Instagram
The natural world, the beauty that I see in everything around me flows both consciously and subconsciously through all my designs. I love taking the raw materials and making them “move” with my hands into the shapes and textures that I picture in my mind. That, plus the play of colors on those shapes from different glazes in tans, blues, and greens, produces pottery that is both decorative and functional.
Nell has been a professional goldsmith/jeweler and potter for more than 30 years. She is an ACV Juried Master Artisan and Juried Round the Mountain Artisan. She is currently the ceramics instructor at Ferrum College in Ferrum, VA. She also teaches a broad slate of Metalsmithing courses for the Floyd Center for the Arts in Floyd, VA
Nell’s pottery can be found at New Leaf Gallery in Floyd, VA and at the Southwest Virginia Cultural Arts Center in Abingdon, VA.
Chialing Hsieh Ceramics
Chialing is a ceramic artist whose work is inspired by her life experiences and the beauty of nature. She views ceramics as a blend of craftsmanship and emotion, constantly exploring and innovating to give each piece unique vitality and warmth. Ceramic creation requires intense focus, patience, and attention to detail, yet Chialing remains passionate about the craft. She sees ceramics as a medium to express her inner world and connect with her audience. In her work, she continually refines her skills, allowing each piece to reflect her ongoing exploration of life and art.
Cyndy Littleton
As a ceramic artist I draw my inspiration from the infinite possibilities of clay and from the natural world around me. As a functional potter I want my pottery to be utilized and enjoyed by others. So this journey of clay and nature and the desired for others to enjoy my ware has led me down many different pathways. In 2012, I began working with clay at a nonprofit art school. While working with my hands, I learned how each body of clay, porcelain, stoneware, and native clays has a unique quality. The challenge of making glazes and using a variety of firing schedules in the electric kiln only enhances the journey as a potter. This love of working with clay is currently shared with my students today at the same nonprofit art school, Clifton Forge School of the Arts. Recognizing the strong pull that nature has for me and for many artists like me, I began to explore native clays and wood fire kilns in 2016. In 2017, I constructed a cross draft wood fire kiln from repurposed bricks. The impact that a wood fire has on clay, slips, and glazes reminds me of ancient and pioneering practices. I have found this method of work brings a breath of irregularity and imperfection which remind me that nature is not perfect and that in itself is beautiful.
Scott Maynard
I often tell people that when I sit down at the potter’s wheel I lose all sense of time. The enjoyment of taking such a common, simple material and then molding it with my hands into a functional object never gets old for me. My main focus over the years has been on sturdy, utilitarian hand-made pottery that makes people feel good about eating, drinking, and looking. My inspiration and aesthetic has been inspired by my time growing up around the Great Lakes of Michigan, ground breaking work of Bernard Leach, and the Appalachian aesthetic. I don’t try to copy any of these, I just know they show up in my work. Ultimately, I love to make pots that people will use and enjoy for a long, long time.
L N POTTERY
Lee Niebuhr
Email | (540) 420-7420 | Facebook
Hello ceramic fans and collectors! So glad you found the Blue Ridge Potters Guild website to view a sampling of just some of our amazing artists. I happened upon the world of pottery after my retirement, looking for a hobby to keep me busy. I feel so lucky to have discovered this craft, and haven’t looked back. I’m continually developing my creative side with clay through structured classes and knowledge sharing within the clay community. I’m a work in progress, and have found my passion!
Sinking Creek Pottery
Zenah Orndorff
Email | (540) 365-7400 | Website | Facebook | Instagram
I work with a variety of clays, glazes, and decorative techniques, to create stoneware pots that are both functional and artistic. I make all kinds of pieces – dinnerware, vases, tiles, and various accessories – ranging from simple to elaborate in styles and designs. The majority of my work is wheel-thrown, and often embellished with freehand carvings, sgraffito, wax-resist designs, and/or surface textures, which adds a little extra flair to pots intended for enjoyment in everyday life. My favorite pieces to make are one-of-a-kind mugs, and I look forward to adding more hand-built elements to my practice. In addition to making pots, I enjoy studying glaze chemistry and development.
Suzanne Poirier
The sights, smells, and sounds of nature have a significant influence on me and most of my ideas come to me while I am out walking in the woods, at the ocean, or driving down a country road. I like to incorporate natural "objects" such as plants and animals into my work as either subjects or materials. I find the contours of the plants and their leaves or pods add interesting textures only nature can provide. In other examples of my work a whimsical side can come out, creating colorful characters and scenarios out of what is considered by most to be ordinary and unnoticeable. These two sides often intermingle with each other, resulting in works that tell a story of the relationship I experience.
Susanne Sellars
After teaching art for 30 years, I’m focusing on pottery. Although I do some wheel throwing, I really enjoy hand-building. I also enjoy painting images on my work, sometimes realistic, sometimes abstract, and sometimes stylized. I take advantage of Blue Ridge Pottery Guild’s workshops and community, always excited to learn a new technique.
Susan Sherwin
Website | Email | (703) 399-9466
After 16 years teaching Costume Design at the university level, and 10 years as a professional portrait painter, I found clay. I throw and hand build but I love creating sculpture. I am drawn to animals. I started with toads because they aren’t cute. Foxes are such an interesting cross between a cat and a dog, with such beautiful forms. A sweet tiny fawn poses such interesting challenges. The ultimate freedom for me is to sculpt gargoyles or grotesques. There is no right way to form a gargoyle. The more outlandish the proportions the better. I use 6 different clay bodies. Most are fired in my electric kiln, but my favorite firing is in a salt kiln. The irregularities caused by the atmosphere are so appealing for a fur coat.
Barbara Wise
Barbara began working with clay in 2003. Her work is both functional and decorative. Lamps are now Barbara’s main focus. Some of her lamps look like stacked rocks but are made of clay. She also enjoys making small bowls and pieces with impressions. Her pieces are either electric or raku fired. Pottery has enriched her life in many ways and has become her hobby and passion.