![]() |
||||||||||
| |
|
|
|
|
||||||
|
|
| Deb Martin - Whatcom Falls Pottery Deb was introduced to pottery by taking lessons in the old studio at Good Earth Pottery. Initially Deb worked part time as a potter while maintaining her career as a local instructor and guide for mountain climbing, skiing, and kayaking. After selling for several years at local arts and crafts shows she brought her work back to Good Earth where she now sells exclusively as one of the owners. Her brilliant high-fired stoneware glazes reflect her love of nature’s intense color and design. Deb continuously strives to develop glazes and shapes to produce functional yet beautifully crafted pottery. |
|
| Linda Stone - Silver Beach Pottery Linda studied art throughout high school and college while growing up in the Midwest but always felt like an “artist without a medium” until she moved to Bellingham, Washington where she discovered pottery. After many years of raising and supporting her family she began to sell her pottery at local art and craft shows and now sells exclusively at Good Earth as one of the owners. Linda enjoys working in stoneware because of its functionality and texture. “My hope is that those who use my pottery can experience a little of the joy I feel about my life in the Pacific Northwest.” |
|
| Margaret Babcock Margaret is a functional stoneware potter creating organic images in beautiful blue-green matte glazes. She grew up outside Washington, D.C. where she spent her free time skipping school at the Smithsonian and the National Gallery of Art. In college art class she discovered that she was more drawn to sculpture and 3-dimensional art than to drawing and painting. Then many years later she discovered working in clay and ceramics, which she states became the “addiction of her life”. |
|
| Clarissa Callessen “Ancient symbols, rich colors, intricate patterns, and a touch of whimsy are the items I use to create my pottery.” I tend to approach clay as a canvas for my designs. I am inspired by folk art, mandalas, Mexican art, ancient symbols, tattoo imagery, and the feminine form. I create several lines of functional and decorative pottery all richly embellished with swirling glazes, symbols, and patterns. The pottery is all hand thrown on an electric potter’s wheel or hand built using slabs and extrusions. Stamping, slip trailing, carving, and sprigging are just some of the ways I decorate the basic forms. If I had to choose a favorite part of the pottery process, it would be glazing. All of my pottery is microwave safe, dishwasher safe, and lead free. I create all of my pottery with a love of the medium and attention to the details. My pieces are meant to bring joy and fun to your everyday life. |
|
| Tom and Anne Constans Tom and Anne have been "playing in the mud" for nearly 15 years - shortly before their retirement. Their work is markedly different - Anne sculpts and Tom mostly throws pots on the wheel, but the joint interest has allowed them to pursue that interest in ceramics throughout the northern hemisphere. They have trained in workshops in Mexico, Canada and the US. They split their time between the Tucson in winter and as studio potters at Whatcom County in summer. Clay, travel and many potter friends makes for an active creative retirement. |
|
![]() |
Joseph Illg Crabcat As a zoologist and artist, Joseph Illg Crabcat has studied Northwest Coastal Art for the past 25 years contributing to an evolving understanding of the aesthetic roots of Northwest Tribal Art. Conceptually, the artist's works contemplate the heart of traditional Northwest Coastal cultures. They are monuments in miniature infused with legendary beings dancing metamorphosing with layers of anatomical and mythological abstraction. Illg Crabcat's works are personal statements, personal creations presenting a wonderful fusion of innovation with traditional design principles. It is based upon years of contemplation and enjoyment of our Northwest predecessors' art, language and cultures. Joseph is extremely pleased that his life's work and livelihood are seen as that of a culture bearer and steward. |
Jayme Curley |
|
| Ann Marie DeCollibus We know Ann Marie as the great ceramics teacher at Ferndale High School, but she was actually raised “severely Italian” from the Eastern United States. The colors and patterns of her majolica ware reflect her roots as well as her love of cooking handmade food. “My pots are designed to serve food and feed the soul.” Her greatest joy is seeing one of her pots in someone else’s arms, filled with gorgeous food! |
|
| Lynn Dee Lynn studied and created pottery as well as fiber art for many years and after moving to the Pacific Northwest, she initially established herself as a potter and as a fiber artist. These past few years though, creating Raku pottery has become Lynn’s fulltime endeavor in her studio on Lummi Island. Raku pottery glazes continue to challenge and intrigue Lynn. “Every Raku firing is exciting, and continues to stimulate my imagination. There is no limit to the possibilities.” |
|
| Julie deRouche' Julie uses porcelain clay to hand build whimsical shapes that are both functional and decorative. She uses oxides over glaze to create a patina effect sometimes using china paint on the finished ware to create a floral look to her dinnerware, baskets or pocket vases. |
|
Lynn and Judy Foley - Weaselglass |
|
| Issac Howard Isaac first studied pottery while attending highschool in Alaska but he didn’t become passionate about pottery until he discovered the wood firing process. In the summers while visiting his brother in Bellingham he was introduced to wood firing which he describes as “magical” because of its organic and natural aspects. He feels that the cycle of making pottery is only half completed by the potter…the user making the cycle complete. |
|
| Linda Hughes Linda’s pastime activity of learning ceramics turned into a passion to discover as much as possible of the ceramic world. The influence of Mexican and Islamic art led her to a study of Cuerda Seca, a technique developed in Turkey during the 12th century as a way to decorate mosques. Linda has updated this process to create her own unique variation of decorative and utilitarian stoneware that is food safe and dishwasher proof. |
|
Karen Jackson |
|
| Ed Kraft Ed’s first pottery studio was located in a remote North Cascades mountain village. After it was tragically destroyed by fire he then resettled onto a homestead and working ranch to raise his family while running a cross country ski business and Montessori school. Finally, in 1985 he moved to Bellingham and returned to his passion of making pottery in order to “arrange the earth once again. My path is to draw a line from my life to my art that is straight and clear.” |
|
| Irene Lawson Irene is an avid quilter, bead artist, and Pysanky egg artist. She has always been interested in ceramics with a focus on intricate surface decoration. She has decorated eggs in the Ukrainian style for over 15 years and now she is trying to translate these patterns from the outside curve of an egg to the inside curve of a functional bowl. The unlimited possibilities of geometric designs and color combinations keep her motivated to add just one more dot or one more color! |
|
| Cheryl A. Lee - Stony Clearing Studio Cheryl has combined her lifelong interests and education in both art and biology to create clay vessels based on native plants and animals of the Northwest region. She is continually inspired by the beautiful varieties, shapes and textures, patterns and repetitions that nature offers in these organic forms. Stoneware forms, including lidded containers, vases, bowls and rattles, are constructed by hand through a combination of pottery-making techniques, including slab-building, hand pressing from original molds and handbuilding. All are glaze-fired in kilns at her home studio near Bellingham. Cheryl currently features three major themes in her clay works: the garden, the pond and the forest. |
|
| Sarah Leonard Sarah incorporates imagery and experiences from her travels in Europe and Central and South America, as well as throughout the American West. Her blithe yet strong inner spirit is reflected in her use of animal and plant totems and goddess figures. Sarah creatively incorporates a variety of metals and semi-precious stones on a fundamental base of Sterling Silver. Sarah’s designs combine a timeless, archetypal quality with her uniquely uplifting individual style. The result is consistent design quality with a one-of-a-kind personal touch. |
|
| Eugene and Ene' Lewis Ene’ and Gene together have a total of almost ten decades of playing and working with clay, beginning with digging clay from the creek beds in the wilds of New Jersey. They first met each other at Alfred University in New York and opened their first studio in Brooklyn. In 1980 they moved to Bellingham and created Indian Street Pottery as their studio and gallery. They are both well known as accomplished ceramic artists and art educators who enjoy exploring the endless possibilities of clay. |
|
| Mike McDowell Michael began making pottery at Good Earth in the early 70’s. He thinks of working in clay as a spiritual practice. “I am a monk for your clay.” Michael prefers working in stoneware because of its functionality which he believes allows the user to develop an intimate relationship with the vessel. His goal is for his pottery to quietly capture the users’ attention and add a depth of meaning to their daily experience. |
|
| Chris Moench Chris fled a desk job doing legal work to pursue a full-time career in ceramics. He began his career by producing garden sculptures, tiles, and functional house ware. In 2000, Chris’s claywork took a wondrous new direction when he created his first prayer wheel. Later, mounted on a revolving stand at an outdoor gallery, the wheel became a vessel for people to place thoughts and prayers inside on pieces of paper. Today, Chris works full-time designing and sculpting modern prayer wheels that have been revolving and evolving at public exhibits across the west. |
|
| Patricia Morse Formerly a passionate painter of large abstract paintings, Patricia’s love affair with clay began unexpectedly when she found herself teaching clay workshops on the UC Berkeley Campus during the ‘sixties’. After making thrown tableware for twenty years, Pat has turned to hand building fulltime. Her source of inspiration is the majesty of the natural world, as revealed in its rhythms and cycles. |
|
| Jeremy Noet Jeremy was born and raised in Alaska where he first studied pottery in high school. Although he considered himself more a science or math major when he began college, by his second year he had changed his major to art because of his interest in pottery. His desire was to make and sell pottery that was functional as well as affordable. When he moved to Bellingham he was introduced to Good Earth and to his studio upstairs. Jeremy looks at pottery as an “accumulation of ideas and levels of experience” appreciating the ways that the form and glaze interact with each other. |
|
Terry Quinn |
|
| Larry Richmond Larry Richmond’s ceramic work shows the influence of Northern California Indian baskets and his time spent working and teaching on the Hoopa Indian Reservation. Using contemporary interpretations of traditional basket shapes and designs, Larry achieves a balance between woven materials and clay that is both natural and pleasing. |
|
| Lonnie Schang A local high school art and ceramics teacher, Lonnie creates whimsical ceramic sculptures and vessels using a surface decoration technique called sgrafitto. He embellishes the black and white forms with a variety of colorful underglazes. Strange creatures, bugs, animals, plant forms and baseball players populate Lonnie’s ceramic world. |
|
| Robert Small Robert was a busy Doctor of Optometry before retiring and having the time to finally pursue his desire to work with clay. He has painted in oils and watercolors, but his true attraction is to the vibrant colors and the spontaeous variety found in the art of Raku, a clay-firing process dating back to the 16th century. He enjoys the challenge of combining nature’s scenic beauty and the world of clay...through the Raku process. |
|
| Shelley Stark I can't keep my hands out of clay. As a mother, commercial fisherman in Kodiak, and construction worker I've had my hands in all kinds of things, but clay is best. I learned to love clay in the 80's in between fishing seasons and winter travel in Alaska. When I bring a good natured usefulness and gentle animated happiness to the clay, I know I've made a successful pot. I am lucky to be able to finally realize my hearts desire: to make well crafted useful pots that are pleasing to the eye and hand. I hope to connect the user of my pottery to a craft with a rich tradition, knowing that it was made with care and attention. |
|
Todd Stephens |
|
| Jamie Veirs Jamie began her study of pottery while in high school then continued her study by becoming an apprentice to a local potter. She enjoys the functional aspect of making art that has a purpose and feels a sense of accomplishment after “playing” with the clay. Jamie especially enjoys throwing shapes on the wheel and then distorting them so that they appear with the irregularities of nature. “It is very satisfying to make a piece of art that has a purpose, something someone will use and enjoy.” |
|
| Levi Vincent Levi studied pottery initially in high school and then pursued an opportunity to learn and work as a production potter before coming to Good Earth. He attributes working as a production potter full time for giving him the skills and eye necessary to produce quality work. While he strives to make pottery that is pleasing to look at, he also puts a great deal of thought into making sure it works well for it's intended purpose. Levi’s work is high fired functional pottery with rich earthy colored glazes and designs. |
|
Nicole Whitney |
|
| Terea Bennett Notecards of Original Artwork Gene Buckley Ben Clore Kristen Fisher Kent Herschleb Jill Heuser Carrie Keenan Marguerite Kotwitz Stacey Mathews Belinda Parten Laurie Potter Rigel Weis | |