Jeff Oestreich - Host Potter
A majority of my work is intended for daily use, although some pieces challenge the notion of function and find their place in a more formal setting. With this in mind, thought is given to weight, balance and access. My passion is in the geometric, playful forms and patterns of Art Deco architecture, softened by the action of the flame and vapor of the soda firing process.
36835 Pottery Trl, Taylors Falls, MN 55084
Showroom by appointment only please
jeffo@frontiernet.net
oestreichpottery.com
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Nick DeVries, Brainerd, MN
My current body of work is made from porcelain and I often work in a reductive fashion, throwing heavier pieces, then altering, rasping, and carving the pots to reveal the final forms. I enjoy balancing large areas of subtle texture and color with small additions: stamps and other details that suggest windows or doorways. These forms and small details reference architecture and structure while the surfaces borrow from nature. Subtle textures suggest grass or bark; areas of micro crystalline glaze reference the random beauty of nature: lichens growing on a rock outcropping, the subtle coloration of river rock, the random intricacies of a leaf.
I enjoy juxtaposing architectural and structural qualities with surfaces that reference the natural world. I’ve always been drawn to human made structures and objects that have been affected by nature. I am interested in the ways in which we interact with nature, sometimes sustainably and other times in more contradictory and destructive ways. We attempt to tame, claim, and use the natural world around us, but nature always pushes back. Paint peels, metal rusts, buildings crumble; we are constantly being reminded that we are not entirely in control, we are no masters.
devriespottery@gmail.com
www.devriespottery.com
Olivia Jenson, St. Paul, MN
I am most interested in texture and form in my work, and strive to make approachable, inviting pots for daily use. I use stoneware and porcelain clay bodies fired in high-fire gas reduction kilns, as well as occasionally firing in wood kilns. I am most influenced by Japanese, Korean, and English pottery, as well as making pots in the Mingei tradition. I use a Leach-style treadle wheel and focus mainly on functional work. My hope is that the work I make becomes a valued part of its user's home life. I believe that using handmade pots encourages a slower pace in our daily routines, and encourages its user to stop and appreciate the beauty in everyday life.
Kate Marotz, Marshfield, WI
I make functional interactive stoneware pots that are inspired by the qualities of chrysalides, bones, seed pods, and other naturally occurring forms from rural Wisconsin. My work reveals the coil and pinch technique I use to create objects, stacked concave curves evolve into rhythmic forms that maintain evidence of the process. Handles evoke the illusion of compression and soft pliable clay as layers converge between connection points. Angled layers add visual weight with one layer pressing down on another. Every vantage point of each piece reveals new information, rewarding the user who handles and investigates. I believe that the care and thoughtfulness invested in the creation of each piece translates into genuine interest in the details of daily life through their use.
Local flowers, animal bones, various leaves, and numerous stones influence the terra sigillata color palette. Simple patterns informed by natural elements wrap around the ridges and connect interior and exterior. Subtle patterns visible only on close inspection, reveal bone-like speckling.
My work celebrates and translates the Wisconsin landscape into pots for daily use.
marotz.ceramics@gmail.com
www.marotzceramics.com
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Ernest Miller, Minneapolis, MN
My work is a partnership between achieving my utilitarian ideals while applying my esthetic ideas. Concepts for my work are translations of visual elements from my personal interests. I’m drawn to the aesthetic of when the built environment is subdued by the natural world, for example, weathered paint, an aging barn, or a well used farm implement.
I use stoneware clay and apply slips and glazes to build up depth, to highlight edges, and to create patterns, all of which allows for a heightened perception of foreground and background. When crafting objects meant for everyday use, particularly in a kitchen or hand-held context, I prioritize functionality with balanced design. For objects that primarily remain stationary, I feel more liberated to explore the realms of artistic expression, allowing aesthetics to take precedence over function.
The partnership exhibited within my work goes beyond surface textures, shapes, and the roles they play within the pieces. By extension, when individuals interact with my pottery, they engage in a unique experiential exchange between the user and the potter. In many ways I consider the piece unfinished until it is being enjoyed in someone’s home.
emillerceramics@gmail.com
www.ernestmiller.com
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Claire Miller, Minneapolis, MN
Claire Miller (she/her/hers) was raised in Portland, Oregon and has since lived in many regions of the US, following an eclectic mix of opportunities. She has a BA in anthropology from The College of Wooster (Ohio) and an MFA in ceramics from Indiana University, Bloomington. Currently based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Claire makes handbuilt pottery from her dining room table. She is interested in the capacity of objects to arrest her preconceptions and teach her how they want to be cared for, used, and held. Her process is the joining together of distinct modes of manipulating clay—such as, pinching until the pinching often begins to disappear welded to the sharp edges of slabs. Her practice wonders: how can we hold together these disparate modes of being?
miller.claire12@gmail.com
www.clairemiller.art
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Carolina Niebres, Prescott, WI
Using stoneware or porcelain, I seek to create pottery that is a pleasure to touch, hold, and use and be a joy to the eye. Currently, most of my work is thrown on a wheel. Some of these are altered out of round. The technique I use depends on the visual form or feeling I want to create. Some pieces call for an applied surface texture leading to simpler decoration like a flashing slip or leaving an entirely bare surface. Quieter forms tend to lend themselves to my love of patterns which I create using wax resist and glaze. The patterns that I use are mostly inspired by tribal tattoos from the Pacific Island cultures and nature. I fire my work in a soda atmosphere which reacts with the bare clay surface, glazes, and slips on the pots. I love how this interplay results in an exciting and unique varied surface putting a final stamp on each pot. I also believe that things that are in our lives have energy that can influence us. Therefore, as I make each piece, I ask the universe to imbue them with the most positive energy for health and wellness.
cpniebres@gmail.com
www.healingvessels.com
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Richard Vincent, North Branch, MN
I find inspiration from botanical forms, patterns, textures, and colors seen in nature. By altering forms wet, carving, and brushing slip to create relief I strive to make pots that engage the user visually, emotionally, as well as encourage tactile exploration. After years of potting exclusively with porcelain I have included iron bearing clay in my studio and find it's earthy quality exciting. Working with clay for over 40 years I continue to be pleased and honored to see my work bring joy, beauty, and service to people's lives.
vincentpottery@gmail.com
www.richardvincentpottery.com
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Kat Wheeler, Cornwall, UK
My work is thrown on the wheel using a dark, groggy clay in my studio in St. Ives, Cornwall. It is slip decorated using a variety of techniques on damp clay, then glazed simply and fired to a high temperature.
Working from my workshop in the Gaolyard Studios in St. Ives, Cornwall, my work is thrown on the wheel using a dark, groggy clay. I make work ranging from basic tableware to one-off, individual pieces that are decorated with a contrasting slip. I enjoy playing with form and surface, preferring to slip decorate my work using a variety of techniques while the clay is still damp. The work is then glazed simply and fired to a high temperature.