Joel Sampson

Decorative

Primarily self-taught, trial and error have been my most influential teachers. I began my journey with clay as a freshman in high school. After graduation, I attended workshops with Dennis Parks in Tuscarora, NV and with Squidge Davis in Brook, ME years later. I took the leap to pottery full-time in 1989 by apprenticing for three years of experience I would need to be a self-employed potter. Upon returning to the Midwest in 1992, Copper Crane Pottery was firmly established in the Root River Valley of Southeastern Minnesota.

www.coppercranepottery.com

Nate & Hallie Evans

Functional

We produce simple, functional pots for everyday use. Each pot is hand-thrown of durable stones ware and porcelain clays. Glazes and slips are applied at the leather-hard state, and patterns are created by wiping through the wet surface to reveal the clay underneath. Additional decoration may be added before glazing by stamping, carving and incising the surface. We use as many indigenous clay and glaze materials as possible. These non-commercial materials have a wider variety of particle sizes and impurities that give the pots more character and a sense of place. They also react with the atmosphere in the kiln to give a wider palette of color change and surface quality.

www.allamakeewoodfiredpottery.com/

Doug Cole

Decorative

The experience of working with clay, its tactile qualities and physical challenges, is always rewarding for me.  Using iron oxide stain, embellishments of carved wood, various natural slip decorations and embedded marine fossils makes my pottery one of a kind. Combinations of various glazing techniques also makes my pottery easily recognizable.

Dean Schwarz

Decorative

An innovative ceramic artist since the 1960s, I have work represented in numerous private collections and well as museums and universities throughout the world. In recent years, following a back injury, I have restricted work to the creation of wheel-thrown pottery. The large pots created now are a collaborative effort with my son Gunnar Schwarz. Gunnar throws the pots, while I design and apply the glazes. In 2007 the Gallery of Art at the University of Northern Iowa featured the Schwarz pottery with a retrospective exhibition.