© Samuel Hitchman
Handmade, primarily wheel thrown & altered, utilitarian & decorative ceramics.Numerous, made in house, glazes and slips are dipped and sprayed to enhance the sculptural-traditional forms. All work is gas fired to either cone 10 reduction, or cone 12 oxidation depending on the finish. Prices range from $6 to over $850
© Jeff Shawhan
Out of fire pottery
Racine, WI
2019 Booth #122
Raku fired ceramics
Natasha Poppe Ceramic Works
© Natasha Poppe
Saint Paul MN
2019 Booth #
Hand built ceramics, functional and decorative, exploring gestural forms and surfaces.
primarily porcelain and raku.
© Christiane Porter
I have been creating art as long as I can remember. Beginning with my mother buying me all of the colored pencils and markers a little girl can imagine to my grandmother giving me projects to do while visiting her in Germany. I would spend hours sewing, drawing, coloring, creating and just plain old crafting projects with her. That love of creating grew as I did, and, I really liked like to get my hands dirty and playing with fire…
I graduated from the University of Wisconsin- STOUT. I earned my BS in Art Education as well as a BFA in Studio Art with a concentration in Ceramics and Jewelry. This is where my love of clay and the Raku process began. I have been hooked ever since!
I have been a High school teacher for the last 24 years. As my students’ curiosities have grown for different art methods, so have mine. Learning new art techniques to teach has led to the metal and beadwork that you see on my pottery. I have incorporated my own lamp-work beads, peyote stitched beads and hand-cut copper flowers as adornment to my work. My teaching has allowed me to stay connected to various new and traditional art processes, as well as continuing my journey through Raku.
It is the heat of the fire, creating beautiful things by using fire, that keep me connected to what I do…
A “BIT” about Raku
“Raku” means pleasure or contentment. Raku was created in Japan during the 16th century for the tea ceremony, an essential ritual in the practice of Zen Buddhism.
The Raku clay body is specially formulated with large amounts of “grog” (fine sand-like ground up pottery) which helps make the clay porous. This enables the clay pot to withstand the intense heat and instant temperature changes it must endure during the firing process.
The glazed pots are placed into my small outdoor gas fired kiln, with the firing temperature reaching between 1800-2000 degrees F. When the glaze has melted smooth, I remove the pot from the kiln. The red-hot pot is immediately placed into a bed of sawdust and wood shavings, which ignite. There is a chemical reaction that happens between the flames “licking” around the clay pieces and the copper oxide that is used in the glazes.
The clay pieces are then covered to create an enclosed atmosphere for oxygen reduction. The reduction process brings out the chemical reaction between the lack of air inside the chamber and the glaze … this reaction brings out the brilliant colors and patterns for which Raku is known.
Once the oxygen reduction is complete, I take them out of their “nest” and let them cool completely before handling.
Due to both the porous nature of the clay and the firing process, Raku has a tendency to “craze” (crackle), thus adding to the beauty of the piece, but taking away from the function. Raku pots are primarily non-functional. Foods and liquids may be used, but not stored in this pottery unless a liner is used. The pots will “sweat” out moisture.
The Raku process maintains a close and intimate relationship between the pot and its maker through all stages of the production, particularly during the firing process. Over the years, this intimacy is what has wooed me to love creating with clay, as well as being devoted to the Raku process itself!
Harris, MN
© Matthew Krousey
2023 Booth #13
Thrown and altered stoneware pottery decorated with abstract imagery of animals and landscapes. Decorative techniques and inspiration come from historic folk pottery and early 20th century Regionalism. I seek to bring attention to vanishing flora and fauna from around the midwest. The work is fired in a traditional german style salt kiln.
Pine Island, MN
Wolf Tracks Clay
2023 Booth #75
©Janine Schwendinger
I’m Janine Schwendinger. I took 1 ceramics class in high school, and have loved this medium ever since, being inspired by it’s functional beauty. I earned a degree in molecular biology, and have a nursing degree. In 2012 I could no longer resist my true passion, pottery, and I began the process of teaching myself the art of pottery. I now live near Rochester, Minnesota in the middle of the woods surrounded by my first love, nature, and all it’s glorious inspiration.
My pieces are made with a stoneware clay body and are wheel thrown, hand built or a combination of both techniques. I do freehanded slip trailing, carving and sgraffito to decorate much of my work. Hand pulled handles and hand built appliqué are also used on many of my pieces.
I am inspired by nature, and it’s perpetual movement through time and space. Sgraffito is my way of showing this movement. As I scratch through the clay each stroke leaves a story, a history of motion and energy, a way to immortalize a moment in time. Each piece is it’s own story.
Sioux Falls, SD
2023 Booth #56
I received my first pottery lesson in 1992. It consisted of approximately 5 minutes of instruction and demonstration, after that I have spent the time since then developing my form and finding a voice for our my work.
Together with my wife, we have spent several years researching primitive firing techniques and other potters’ modern-day interpretations. I was fascinated by the colors and designs achieved without glazes and began to experiment. We embraced the unpredictability and variations from piece to piece. Every firing is different, the method may be the same, but results do vary.
The time spent working without glazes has given myself and my wife the opportunity to explore and develop functional ware that still expresses variation and unpredictability in each piece by allowing the exterior to crack and highlight those cracks in the final product. Our pieces are commonly described as "Statement" piece in a collection.
©Chad Dykstra
Eau Claire, WI
2018 booth #120B
At heart I am a functional potter. I throw all of my work on the wheel from stoneware clay. After the pot is thrown I frequently add slip texture to create a sense of movement and channels for my glazes to run and flow. Each piece is carefully trimmed to a finished form which is as elegant as it is functional. My glazes are hand brushed and layered to ensure beautiful outcomes which are as pleasing to the eye as they are to the touch. I fire all of my work in an oxidation environment which allows me great control of the temperatures necessary to achieve the work I envision.
©Eric Holey
Prior Lake, MN
2022 Booth #99B
White stoneware / thrown and altered / interior colored with slip and mason stain / cut, carved, and sanded
© Yvonne Asp-Grahn
Minneapolis, MN
2018 booth #67A
I make wheel thrown functional ceramics. I use a white stoneware clay body and fire mid-range temperature glazes. The wares I create are influenced by Japanese Zen traditions that focus on mindful eating.
© Elaine Palmer
Kimball, SD
2018 booth #46A/B
www.Turningleafpottery.com
I make pieces of pottery from earthenware clay and then fire the pieces to temperature. During the second firing, I take the pieces out of the kiln with long tongs and quickly lay strands of horse hair or feathers on the piece so the heat from the pottery burns the carbon into the clay body. I use several different techniques in layers to color the piece and give it texture.
© Deb Burckhard
Fresh Mud Pottery
Minneapolis, MN
2018 booth #117
Being a full-time studio potter is my second career. After raising four sons I took my first clay class and at age 50. I quickly determined that I wanted to work with clay for the rest of my life. I love making beautiful and functional pieces for peoples’ homes.
I paint slabs of clay with colorful under-glazes. Over the slab I attach a thin, stencil cut sheet of clay. I draw and texture on these slabs. The form is then built. After bisque firing I apply black stain and wipe it off leaving the incised lines and texture black. A clear glaze finishes the piece.
I use various slab building techniques to construct my pieces. Over colorful slabs I applique a pierced layer of semi-porcelain clay. I do line work and incising and then bisque fire. After the bisque I cover the piece with black stain and wipe it off. A food safe clear glaze goes on and I fire the work to cone 6 in oxidation.
© Julia Timm
© Peter Heglund
© Caitlin Dowling
I work predominantly in stoneware, both white- and red-bodied clay, and fire in a mid-range (cone 5-6) oxidation atmosphere. I often alter the shape, surface and feel of a piece after throwing it on the wheel and use a variety of things to achieve color in my work: underglazes, colored slips, mason stains, and glazes. I also specialize in alternative firing techniques, particularly horse hair raku. First used by the Navajo Native Americans, this technique epitomizes to me the coalescing of function and artistic value while creating something lasting and cherishable. Due to the many uncontrollable variables inherent in the horsehair technique, exact replication is impossible. Thus, each piece is truly unique.
Eagan, MN
2023 Booth #70
Wheel thrown stoneware, ribbed slip design, multiple sprayed overlapping glazes
© Steven Showalter
Chicago, IL
2022 Booth #15
Handbuilt, carved, and painstakingly glazed ceramic sculpture and wall sculpture. Drawing on architectural influences, fabric design & modern ceramics, these elements mix to create Modern Artifacts.
© Gregory Story
Minneapolis, MN
2018 booth #109
My Pots are wheel/thrown,altered stoneware. Surfaces are layered crackle slips over wood/ash glazes.
©Robert Briscoe
Fired Up Studios
Shakopee, MN
http://carterraycripeart.weebly.com/
2017 booth # 13
My pottery is wheel thrown with techniques I've learned through my profession of production pottery.
My work consists of a White Clay Body called "B-Clay" along with multiple glazes, slips and stains to create multiple surface textures and visual aesthetics that create beautiful compositions in my functional pottery.
One of these is my use of Red Iron Stain on my pots. Applying this along side with the glazes creates great visual contrast and multiple textures. Not only does it look different, but it FEELS different too.
©Carter Cripe
Another example is my use of Black Slip that I use over my White Clay Body. I apply thick amounts of the Black Slip and wipe away with a sponge to create beautiful portraits of crows. Another technique I use for my pots is applying the Slip while the pot is still on the Wheel, which helps me create clean uniform patterns.
All of my work is Electric fired to either Cone 6 or Cone 10 Oxidation.
Boonesmill, VA
2017 booth # 137
Nonfunctional Raku pottery,hand thrown and sculptured raku
© Tanya Leslie
© Haley Larson
Andover, MN
2017 booth # 74B
I use a variety of techniques with clay; wheel thrown, altered and hand-built. Most of my shaping is done after the work is thrown. The clay body I use is Bclay. Each work is glazed by layering over 5 different glazes. I brush each layer on; along with the use of everyday objects to help create the sense of texture on the finished piece.