Self-Guided Pottery Tour
ROBERTA POLFUS
Roberta Polfus Ceramics
Oak Park, IL
(708) 383-3651
robertapolfus@yahoo.com
IG: robertapolfus
FB: robertapolfusceramics
Most of my carved and sometimes gestural pieces are intimate forms that fit and feel good in the hand. While they are generally not representations of actual objects, they reflect the movement, shapes, patterns and surfaces that I am drawn to in nature—the petals of an apple blossom, the grooves of a spindle shell, the pattern of a hosta leaf or the texture of a weathered rock all inform and inspire my work.
I use a combination of wheel thrown and hand-built porcelain forms that are altered, carved and sprigged. With a variety of sprayed matte and gloss glazes that enhance the surfaces, the pieces are fired in a gas kiln, cone 10 reduction.
Hironobu “Nishi” Nishitateno
Loves Park, IL
(815) 209-6725
info@NantenPottery.com
NantenPottery.com
My passion for making pottery springs from a desire to bring beauty and nature into daily life. I find inspiration everywhere I go, traveling with notebook in hand, sketching designs and shapes that can be incorporated into new works.
My style is based on the simplicity and functionality of Japanese pottery, using natural materials and colors typical in nature. It is my belief that pottery should not be the center of attention on the dinner table; it should be simple and attractive, while discreetly adding to the delicious appearance of the food. I strive to create pottery that resonates with me and brings out my inner peace. It is my hope that the natural simplicity of my pottery can bring the same peace to others.
The entire process of creating a work of art excites me. My favorite tools are my hands. I love feeling the subtleties of the clay, in which slight changes bring out the wonders and beauty of the material and make a great impact on the final piece. I strive to incorporate the characteristics of the clay, such as flecks of iron, so that they are not hidden but honored. The potter’s wheel inspires me to add textures like spirals where glaze can naturally pool during firing. The kiln brings about a surprise ending, as the fire is variant by nature and can lend unexpected character to the final piece.
My most exciting challenge in pottery is the precision required at every step to achieve an aura in the finished piece. I feel satisfaction when the character of the clay bursts forth with momentum while expressing my intention for the work, conveying a powerful emotion to onlookers.
CORY MCCory
217 Elmwood place
Sandwich, IL 60548
FB: Cory Mccrory
IG: cory.mccrory
It took years for me to find my place in ceramics. I handbuilt at an early age. Like most of us, grade school introduced me to the fired piece. High school introduced the wheel. In college pottery and I were dating and became serious. We lived together for years. Later came medical issues. I was forced to take a break from wheel work. I turned my focus to hand building and sculpture. I had found paperclay a few years earlier and decided to put it to the test.
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Within a short time I realized I wasn’t going back to the potter's wheel. As a thrower I was pretty good, but discovered that my handbuilding was where I needed to be. I developed my body of work from what I was both familiar, and with what was available to me. I’m very comfortable here. I feel I have unlimited possibilities in front of me.
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I grew up on the north east coast, moved to Illinois in my 20’s. I now live with my hubbs and 2 of 4 kids. My studio has always been in my house, which has allowed me to stay home and raise my own kids while pursuing a career in ceramics. I have been an active member of the art community for more than 40 years. Learning, assisting, teaching and doing. I currently teach workshops, present demonstrations, and participate in small artist run art fairs.
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I am always on the lookout for my next idea. I am a people watcher and a hidden beauty detector. I keep several sketch books. Good, bad, or dumb ideas go into whichever one I can find. Because I was a thrower for so many years, I have a strong desire to make functional work, however I feel my superpowers are best displayed in my sculptural works. Whether functional or sculptural I enjoy the puzzle each piece presents me. How to approach its construction, use less product and cut down on time and waste. That being said, my art takes a very long time to complete.
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The work is made from a cone 6 brown stoneware that I have added about 10% paper pulp. Underglaze is used on the unfired form. Clear glaze added where desired. Fired to cone 6 oxidation. High temp wire is used for details.
Simon Levin has been working in clay since 1990 when an elective ceramics course changed the arc of his life. Simon is a full-time studio potter known for his expertise with wood firing. An MFA recipient from the University of Iowa, Simon exhibits, teaches, builds kilns, and is published internationally. In 2013 he was a Senior Fulbright Scholar in Taiwan. Between 2004 and today his apprenticeship program has trained 27 potters. He hosts a video series on the Ceramics Arts Network, bringing dialogue to process. Formerly Director at Large for the National Council for Education of the Ceramic Arts (NCECA), and the founder of Cohorts.Art (an innovative craft mentorship program) Simon seeks to advance the frontiers of clay, and evangelize for this empowering material.
DELORES FORTUNA
fortunapottery.com
delores@fortunapottery.com
FB: deloresfortuna
IG: deloresfortuna
Delores Fortuna lives and works as a studio potter in rural northern Wisconsin creating one-of-a-kind functional pots. Her work reflects an ongoing search to unite her observations of prairie, rocks and clouds with the intimacy a functional pot offers. "My work is primarily made on the potters wheel using porcelain clay with surface gestural marks and fired to 2400F in a gas reduction kiln, hopefully delighting both the eye and hand.”
David Bauer
Burnt Sienna Gallery & Studios
9327 Powder House Hill Rd
Galena, IL 61036
Raven & David Bauer opened Burnt Sienna Art Gallery and Studios, in May 2024 in Galena, IL. Raven Bauer is a ceramicist and painter. She creates functional pottery with one collection exhibiting a Driftless Region theme while the other focuses on sushi and sashimi platters and matcha tea sets. She is attending the University of Wisconsin-Platteville in pursuit of a BS in Visual Arts. David Bauer is a ceramicist and teaches classes in their pottery studio in Galena. He is inspired by the natural world and incorporates wild clay into his pottery. Lamps are his favorite pieces to create because he likes working with different textures and shapes to fabricate a piece of art that will be the focal point of the room. He enjoys integrating the ceramic base with found and reclaimed objects in the lampshade to create a unifying piece that produces a sense of movement and harmony. Clay work evokes a sense of wonder and satisfaction in him from the moment he begins working with a ball of clay throughout the final stage of opening the kiln to witness the results after it was glazed and fired.
Raven Bauer
Burnt Sienna Gallery & Studios
9327 Powder House Hill Rd
Galena, IL 61036
My pieces reflect the beauty of the Driftless Area in northwest Illinois. Throughout my process I engage all seven senses and place myself in a mindful state. I hope to encourage this moment-to-moment awareness in others as they engage with my work. Textured surfaces, meanderings lines, and an impressionist aesthetic evoke memories and emotions tied to the region. My textures emulate its topography, while curved lines soften the visual impact, mirroring rolling hills and valleys. Sweeping brushstrokes in my glaze and slip application capture the way natural light moves across the landscape. Inspired by my move to Galena, IL, my work highlights the Driftless region’s karst topography, ecosystems, and conservation efforts—especially those of the Jo Daviess Conservation Foundation—to encourage appreciation and preservation.
monte Young
Jasper, IN
(317) 452-6777
mypottery79@gmail.com
FB: facebook.com/monteyoungpottery
IG: instagram.com/monteyoungpottery
MonteYoungPottery.com
My name is Monte Young and I was introduced to pottery making at 13 and now, over 50 years later, I’m still in love with the process, the product, and the use of handmade pottery in my day to day life. After graduating from college in 1984 my close friend Kent Henderson (Galena Clayworks) and I moved to Galena and started making pots on a daily basis. Over the last 30+ years I moved my studio throughout 5 states in the Midwest, finally settling down in the rolling hills of Southern Indiana in the town of Jasper in order to live close to our 11 grandchildren and 1 great-grandchild where my wife and I built our “forever home and studio”.
The intention of my pottery is to make well-made traditional forms for daily use which function well and feel good in the user’s hands. I want my work to offer rich earthy tones which I hope to achieve through minimal slips and glazes which we fire in our cross draft wood kiln.
Hope you like them, Monte.
Will hare
willhare52@yahoo.com
Will Hare is a student at the University of Wisconsin Platteville, majoring in cross-disciplinary fine arts with and emphasis in ceramics. After graduation he will go back to school and get his MFA to pursue his passion for teaching. Will focuses on creating and experimenting with various clay bodies, glazes, and firing methods, avidly searching for his own voice through constant experimentation.
John-Thomas Richard
Cedar Rapids, IA
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Bio
Hello, my name is John-Thomas Richard, I was born and raised in Southwestern Wisconsin. I first developed my interest in clay during sophomore year of college at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville. I Graduated in 2006 with a degree in art and American history. I worked for two years developing a portfolio for graduate school. I then spent the following three years at Texas Tech in Lubbock, Texas working towards a master’s degree. I graduated with my MFA in May 2011. In August of 2012, I moved to Cedar Rapids, IA to start a year residency with The Iowa Ceramic Center, at this time I also worked at Kirkwood Community College from 2011-2017. In 2014, I started working at Mount Mercy University, where I currently hold the title of Special Appointment Faculty in Art & Design, teaching Ceramics, Sculpture, Jewelry Metalsmithing, and Intro to Art classes, while also managing the campus art gallery (Janalyn Hanson White Gallery).
Artist Statement
John-Thomas Richard is currently exploring the idea of human flight through the use of ceramic forms, silhouettes and structures. He has grown up loving planes, for both their technical beauty of construction and their seemingly impossible ability to fly. His family has greatly influenced him with what they have done in connection to aviation. His grandfather Stiles flew all around the south pacific during World War II on different planes fixing communication equipment on the islands. His grandmother Richard worked at an airplane Plant in Detroit during the war. She made the cowlings that go around the four massive engines of the B24 Liberator Bomber. His father built a Sail plane in the family barn with a friend and was responsible for introducing him to flight by taking him to Air-Shows since he had been able to stand. No one in his family has ever been a pilot but that has not stopped them from being part of the aviation spirit. Ultimately, Richard is aware that his ceramic planes and parts may never truly fly but he wants to provoke the idea of flight in the minds of the viewer.
JOHN HUNTER
Madison, WI
USA +1 (717) 696-9467
I’ve been working with clay since I left high school. The spontaneity of shaping a vessel on the wheel was exciting and direct. I couldn’t draw and really still can’t but making pots was different and it was as if I found myself when I worked with clay. I was fortunate enough to study with Cynthia Bringle in 1969-70 at Penland School of Crafts in North Carolina. I learned the discipline of production pottery and good design. I’ve always been inspired by the great potters like Leach and Hamada.
Recently, after 25 years of potting outside of Windhoek, Namibia where I built and used wood-fired kilns and started a school for orphans, Community Hope Ministries, we moved to Madison, Wisconsin to be closer to our family. Some of the proceeds from the pottery sales helped support Community Hope.
Starting over again has been a challenge and I’m mastering my new gas soda kiln here on the Isthmus close to the capital building. I work out of my basement and garage and do art fairs and tours to sell my wares. My pots are art but also useful, comfortable to hold (pick up one of my mugs) and use. Every kiln load is a surprise and full of discovery.
As well as other awards, In 2017, at the Namibian Ceramics Biennale, two of my Elephant Mugs were awarded the Premiere Award and purchased by the Namibian Arts Association for their permanent collection. In the 2019 Biennale, one of my wood-fired, salt-glazed teapots won the Premiere Award.
I have done workshops worldwide with my potter’s wheel, demonstrating throwing, glaze decoration, and Sumi-e brushwork for potters in Southern Africa, Europe, Australia, the Middle East, and North and South America.
I do custom orders and tableware for homes and restaurants. —John
Hannah Piepel
Hanna Piepel Design Studio
900 Keosauqua Way
Des Moines, IA 50309
Studio 449
FB: hannapiepeldesign
Hanna Piepel is an interdisciplinary artist exploring the intersection of illustration and design through her ceramic practice. Her current body of work draws on memory, often reflecting moments of gathering and everyday home life.
Working in white porcelain, she treats each piece as a blank canvas—highlighting her appreciation for modern design of the past and her foundation in graphic design principles. Her work balances form and surface, combining functional objects with hand-drawn pattern and imagery.
Hanna enjoys teaching beginners and exhibits her work at juried art festivals and galleries across the United States. Her illustrations can also be found in several published children’s books.
“Most of my ceramic work is wheel-thrown or slab-built. I prefer porcelain for its color and responsiveness on the wheel. My colorful illustration style and hand-drawn patterns are applied to clay forms using image transfer techniques, including photosensitive emulsion screen prints and overglaze decals. Each piece is fired two to three times and reflects an obsessive attention to design, form, and function.” —HP
I am a ceramic artist who currently resides in Dubuque IA. In addition, I am a Clarke University graduate with a BA in Psychology. My work is inspired by nature and an understanding of the therapeutic power of the creative practice. With a background in psychology, I approach clay not only as a material, but as a medium for healing, reflection, and connection.
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Inspired by native plants, shifting landscapes, and the quiet rhythms of the natural world, I create pieces that embody comfort, movement, and balance. My work often involves the textures of stone, water, foliage, and earth inviting touch and encouraging presence. Through layered glazes and earthy palettes, I explore themes of growth, resilience, and transformation.
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My psychological background is the foundation of my artistic philosophy: I view the act of making as a grounding, mindful process that nurtures emotional well-being. In the studio, clay becomes a symbol of change, a space where intention, patience, and imperfection coexist. Each vessel is created with the hope of offering others a moment of stillness in their daily lives.
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By blending my understanding of human behavior with the intimacy of ceramics, I create work that speaks to both the senses and the inner landscape reminding us that art, like nature, has the power to restore.
After 29 years I am finally beginning to understand who I am as a potter. I concentrate on refined, carefully shaped forms where the feel of the clay, the speed of the wheel, and my thoughts on that day combine to create a bowl, a cup, a teapot.
Firing too is a collaboration between myself and the kiln. To impart the spontaneity and beauty of nature I fire with wood or soda/salt, processes I find continually fascinating. No two pieces are ever alike. The fire warps, adds colors and drips of glass, and though sometimes frustrating, ultimately it provides a beautiful and functional result.
KEVIN W. HUGHES
Springfield, MO 65804
(417) 766-4794
hughes.kevin@sbcglobal.net
BlueSky: @kevininclay.bsky.social
I discovered ceramics in the spring of 1983 and have never stopped learning about this media. Initially training as a sculptor making representational ceramic and mixed media work, along my journey I picked up learning how to throw on the potter’s wheel. As time passed, I became more interested in investigating the potter’s wheel as a tool to make work.
My current body of work consists of wheel-thrown functional forms and hand-built/wheel-thrown pieces that are altered while exploring the concepts of form and function. These pieces are strongly influenced by my sculptural past and the love of textures, volume, and dynamic space. While functional, the pieces challenge the user to think about functional pots beyond what we expect them to be.
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Humor and play are a large part of my life, and I consider working with clay as a way to play. I have fun making the work while keeping the question of “what if” in mind. This gives me the freedom to explore “what can be” as I continue to learn more about clay.
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I am thrilled to be included in this year’s 20 Dirty Hands and look forward to meeting you as you make your journey along the tour.
Belinda Shastal
Chicago, IL
(773) 415-2604
Bshastal@yahoo.com
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Work for sale at:
Dempsey Artisans Gallery at Fine Line Creative Art Center
37W570 Bolcum Rd
St. Charles, IL
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Form, line, texture, color, clay’s malleable nature and the possibility of creating anything you envision are what excite me about working with clay. When I go into the studio, I am thinking about what I am going to create and what glazes will work best with that form. Do I need to add some texture or embellishment or just enjoy the simplicity of the outside line of the shape. These are decisions potters must make before the piece reaches the kiln for its final journey to completion. When the kiln opens, and you get to see what you have created, that brings me a lot of joy. I hope the joy is passed on through my pottery to the people that use it and that it enhances their lives and surroundings.
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I received a B.A. in Education and Art from Northeastern Illinois University. Later, I attended The School of the Art Institute of Chicago – Baccalaureate studies in Ceramic Art. There I expanded my knowledge of art, sculpture, and ceramics.
After college I continued to develop my skills as a studio potter and the business of art.
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I worked at several local clay companies, and art galleries in the Chicago Area. In 1999 – 2005, I started my own Gallery and Art Center (Spring St. Gallery and Galena Art Center) in Galena, Illinois.
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I am currently a working studio potter, focusing on creating and producing functional pottery, one-of-a-kind pieces and limited series work.
Royal Hart
Clarke University Student
royalcreationsil@outlook.com
(925)-207-6229
IG: royal_creationsil
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Bio
My name is Royal Hart, and I am a fourth-year Social Work student at Clarke University. I am originally from the Bay Area in Northern California but now I reside in East Dubuque, Illinois. I am relatively new to the Ceramics scene, but I am always looking forward to meeting new people and trying new things!
Artist Statement
My pieces are part of my personality. Some may be a little heavy to hold, and others may be light, but I find it to be a nice balance between the emotions I go through as a student in college and a young adult in this ever-changing world. When making my pieces, I try to channel what I am feeling that day into the making process. As a Social Work major, I realize just how important it is for people to find a place where they can release their emotions in a healthy way. Throwing pieces of pottery is my way of allowing positive and negative emotions to be released through a craft. While in the process of making my pieces, some of the glazes can be clean and neat, or they can be wild and all over the place. There are times when the glazes run and make patterns that are not enjoyable, but I stop and take a moment to realize it has happened for a reason. I believe that these moments are similar to events you cannot control in your life.
I normally work with our studio clay here at Clarke, but I have recently been able to experiment with different clay bodies such as domestic porcelain, red stoneware, and PGM clay, but our studio clay and domestic porcelain show off my favorite glazes the best.
My glaze choices are mainly mid-fire (cone 6) glazes because I love the vibrant colors I can achieve with them. With my choice of a base glaze being black, white, or another solid color before I layer on my crawl glazes. I am obsessed with the crawl glazes because I find them to be similar to plant cells, but they also have a nice texture that varies based on how many layers I apply.
joan gaspAr hart
Bellevue, IA
(920) 912-7375
I am a 1980 graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. My areas of concentration were Ceramics and Photography.
After graduation, I took a photo related job with the intention of earning money for graduate school but my plans were sidetracked by family and career. I continued to pursue creative expression through my photography, painting and handmade paper.
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In January 2015, my husband and I moved to Cedar Falls from Sheboygan, Wisconsin for our jobs. A year later, I discovered the Independent Study program in Ceramics at the Hearst Center for the Arts and rekindled my passion for clay while taking advantage of their facilities. Two years later, I set up my own studio and began marketing my work at art fairs.
We now have a small commercial building on Riverview in beautiful Bellevue with a small retail space along with my studio.
My current ceramic work is influenced by both nature and structure in form and surface. The wheel thrown pieces are altered or assembled, some combining organic shapes with more engineered or patterned decorative elements. The surfaces evoke a sense of age and weather.
Shumpei Yamaki
West Branch, IA
(347) 633-1533
shumpei.yamaki@gmail.com
IG: shumpeiyamaki
FB: shumpeiyamaki
ARTIST BIO
Shumpei Yamaki was born and raised in Kamakura, Japan. He moved to Philadelphia in 1996 to study dance. He went on to pursue a bachelor's degree in archaeology at the University of Wisconsin, La Crosse. In 1999, Shumpei was injured in an automobile accident and enrolled in a ceramics class as physical therapy for his arm. He discovered his passion for ceramics, and in 2001 began an apprenticeship under Richard Bresnahan. He learned traditional Japanese pottery techniques, wood-firing, and ways to rely on local resources and resource conservation.
Shumpei went on to graduate studies at the University of Iowa, in 2002, taking full advantage of their strong wood-fire program. In 2005, Shumpei moved to Brooklyn and participated in wood-firings in upstate New York with Tim Rowan and Roger Baumann. Since he returned to Iowa in 2009, He has built his own designed anagama style wood-fire kiln and been experimenting with local clay in his personal endeavors as a wood-fire potter.
ARTIST STATEMENT
I feel free to communicate with my own language through art. Direct action in the process of creating art is the key to communicating effectively. Results of my action reflect my inner perception.
Initially I came to the United States to see the origin of street dance. Learning street dance has taught me how to communicate with others visually and emotionally. My former experience in Hip-Hop culture and Capoeira (Afro-Brazilian martial art) still exists in my body and soul, blending with and influencing my wheel throwing techniques. When I dance, I dance with flow and force. I dance to express my primitive spirit, and my intuition is exactly what I feel at that moment, completely removed from myself.
I view clay on the pottery wheel as a sort of stage for myself as a dancer. When water flows on the surface of clay on a pottery wheel, my hands dance to rhythm and my mind stretches into meditation. Imagination and feelings about clay and water take me to a state of mind as "second nature". As street dance and clay combine through me, the true primitive concepts of these two art forms communicate themselves to the audience; one is ephemeral, the other is permanent.
Brendan Kelley &
Lily Hammer
Madison, WI
Brendan
thekilnshed.studio
IG: bk_woodfiredceramics
Lily
lily-hammer.wixsite.com/artist
IG: lilwaterbug
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ARTIST BIO
Brendan Kelley & Lily Hammer are a ceramic artist couple based in Madison, WI. With around 10 years of experience individually, they met two years ago and started making work together. With Brendan's background in production throwing and technical skill, and Lily's background in conceptual art and imagery, they strive to create work that marries the two. In their collaborations they push each other to think differently about making, creating a body of work that holds both contrast and connection.