Touchstone, 2026

Chris Staley

Porcelain

17 in H x 12 in D

Inscribed signature on bottom

Inspired by the rugged coastline of Maine, Touchstone reflects Chris Staley's enduring connection to the natural world. Its surface echoes the weathered rocks along the shore, each connected by the slightest points of contact. It is a quiet reminder of the interconnectedness of all people.

A longtime member of the Haystack Mountain School of Crafts community, Staley has often spoken of the profound inspiration he finds in the surrounding landscape. Describing the shoreline, he remarked, "When you go down to the rocks, it's like you're going to church... You're going to this sacred place. That sense of awe and contemplation is captured in Touchstone, inviting viewers to pause, reflect, and reconnect with the beauty and vastness of the natural world."

Bringing this remarkable work into your home offers more than a stunning ceramic sculpture-it brings a lasting reminder of nature's quiet power and our place within it.

Artist Biography

Chris Staley (b. 1954, Boston, MA) has lived primarily in the eastern United States his entire life. He earned his BFA in 1977 at Wittenberg University, Springfield, OH, and then spent a year as a Special Student at the Kansas City Art Institute. He went on to earn his MFA from the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University, Alfred, NY.

Chris Staley has had a distinguished teaching career, beginning with Rhode Island School of Design, Wichita State University, and finally at Pennsylvania State University where he was Professor of Art and Professor-in-Charge of the Ceramics Area in the School of Visual Arts. He is also active in the community, serving on the boards of both the Archie Bray Foundation and the Haystack Mountain School of Crafts. Last year Chris joined The Clay Studio as an artist in our studios. His presence here has had a positive impact on his fellow artists and the whole organization.

Artists Statement

The essence of making pots for me is about being human. It's about fragility and strength. It's about the intimate moment when the handle of a cup touches the hand. Pots are about potential. Pots can create a world of slow time where meaning can be found. It is a notable experience to use pots that exude the soul of the maker. All of our senses are engaged in this experience.

Very few things can be touched and leave one a different person. It is this paradox of who is touching whom that gives pots their greatest potential.

As a young boy I often played outdoors and made things out of dirt and sticks. I struggled sitting behind a desk at school. I knew very early that to survive spiritually I had to keep creating with my hands. With technology spreading at a very increasing pace my need to feel the world seems essential.

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Planter Dreams, 2026

Lisa Naples

Stoneware

8.5 in H x 10 in D

Written Signature

This compelling vessel reflects Naples' vision of ceramics as both functional object and sculptural form. Blurring the boundary between utility and fine art, the work resists easy categorization and invites the viewer to consider its purpose-and meaning-for themselves.

Beyond its striking form, the vessel offers a meditation on identity, complexity, and connection. Just as the object can inhabit multiple roles at once, it reflects the many experiences, relationships, and perspectives that shape who we are and ultimately connect us to one another.

Displayed as a sculptural centerpiece or filled with plants or branches, this thoughtful work brings beauty, versatility, and a sense of quiet reflection to any space.

Artist Biography

Naples earned a B.A. in English Literature from Rutgers University. She completed graduate and post-graduate studies in Ceramics at the Rochester Institute of Technology and the University of the Arts and went on to attain an M.F.A. from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design in Canada. Naples was a Resident Artist at The Clay Studio in the 90's. She has received many awards, has exhibited her art extensively, with a solo exhibition at the Clay Studio in 2020, and solo show at Michener Art Museum in 2025. She founded the Lisa Naples Clay Studio in Frenchtown, NJ in 2023 where she teaches classes and has guest teachers from all over the country.

Artist Statement

A long studio career has given me continuity throughout my life: an intimate relationship with creativity through ceramics. I have found myself shape-shifting a number of times. In the earlier years I felt quite comfortable claiming the title of "Potter" or "Thrower". But as time went by, the wheel became no more important than a rolling pin... a tool to help me bring forth an idea. And pots yielded space to explore sculpture. In recent years, labels have become harder to assign. They seem too confining: "Potter", "Sculptor", "Painter", "Storyteller", I leave it to the viewer and the lens of time to decide. I am in service to bringing persistent ideas into form.

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Landscape of the Heart

Sung Jae Choi

Porcelain

13 in H x 9.25 x 4.75

Written Signature and Makers Stamp (on box lid)

Created to celebrate The Clay Studio's 50th Anniversary, this elegant porcelain bottle by Sung Jae Choi was featured in the 2024 exhibition, 50 Years in the Making, honoring the artists who have shaped the organization's remarkable legacy.

Known for his refined forms and masterful restraint, Choi transforms porcelain into a quiet meditation on beauty, balance, and gesture. Soft, expressive brushwork glides across the pristine white surface, creating a composition that is both minimalist and deeply evocative. The vessel's understated elegance invites contemplation, rewarding viewers with new subtleties in line, texture, and form.

Both a significant commemorative work and a striking example of contemporary ceramic artistry, this porcelain bottle is a meaningful addition to any collection and a lasting tribute to five decades of creativity at The Clay Studio.

Choi's Reflections on his time at The Clay Studio:

As a ceramic artist who studied pottery in Korea, I spent a long time as a resident and guest artist in Canada and the U.S. for over two years and I completed that journey at The Clay Studio. I worked passionately as a guest artist and made experimental and challenging works on the theme of human social relationships. Jimmy Clark was the director at that time, and not only was he a passionate mentor, but he also provided support for the creation of my work and helped me live in Philadelphia. I also remember encountering a variety of excellent contemporary ceramic works artists at the Clay Studio 20th Anniversary Exhibition. Now, more than 30 years later, the time spent at The Clay Studio still gives me inspiration and a new perspective on the development of the world of my work.

Artist Biography

Sung-Jae Choi earned his BFA and MFA from Hongik University, Seoul, Korea. He is a member of the International Academy of Ceramics, and is currently a professor at the Korean National University. Choi's artwork is held in collections around the world, including the Victoria & Albert Museum, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. Sung-Jae Choi was a Guest Artist at The Clay Studio in 1993.

Choi makes vessels in the Korean tradition of 'buncheong ware.' He uses a painterly style to evoke his interpretation of Korean aesthetics. Choi's work combines traditional Korean 'punch'ong' techniques of white slip decoration with contemporary drawn decoration.

Artist Statement

The expression of my Buncheong ceramics is based on that of grayish-blue powdered celadons that were made with white clay and red stoneware clay, which was manufactured in Korea in the 16th century, leading to its maximization of modern pictorial ceramics. This method is focused on applying white slips to the surface of a vessel to maximize its pictorial elements, expressed in the process of applying white clay slip to the surface of a vessel with rough brushes, hands or tree branches. As for the shapes, flat square vessels or round jars are favored. It aims to express the traces of impromptu passing actions conducted by an artist as well as abstraction and contemplative landscape of a comfortable mind reminiscent of the natural image.

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Untitled, 1981

Robert Palusky

Blown glass, inlaid colored stoneware

8.5 in H x 11 in D

Inscribed Signature

This exceptional covered vessel captures a pivotal moment in Palusky's career, when his formal training in ceramics met his newfound passion for glass, a medium he would later embrace almost exclusively. The rare combination of the two makes this early work particularly distinctive.

Skillfully rendered, animated figures in colored clay encircle the ceramic vessel, showcasing Palusky's command of the medium. Above, a vibrant Venetian-style glass paperweight lid bursts with layers of color, bringing energy and movement to the piece.

Together, ceramic and glass create a work that vibrates with creativity, offering a fascinating glimpse into an artist at a transformative moment in his practice.

Artist Biography

Robert Clark Palusky, born in 1942, is a distinguished American glass artist known for his innovative and abstract glass sculptures. He earned a BFA from the University of Wisconsin at Superior and later earned his MFA in ceramics from the Rochester Institute of Technology. Despite his formal education in ceramics, Palusky is largely self-taught in the art of glass, which has become his primary medium.

Palusky's career spans over four decades, during which he has established himself as a pioneer in contemporary glass art. His works are characterized by their abstract forms and intricate designs, often exploring the interplay between light and glass. Palusky's art has been celebrated globally, and his pieces are part of numerous prestigious collections. Robert Palusky's impact on the world of glass art is profound. His innovative techniques and unique artistic vision have earned him a place among the most respected glass artists of his time. Palusky's dedication to his craft and his role as an educator at Hamilton College for 37 years have left an indelible mark on the art community.

Today, Palusky continues to create and inspire from his state-of-the-art glass studio in Upstate New York, where he remains an active and influential figure in the contemporary glass art scene.

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The River

Sadashi Inuzuka

Terracotta

Sizing dependent on installation - 18 pieces total

Inspired by the quiet rhythms and ever-changing forms of nature, The River by Sadashi Inuzuka is a contemplative installation that invites viewers to slow down and explore. Composed of individually crafted ceramic elements, each organic form suggests stones, seeds, shells, or objects shaped by the steady passage of water and time.

Installed together, the pieces create a poetic landscape that evokes the movement of a river and the subtle connections between natural forms. Richly textured surfaces and deep, earthy tones celebrate the tactile beauty of clay while reflecting Inuzuka's masterful craftsmanship and reverence for the natural world.

Both meditative and visually striking, The River transforms any wall into a sculptural composition, offering a timeless reminder of nature's quiet power, beauty, and continual transformation.

As Inuzuka notes, "My wonder about technology and my concern for the world around us, has pushed me to create work that questions our role and responsibility in the survival of this planet."

Artist Biography

Sadashi Inuzuka is a visual artist with a background in ceramics who also creates installations and public art projects. Born in Japan, he had a life-long ambition to immigrate to North America and become an artist. He received a diploma from the Emily Carr College of Art and Design in 1985, and went on to receive his MFA from the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, USA in 1987. He has exhibited extensively in both solo and group shows across Canada and the United States, as well as in Australia, Japan, Finland, Denmark, and Venezuela, Taiwan, Czechoslovakia, France, and the Netherlands. He has also been invited as a visiting artist or artist-in-residence to many places in North and South America, Europe, and Asia.

Artist Statement

When I began to study art and when I encountered clay for the first time it was a revelation. I discovered how to connect the material and spiritual world through the creative process. Decades of art practice have allowed my attitude to evolve, yet my first belief in art - its power to communicate and bring the inside and outside worlds together - remains unchanged.

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It's All in the Details, 2026

Nuokan Huang

Porcelain

2.5 in x 3 in x 2.5 in

Seeing is believing. Nuokan Huang's extraordinary miniature sculpture showcases an astonishing level of precision, patience, and craftsmanship. Every tiny teapot, cup, and vessel is meticulously formed, creating a captivating still life that invites viewers to step closer and discover new details with every glance.

A testament to both a nimble imagination and remarkable technical skill, this exquisite work transforms the everyday into something magical. Equal parts playful and awe-inspiring, it is a true celebration of the artistry possible at the smallest scale.

Artist Statement

I started making miniatures when I first moved to the United States. The limitation of studio access and the uncertainty of my personal future inspired me to make small-scale work. I was delighted to have found infinite possibilities and joy in creating tiny pots. My work has evolved from traditional functional forms into mini-landscapes. These landscapes form a personal space in which I am completely free to create and explore, escaping the chaos of daily life.

Artist Biography

Born and raised in Shanghai, China, Nuokan graduated from Jingdezhen Ceramic Institute in 2010 and started working on ceramics full-time in 2014. She and her partner moved to the United States in 2018. They currently live in Brooklyn, NY.

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Swarm (set of 2), 2010

Nick Kripal

Terracotta

This striking pair of sculptures by Nick Kripal comes from his celebrated Swarm series, originally commissioned for the Philadelphia International Airport in 2010. The large-scale installation transformed slip-cast historical food molds and serving vessels into an abstract urban landscape, exploring the evolution of industrial design, architecture, and city planning through ceramic form. Twenty-six elements from the original installation remain on view today in the Pennsylvania Convention Center Collection.

Elegant and sculptural, this pair embodies Kripal's distinctive ability to transform familiar objects into compelling architectural forms. Beyond their beauty, they represent an important chapter in Philadelphia's rich craft history. A visionary artist, educator, and connector, Kripal played a vital role in strengthening the relationships among the region's artists, universities, and cultural institutions, leaving a lasting impact on Philadelphia's vibrant craft community.

Artist Biography

Nicholas Kripal was the chair of the Crafts Department Tyler School of Art, Temple University, area head of the department's Ceramics Program, and one of the founders of the Crane Arts Building in South Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia, across the street from The Clay Studio's new building. He was an active member of the community, a Board member of The Clay Studio, and believed passionately in our mission. He crafted enormous, imposing adobe sculptures and terra cotta pieces that could fit in your hand. He taught hundreds of students over 34 years as a professor. He passed away in 2016, our community continues to mourn his loss.

He was an artist who utilized the ceramic medium as a source for sculptural installations, and he created work in the arena of site-specific/site-related installations that explored architectural iconography as a source for their format. Kripal designed sculptures for cathedrals and spiritual spaces. He was inspired by gothic architecture and religious stories, and the idea of creating something new for all those old places.

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Viktoria, 2026

Janina Myronova

Stoneware

10.5 in H x 14.2 in x 4.5 in

Bright colors and delightful details-including the lively plant forms growing around the figure's head-capture the artist's ongoing search for beauty and connection. At the center is a serene, pleased smile, offering a gentle reminder to meet the world with curiosity, optimism, and joy.

Viktoria is a vibrant wall-hanging sculpture infused with Janina Myronova's joyful and deeply observant approach to life. Born in Ukraine and shaped by ceramic residencies around the world, Myronova brings a distinctly global perspective to her work, drawing inspiration from the people, places, and experiences she encounters.

Playful, expressive, and full of personality, Viktoria is a work that promises to bring a smile to everyone who encounters it.

Artist Statement

"My characters display a specific, distorted body perspective. The forms are a bit clunky, chubby, anatomically misshapen, marked with accents which double the characters or hybridize their silhouettes. Each sculpture is a different personality, a personal story, a graphic "novel" featuring my favorite motifs: images of family relationships, parent and child, partners, pets. My emotions are "scratched" into them, with a subtle hint towards humor. Wonder, anger, fear and joy are all present there. What also influences the emotional charge of the figures is the colour scheme of my sculptures, defining the characters and saturating their personal stories placed on the bodies and clothing. I emphasize their colouration by the black-and-white drawings in the background, constituting a backdrop to my stories."

Artist Biography

Janina Myronova is a current Resident Artist at The Clay Studio. She earned her MFA from the Department of Ceramic Art at Lviv National Academy of Fine Arts (Lviv, Ukraine) in 2012, an MFA from the Department of Ceramics and Glass at The Eugeniusz Geppert Academy of Fine Arts and Design (Wroclaw, Poland) in 2013, and her PhD from the Department of Ceramics and Glass at Eugeniusz Geppert Academy of Fine Arts in 2019. Continually developing her work and practice, Myronova has attended numerous residencies including opportunities at the New Taipei Yingge Ceramics Museum (New Taipei, Taiwan), Clayarch Gimhae Museum (Gimhae-si, Gyeongsangnam-do, South Korea), Lefebvre and Fils (Paris, France), the Polish Sculpture Centre (Oronsko, Poland), and the International Ceramic Research Center (Guldagergaard,Denmark), International Ceramic Studio (Kecskemet, Hungary), Northern Clay Center (Minneapolis, United States) and Archie Bray Foundation (Helena, MT, United States).

Myronova also has artwork in numerous public museum collections including those at Crocker Art Museum, (Sacramento, USA), Porcelain Museum (Riga, Latvia), the Mark Rothko Art Center (Daugavpils, Latvia), Museu Cerà mica (Alcora, Spain), and the National Museums in both Wroclaw and Krakow (Poland), New Taipei Yingge Ceramics Museum (New Taipei, Taiwan).

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Hedgehogs and Mushrooms Platter

Celia Feldberg

earthenware, underglaze, glaze, slip
15 in x 7.75 in x 1.25 in
Inscribed Signature

Step into an enchanted woodland with Celia Feldberg's charming Hedgehogs and Mushrooms platter. Two inquisitive hedgehogs wander among a lush landscape of colorful mushrooms, grasses, and tiny flowers, creating a scene filled with warmth, whimsy, and delightful detail.

Feldberg's lively illustration transforms this generous ceramic platter into a functional work of art. Perfect for serving at the table or displaying where its woodland inhabitants can be enjoyed every day, Hedgehogs and Mushrooms is sure to bring a little joy, color, and magic into your home.

Artist Statement

My work incorporates narrative imagery, playful humor, and bright color on ceramic forms to invite connection and impart joy. The pieces themselves are often functional or made for the wall, intended to become part of a home where they can be seen and engaged with often. By having illustrations that wrap around three dimensional forms, I create a process of discovery, as one must turn the piece in their hands to unfold its full story. Nature and everyday moments inspire me, and animals often take center stage. I love the direct connection we make with images of animals and that anyone can see themselves in these characters. I seek balance in my work, wanting the pieces to feel both niche and relatable, to express joy with a touch of poignancy or playfulness with an edge of carefulness. I aim to highlight small moments and memories, and capture a sense of place, emotional truth, and wonder.

Artist Biography

Celia Feldberg is a Philadelphia-based ceramic artist. She holds a BFA in ceramics from Massachusetts College of Art and Design, and has completed artist residencies at The Clay Studio of Philadelphia and Watershed Center for the Ceramic Arts, among others. Celia has exhibited at the Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Show, Flower City Pottery Invitational, and in galleries nationally. She has taught at community studios and craft schools including Haystack Mountain School of Crafts and Snow Farm. She served as the glaze technician for Ben Carter's Complete Guide to Low-Fire Glazes for Potters and Sculptors. Celia was selected as a Ceramics Monthly Emerging Artist in 2026, and her work has been featured by Homo Faber, The Ceramic Shop, Pottery Making Illustrated, and Tales of A Red Clay Rambler.

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Dreaming of a Crystal Forest, 2026

Jeanne Blissett Robertson

Porcelain

7.5 in H x 16 in x 10 in

Bring a cool fairytale breeze into your life with this beautiful sculpture by Jeanne Blissett Robertson, a unique marriage of nostalgic fantasy imagery and Robertson's experience participating in research concerning the effect of melting glaciers.

This piece is part of a series of porcelain crystal forms with dreamy paintings of animals and nature taken from slot machine graphics. These symbols of freedom and adventure have been re-contextualised to question what we seek and how we find it in an increasingly noisy world.

In 2024 Robertson joined Dr. Jon Hawkings and his team at the University of Pennsylvania researching the elements released in glacial meltwater and biochemical cycles. This research influenced Robertson in creating a series of glacial forms with various imagery from charts and quotes highlighting scientific research to the colorful fantasy and exotic creatures you see today.

Artist Statement

This piece is part of a series of porcelain crystal forms with dreamy paintings of animals and nature taken from slot machine graphics. These symbols of freedom and adventure have been re-contextualised to question what we seek and how we find it in an increasingly noisy world.

I have recently been developing a line of work involving the long standing human interest in crystalline forms and their power to connect internal human experiences with the material world. I reflect on the precarious state of our changing natural environment and its effect on our culture, both spiritually and politically. The crystal forms provide a 3D canvas for me to combine diverse imagery from
sources such as photographs, painting and symbols to communicate through active, tactile engagement and to challenge core, binary understandings.

Artist Biography

Jeanne Blissett Robertson graduated with a BA Hons in Sculpture & Environmental Art from Glasgow School of Art in 2015. Since then she has lived and worked internationally carrying out artist residencies in Abu Dhabi (Manarat Al Saadiyat), Mexico (Trapo Galeria), Edinburgh (Edinburgh Ceramics Workshop) and most recently Ullapool, Scotland (An Talla Solais). She recently received an Arts Council England grant, 'Developing Your Creative Practice', for a self-tailored ceramics training programme where she learnt from crafts people based in Scotland. Her activity included salt-glazing in Isle of Skye, making geological glazes with rocks from Assynt (world heritage site), foraging for clay and minerals, and multiple-part mould making for slip-casting. Recent exhibitions include 'To A Green Thought', DVAA, Philadelphia, 2022, 'Off-Kilter', Drill Hall, Edinburgh, 2021, and 'Running Parallel', Lewes Light Festival, 2020. Alongside her practice, Robertson delivers experimental art workshops for people of all ages and abilities.

• All winning bids are paid in full before artwork leaves The Clay Studio.
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Aster

Robert Zumwalt

Porcelain

4 in D x 20 in

Aster is a striking example of Robert Zumwalt's remarkable material expertise and inventive approach to porcelain. With a foundation in music, Zumwalt brings a sense of rhythm and composition to his visual practice, carefully orchestrating individual elements into a harmonious whole.

This piece, formed by thin sheets of porcelain, richly colored with layers of Mason stain, creates rhythmic waves across the surface of the wall-hanging sculpture. The undulating patterns evoke sound waves in motion, translating the language of music into ceramic form.

Precise yet dynamic, Aster celebrates Zumwalt's mastery of porcelain and the creative vision that defines his cross-disciplinary virtuosity, bringing together material, movement, color, and rhythm in a sophisticated work of contemporary art.

Artist Biography

Music and nature are instilled in Robert Zumwalt and the objects he creates. Robert grew up in Fresno, California where his family frequented the epic national parks of Yosemite and Sequoia. Drawn to music at an early age, Robert spent half his life studying classical piano and clarinet, culminating in a master's degree from San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Following school, he volunteered at San Francisco's arboretum where he studied botanical form and landscape which led to work as a gardener. Robert conceptualized and installed gardens using his foundation of music. Musical ideas of form, structure, texture, motifs and style lent themselves to constructing physical space. The seasons and the ephemeral nature of the garden became his meter and rhythm. At age thirty-five Robert enrolled in his first pottery class. Initially, he was enamored with producing functional ceramics, the technique and physicality of wheel throwing. However, the call of the sublime, a reminiscence to music making, of constructing and sharing other worlds, returned to Robert's aspirations. Graduating in 2024 from Syracuse University with his MFA, Robert now focuses on bringing a sense of time and space into immutable objects with the transformative experience of music as his guiding light.

Artist Statement

My ceramic practice is a material investigation guided by process. I create iterative systems of production that result in series or fragments for larger works. Form is often a byproduct or secondary to this practice. My systems are set up to fail, creating obstacles that compel intuitive making, balancing process and hand and ultimately reflecting humanity. Recurring patterns of nature as well as natural forces make the bulk of my mark making. I use the layered clay technique, nerikomi, to create linework that evinces every action and to depict our existential experience through time.

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Where's the Toast?, 2025

Bradford Davis

Ceramic Stoneware, Underglaze, Acrylic Shelf, Magnet

Various Sizes

Pressed Artist Stamp

Bradford Davis brings a playful contemporary sensibility to the vessel form with Where's the Toast?, a striking set of three ceramic vases. Bold silhouettes and smooth surfaces are paired with a rich, avocado-inspired palette, balancing references to ceramic history with a distinctly modern aesthetic.

The title provides the punchline: you've got the avocado-now, where's the toast? Davis' humor adds an unexpected lightness to these sophisticated forms, reminding us that contemporary art can be both beautifully considered and fun.

Displayed together, the three vessels create a dynamic conversation of form, color, and scale. Where's the Toast? is a sophisticated, and clever, addition to a contemporary art collection.

Artist Statement

The transport amphora was a durable yet ultimately disposable tool. Designed for commerce, amphorae circulated across cultures carrying goods before being discarded or repurposed. I use this vessel as a surrogate for the human body-particularly the veteran body-to question where value resides when a tool can no longer perform its intended function. Like the amphora, veteran bodies have often been valued for their ability to labor, serve, protect, and endure rather than for the complexity of the lives they contain.

What can something discarded become? Rather than erasing evidence of change, each sculpture preserves the marks of what it has experienced. Through altering the form and disrupting its surface, I explore how an object carries its history. Like scars on a body, every crack, seam, and layer becomes part of the patina of lived experience.

Color offers another language for transformation. My increasing use of vibrant color reflects an evolution in both my work and sense of self, shaped in part by post-traumatic growth. Variations in form, color, surface, and scale accumulate into multiple portraits of identity, each iteration representing a different state of the self. Identity emerges through these variations not as a fixed construct, but as something layered, cumulative, and continually changing.

These works reject the expectation that restoration means returning to what existed before. Instead, they consider how fracture and transformation can carry what has already existed forward into something previously unimaginable.

Artist Biography

Bradford Davis is an award-winning multimedia artist who uses ceramics as the base matrix to express his feelings, emotions, and responses to his traumas and life experiences. As a retired Army Artillery Officer, he mines his journey of healing to feed his creative research. He mixes fibers, metal, and stained glass with wheel thrown ceramics; to explore the personification of the amphora vessel in its destruction, restoration, and rebirth. Davis received his MFA at Temple University's Tyler School of Art & Architecture and his BFA from the University of South Carolina, both with a focus in ceramics. He has been an Artist in Residence at Tainan National University of the Arts, Taiwan. His works have been shown internationally and can be found in the collection of the McKissick Museum. Bradford maintains a private studio in Downingtown, PA.

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Pair of Cups, 2026

Soojin Choi

Porcelain

4.25 & 4.75 in x 3.75 D

Artist mark on bottom.

Soojin Choi's work explores the remarkable ability of the human face to communicate emotion, identity, and experience. By returning to the form again and again, she reveals an almost endless range of expression-each face distinct despite emerging from a repeated process.

During her Residency at The Clay Studio, Choi has deepened the relationship between her painting and ceramic practices, expanding her technical command of glaze. While earlier works relied primarily on underglaze painting to articulate the surfaces of her sculptural forms, she now embraces glaze as an integral part of her visual language, using its depth, color, and material qualities to enrich each piece.

The result is a compelling convergence of painting, sculpture, and ceramics, demonstrating Choi's evolving mastery of the medium and her ongoing fascination with the complexity of human expression.

Artist Statement

Human emotion comes from the interplay between people, physical space, and emotion itself. The ambivalence of human emotion occurs through unresolved and confusing situations in external and internal matters. An ambivalent moment reveals itself to me, and I depict that gray area of humanity. I recount these unsettled situations so viewers can empathetically encounter the emotions of the human forms I create. In making my work, I attempt to express the ambiguity of emotion through flat and spatial surfaces; subtle facial expression, gaze and body gesture; as well as color and brush expressions. Building the surfaces with clay allows me to seamlessly weave between dimensions and textures to articulate feelings of ambivalence.

Artist Biography

Soojin Choi (b.1991) was born and raised in South Korea, and she has worked as an artist in the United States since 2010. Soojin earned her BFA at Virginia Commonwealth University in 2015 with a double major in Craft/ Material Studies and Painting/ Printmaking. She continued her studies at Alfred University to pursue a MFA degree in ceramics in 2018.

After graduate school, she was a resident at the Northern Clay Center in Minneapolis, MN with funding by Anonymous Artist Studio Fellowship, a long-term resident artist at Red Lodge Clay Center in Red Lodge, MT, she is a long-term resident artist at Archie Bray Foundation in Helena, MT. Her work transforms objects, figures and spaces into visual language by repeatedly layering flat and spatial surfaces.

• All winning bids are paid in full before artwork leaves The Clay Studio.
• Winning Bids are automatically billed at the close of the Auction at 12:00 pm on September 27th 2026.
• Shipping is NOT included in the winning bid.
• Items can be packed and shipped, and the winner will pay the cost.
• Items can be picked up at The Clay Studio for no additional cost.
• Items with alcohol CANNOT be shipped.

Tiles, 2026

Daeun Lim

Porcelain

5.5 x 5.5 x 2 (each of 2 tiles)

Tiles is a pair of wall-hanging porcelain works featuring subtle images of a chair and two circles rendered in clear, glossy glaze. As light moves across their surfaces-or as the viewer changes perspective-the imagery quietly emerges and recedes, rewarding close observation.

Daeun Lim's practice explores the intersection of function, form, and idea, finding meaning and beauty in the familiar objects that shape everyday life. After beginning her ceramic arts education in Korea and pursuing graduate studies in the United States, Lim has continued this exploration during her Residency at The Clay Studio. Her practice has expanded from using function conceptually in sculptural work to creating functional ceramics, including cups and bowls now featured in The Clay Studio's Functional Gallery.

Understated and contemplative, Tiles brings a sense of calm, curiosity, and quiet beauty to a space-and offers a wonderful starting point for collecting Lim's work across both her sculptural and functional practices.

Artist Statement

My work employs the aesthetics of utilitarian ceramics in order to challenge assumptions about functionality. My process and the resulting forms adopt the language of industry - sleek, white ceramics rendered with 3D modeling, printing, and mold-making - but subvert the expectation of utility. These materials and methods produce objects that are both recognizable and unfamiliar, whose apparent functionality ranges from ambiguous to hyper-specific, impractical, or exaggerated to absurdity.

I explore objects' potential beyond practical use. I design "function" in a way that pushes boundaries rather than reinforcing traditional utility, and reposition function as a question rather than an answer. Function in my work moves beyond the literal and becomes an analog for the human experience. Shaped by the identities given to me - a woman, a foreigner, and someone who continuously moves between different cultural and social expectations - these functions reflect ways of seeing, adapting, and existing within shifting contexts.

Artist Biography

Daeun Lim is a designer and maker from South Korea. She studied ceramics at Ewha Womans University in Seoul and earned her MFA in Ceramics from the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University in 2024. She has participated in artist residency programs at the Interdisciplinary Ceramic Research Center (ICRC) at the University of Kansas, Baltimore Clayworks, the New Harmony Clay Project, and Clayarch Gimhae Museum.

Her work has been exhibited both nationally and internationally at venues including the Red Lodge Clay Center (MT), The Clay Studio (PA), Hudgens Center for Art & Learning (GA), Delaplaine Arts Center (MD), Bund 18 Jiushi Art Gallery (Shanghai, China), KCDF Gallery (Seoul), and Clayarch Gimhae Museum (Gimhae), among numerous others.

• All winning bids are paid in full before artwork leaves The Clay Studio.
• Winning Bids are automatically billed at the close of the Auction at 12:00 pm on September 27th 2026.
• Shipping is NOT included in the winning bid.
• Items can be packed and shipped, and the winner will pay the cost.
• Items can be picked up at The Clay Studio for no additional cost.
• Items with alcohol CANNOT be shipped.

Whipper Snapper, 2026

Jeremiah Ibarra

Earthenware, slip, decals

10 in x 7 in x 6 in

Jeremiah Ibarra creates functional ceramics infused with humor, nostalgia, and the visual language of popular culture. Drawing from hand-rendered imagery as well as newspapers, advertisements, cartoons, and other familiar sources, he transforms everyday objects into layered visual narratives.

Whipper Snapper invites you to look closely. A boxy green car straight from the 1980s, a map of the world, the cartoon character Olive Oyl, and an eclectic collection of other images cover the surface, offering new details to discover with every viewing. Its playful pink-and-black palette provides the backdrop for imagery chosen to make you think, remember, and smile.

And this is art meant to be used. Fill the pitcher with your drink of choice, gather some friends, and let Ibarra's wonderfully unexpected imagery become the start of a lively conversation.

Artist's Statement

I'm interested in elevating seemingly prosaic scenes and otherwise mundane objects with the aim of shedding light on socioeconomic disparities, thereby acknowledging where our intellectual and cultural developments thrive. My pots examine the arena of the commonplace by leaning into the familiar. Iconographic drawing on pottery is nothing new. Most folks might argue that pots have an inherent need for ornamentation. Drawings have the ability to both fill this role as well as transcend ornamentation all together. This is a lot to ask of any drawing or pot for that matter, but I am increasingly interested in this departure. My drawings, often allusions from North American pop culture, are meant to evoke a sense of nostalgia and familiarity. The pantry references in my portfolio allude to growth, family, and valuing the meals and objects we live with and work for. These pieces offer a recollection on a common narrative. One that speaks to a culture of "getting by." These drawings dress up modestly glazed stoneware and terracotta tableware. In turn the pots become placeholders for commemorative china in a lower to middle class cabinet.

Artist Biography

Jeremiah Ibarra is a multidisciplinary artist native to San Angelo Texas, a city built on a bed of caliche along the Concho River. In 2014, He earned an MFA from Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi where he studied under Louis Katz and Amber Scoon. Jeremiah has been invited to participate in a number of artist residencies, which include the Chautauqua School of Art, New Harmony Clay Project, 100 West Corsicana, and Watershed Center for the Ceramic Arts. Exhibitions include: The 20th San Angelo National Ceramics Competition at SAMFA, Clay National XVII - The Autobiography of the Object at Carbondale Clay Center, and the 31st Annual Strictly Functional Pottery National in Lancaster, PA.

• All winning bids are paid in full before artwork leaves The Clay Studio.
• Winning Bids are automatically billed at the close of the Auction at 12:00 pm on September 27th 2026.
• Shipping is NOT included in the winning bid.
• Items can be packed and shipped, and the winner will pay the cost.
• Items can be picked up at The Clay Studio for no additional cost.
• Items with alcohol CANNOT be shipped.

Textured Oil Can

Dehmie Demlow

Midrange ceramics, red clay, glazes, stained terra sigillata, washes, rubber, and wire stoppers.

13 in H x 7 in x 2 in

Dehmie Dehmlow's Textured Oil Can is a functional work of art guaranteed to turn your next dinner party into an exhibition. With its generous handle and dramatically elongated spout, even a simple pour of olive oil becomes a moment of performance.

Both playful and beautifully tactile, Textured Oil Can transforms an everyday ritual into something memorable-an object made to be admired, handled, used, and shared.

Artist Statement

My work is empowered by intuition and imagination and is based in storytelling. I build sculptures and pottery using a strong compositional and formal sensibility as my guide. My practice as an interdisciplinary artist making modular sculpture engages in thought processes that deploy forms of reclamation. My assemblages act as declarations of value as the discarded and salvaged materials, and objects I collect, are used to create and construct an imagined, collaborative, whole composed of desperate parts. Similarly, I make my pots as wholistic compositions that playfully navigate and push the parameters of existing as vessels or pottery. At each layer in the process I give a piece what I feel it needs, and that series of decisions accumulate into a composition, telling that pot's story. With a focus on slab building and layered surfaces, I create depth in my work through texture and color. My work becomes animated and joyful through the compilation of saturated and muted colors, abstraction, crisp and hazy lines, and exaggerations like an extra loopy handle that seems unnecessary while so vital. Excess becomes just right, quietly there becomes vast, and silly becomes beautiful.

Artist Biography

Dehmie Dehmlow grew up in Denver, Colorado. While primarily making pottery, she maintains a versatile practice in ceramics, sculpture, textiles and other mixed medias, telling stories using layers of texture, color and text. She has been teaching ceramics and sculpture since 2019. In addition to ceramics, Dehmie's background is in caregiving for elderly and adults with disabilities. She earned her BA in Ceramics and Pre-Medical Sciences from Colorado State University. Dehmie was a ceramics intern at Anderson Ranch Arts Center in Colorado before she was selected as the 2019 Salad Days Artist in Residence at Watershed Center for Ceramic Arts in Maine. Dehmie then completed a Post-Baccalaureate program at Louisiana State University. She received her MFA from University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 2022 and then completed a ceramics residency at Pratt Munson in Utica, New York. After Utica, Dehmie was the Ceramic Artist in Residence at Lawrence Arts Center in Kansas for a year. Dehmie moved to Philadelphia, PA in the summer of 2025 where she is a resident and teaches ceramics classes at The Clay Studio. Dehmie enjoys being outside with her dog, Hadlee, and observing the world and people around her. Her work is shown and sold in galleries

• All winning bids are paid in full before artwork leaves The Clay Studio.
• Winning Bids are automatically billed at the close of the Auction at 12:00 pm on September 27th 2026.
• Shipping is NOT included in the winning bid.
• Items can be packed and shipped, and the winner will pay the cost.
• Items can be picked up at The Clay Studio for no additional cost.
• Items with alcohol CANNOT be shipped.

Superalimento del Futuro

Adrian Gomez

Earthenware

Dimensions Vary

Superalimento del Futuro-Super Food of the Future-is Adrian Gomez's sculptural meditation on nature, culture, resilience, and identity.

In this work, an animal-faced vessel is juxtaposed with a nopal, or cactus pad-a plant valued for its nutritional properties and extraordinary ability to thrive in harsh desert environments. Gomez uses the nopal as both subject and symbol, inviting connections between the plant's resilience and the perseverance of Indigenous peoples of the Americas.

Beautiful yet layered with meaning, Superalimento del Futuro asks viewers to consider ideas of survival, adaptation, cultural continuity, and hope. Adding this powerful sculpture to your collection brings not only a compelling work of contemporary ceramic art, but an important and enduring conversation.

Artist Statement

Distance from family, home, and community has prompted a further study into the histories determining my identity. From the perspective of a first-generation Mexican-Guatemalan maker, my work describes what it means to preserve and mourn customs obscured by borders. The use of specific culturally significant motifs, replicated but often altered, portrays archival memory of personal and recorded Latino history. In honoring the moments fundamental to my cultural identity, I can process the limited access to the traditions practiced by my family for generations. The intent to make is sustained by my urgency to represent and understand the cyclical nature life follows when obscured by borders.

Researching pre-Colombian histories, I realized these deeply personal relationships were universal and that I could, in fact, have an audience. Connecting with the long tradition of ceramics in the Americas I began using red clay to maintain that historical throughline. Making work that embodies the notion of being stuck between culture and place is essential because it gives a point of entry to many with similar lived experiences. In these challenging political times, I realized encountering one of my works can be the representation and connection people need. Recently, I've been diving into how new cultural practices were introduced to the Indigenous cultures of the Americas. My sculptures now appear as snapshots of perceived realities arising from meshing information together.

Artist Biography

Adrian Gomez is an interdisciplinary artist who examines the intricacies of being a first-generation American. He received his BFA at the University of Washington (2018) in Ceramics through the 3D4M program. He continued his education at Tyler School of Art (2019) in their post-bacc program and participated in a two-year residency at Pottery Northwest (2022) in Seattle. He has shown work throughout the country, most notably at NCECA, The Clay Studio, and the Mexican Consulate in Seattle. He has participated in various museum shows across the United States. Recently finishing his MFA at the University of South Florida, he is working towards expanding his practice through the combination of clay and the use of new processes in metals, sound, and video.

• All winning bids are paid in full before artwork leaves The Clay Studio.
• Winning Bids are automatically billed at the close of the Auction at 12:00 pm on September 27th 2026.
• Shipping is NOT included in the winning bid.
• Items can be packed and shipped, and the winner will pay the cost.
• Items can be picked up at The Clay Studio for no additional cost.
• Items with alcohol CANNOT be shipped.

Bibendum Tile, 2026

Micah Lewis-van Sweezie

Wood-fired stoneware.

10 in x 5.5 in x 2 in

Makers Stamp

The Michelin Man tile is a marker of the importance of material research and social activism embraced by Sweezie and many other ceramic artists today and over the last 150 years. The wall hanging tile with the Michelin Man in relief has a subtle green speckle glaze.

Micah Lewis-van Sweezie has done extensive research on the history of Michelin in Vietnam in relation to her Vietnamese cultural heritage. She travelled to Vietnam for a ceramic art residency, where she expanded her practice and learned from the talented artists and craftspeople she worked with there. In her artistic practice Sweezie examines the Michelin Man, one of the oldest and most famous brand mascots in the world. The smiling, puffy figure exudes a non-threatening charm that masks the damage done in Vietnam by the corporation and the French colonization that allowed it to do so.

Artist Biography

Micah Lewis-Văn Sweezie is a ceramic artist from Kalamazoo, Michigan. She is shaped and influenced by dichotomous elements of culture and craft from her upbringing in both Vietnam and America. She earned her BFA from The School of The Art Institute of Chicago in 2022 focused in ceramics and sculpture. Micah self-conducted a study abroad to Vietnam in 2023 to research ancient and contemporary forms of Vietnamese ceramic production - this research trip was supported in part by the NCECA (National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts) Regina Brown Undergraduate Student Fellowship. Micah's work has been exhibited in group and solo shows nationally including Eutectic Gallery, Baltimore Clayworks, and the NCECA Annual Exhibition. She's also received various grants and fellowships including the NCECA Multicultural fellowship and the Artaxis x Haystack fellowship. Micah is also recognized as a 2025 NCECA Emerging Artist Fellow and dually, a 2025 Northern Indiana Clay Alliance Emerging Artist.

Artist Statement

Sweezie produces ceramic and sculptural works to investigate themes of labor, memory, globalization, and material history. Her practice is heavily informed by historical research and is often inspired by revolutionary events and personal ancestral histories. Correlations between human intervention and industrial production are the crux of her work. These correlations broaden realities of understanding around our physical world, product origins, and our relationship to industrialized material. Sweezie's forms are posed as recognizable and minimal to reflect the origins of the forms while simultaneously contrasting themselves through alternative mediums and processes. Sweezie utilizes molded and cast forms frequently to question values tied to reproduction and authorship within industry. Material value is also central to her practice. Sweezie employs an assortment of mediums such as porcelain, latex, bronze, rubber, rice paper, cast plastic, and gold gilding. Through these materials, she aspires to reposition suppressed relational histories within global and institutional perceptions.

• All winning bids are paid in full before artwork leaves The Clay Studio.
• Winning Bids are automatically billed at the close of the Auction at 12:00 pm on September 27th 2026.
• Shipping is NOT included in the winning bid.
• Items can be packed and shipped, and the winner will pay the cost.
• Items can be picked up at The Clay Studio for no additional cost.
• Items with alcohol CANNOT be shipped.

Whiskey Pup Sips, 2026

Ilona Romule

Porcelain

3.25 in x 2.5 in x 2.5 in

Rye donated by Lock Stock & Barrel Rye Whiskey

This lot cannot be shipped.

It's difficult to say which is the star of this lot: a delightful pair of cups by ceramic artist Ilona Romule or an exceptional bottle of Lock Stock & Barrel Rye Whiskey.

Romule's beautifully crafted cups feature a pair of charming Dalmatian pups rendered in exquisite detail, bringing personality and playfulness to every sip. Paired with them is an elegant bottle of aged rye from Lock Stock & Barrel, recognized as Best of Class Rye Whiskey at the 2022 San Francisco World Spirits Competition.

Artful, spirited, and just a little unexpected, this pairing has everything you need to elevate your next pour. Add the rye, raise a Dalmatian, and enjoy art exactly as it was meant to be experienced.

Lock Stock & Barrel Rye Whiskey:

A Straight Rye Whiskey aged 21 years in new charred American Oak barrels. This is a 100% rye grain, distilled and barrelled in May 1999. Nose: Warm spiced date cake, treacle toffee, orange peel, baking spicesPalate: Full bodied with luxurious viscosity, treacle, caramel, coconut, cocoa, cinnamon, and anise

Artist Statement

"All my artworks are figurative and the figure is at times close to Desire itself. The figure-matrix, like the unconscious as described by Freud, acts like a language of Desire. Desire as a primary mode for communication expands the possibilities of figurative art with a bold, expressionistic style. Love, lust, and desire - both spiritual and physical - are among the dominant themes in the thematic of Desire in my female, male sculptures, and mythological creatures.

One provocative aspect of these works is not their imagery, per se, but the manner by which many of them take intimate experiences and translate them into public expression. Desire is a complex human emotion, direct emotion, raw feeling… But Art is not a mirror…"

Artist Biography

Graduated from Latvian Art Academy in 1985 (MFA in Ceramics). Member of IAC since 2001. Freelance artist, working with high temperature porcelain. Ilona has held 20 solo shows, over 50 International Juried Competitions, over 30 group exhibitions, winning 8 awards, including: "Mino'95" Competition in Japan; 6th Taiwan Golden Ceramics Awards in 2000; Icheon World Ceramic Biennale in 2001, 2003; "6th international Small teapot Competition", Grand Prize, Pomona Ceramics Museum, CA, USA in 2014.

This piece was donated by the Family of Marge and Phil Kalodner.

• All winning bids are paid in full before artwork leaves The Clay Studio.
• Winning Bids are automatically billed at the close of the Auction at 12:00 pm on September 27th 2026.
• Shipping is NOT included in the winning bid.
• Items can be packed and shipped, and the winner will pay the cost.
• Items can be picked up at The Clay Studio for no additional cost.
• Items with alcohol CANNOT be shipped.

Raffle Items are currently closed. Additional tickets can only be purchased IN-PERSON.

Candle Set

Nitza Walesca

Earthenware

3.5 & 4.5 in H x 2.5 in D

Written Makers Mark

This elegant set of three candleholders by Nitza Walesca reflects the artist's deep connection to her Puerto Rican and Taino heritage. Walesca's signature black glaze highlights intricately carved surfaces inspired by ancestral Taino traditions, in which carving served as a means of communication, spirituality, and storytelling.

Her forms often reference the female body, honoring the matrilineal nature of Taino culture and celebrating the strong women in her own family. Both functional and deeply personal, this striking set brings cultural history, contemporary craftsmanship, and Walesca's distinctive artistic voice into your home.

Artist Biography

Nitza Walesca was introduced to ceramics by her high school art teachers, and then continued her education in the ceramic arts largely here at The Clay Studio. She started taking classes here in 1993, and is now an integral member of the Claymobile team, teaches ceramics at Temple University, and shows her work in our Functional Gallery.

Artist Statement

My ceramic practice reflects my cultural background as well as the culturally-rich city that I call home. My primary artistic concern is highlighting and uplifting Puerto Rican culture and the history of the indigenous Taino populations. Access to information about the Taino culture is scarce and dwindling. Colonization on the island has been and still is destroying the land, therefore artifacts are forgotten and important cultural information is effectively lost. Other people on the island are doing similar work, fighting erasure by keeping traditional crafts alive, sharing histories, and preserving artifacts. I seek to create a deeper connection with my ancestry through Taino pottery artifacts, learning from Taino makers, and bringing this information back to inform my community art-making practice as well as my own work.

My process centers around the practice of carving, a technique informed by ancestral knowledge. The Taino people used carving to communicate about the present, their spirituality, and the future. In my work, carving allows me to share this rich history while telling my own story. I carve Taino symbols on my vessels to honor the connection between the Indigenous people of Puerto Rico and those of us here today. I further this by creating vessels that are often reminiscent of female bodies, a reflection of the matrilineal nature of Taino culture and a celebration of the strong, beautiful women in my own family who have helped me to maintain connections to my cultural roots.

• Winning Raffles are announced at 10:15 pm EST on September 26th
• If attending the event in person winners may pick up their Raffle in the first floor Gallery at 10:30 pm
• Any winner not in attendance will be contacted on Monday September 28th.
• Items can be packed and shipped, and the winner will pay the cost.
• Items can be picked up at The Clay Studio for no additional cost.
• Items with alcohol CANNOT be shipped.
• please note: one raffle sheet is 10 tickets for $10, or three sheets of 10 (total 30 tickets) for $25
• All Raffle Winners have ONE WEEK (ending October 5th) to claim their winnings, before a new number is pulled.

Raffle Items are currently closed. Additional tickets can only be purchased IN-PERSON.

Cream and Sugar Set

Paul Eshelman & Paul Serena

Terracotta

3.5 in H x 8.5 in x 4 in (cream and sugar set)

Sizing (each cup)

Start every morning in style.

This handcrafted ceramic cream and sugar set by Paul Eschelman with beautiful mugs by Paul Serena bring a timeless mid-century modern feel to your coffee ritual. Featuring warm, retro-inspired colors these items will brighten any kitchen or table. Beautifully crafted and perfectly functional, these pieces transform an everyday cup of coffee into a moment worth savoring.

Complete with a selection of premium coffee and artisan biscotti, this package is everything you need for a cozy morning, an afternoon pick-me-up, or sharing coffee with friends.

Artist Statement

Culture has been defined as what we make of the world. Functional pottery is Paul Eshelman's cultural attempt, through the material of clay, to bring order and human dignity to the merely physical act of consuming food and drink. As his pots are used daily, Paul's hope is that they carry measures of quiet and nourishment for body and spirit. He imagines people at a dinner table, workspace, or office cubicle where food and drink are served and humanized by hospitable, well-ordered pots.

Artist Biography

Paul's developing artistic interests were directed along practical lines as he grew up in Iowa. Simple utilitarian objects guided him aesthetically. Eshelman received a B.A. in art from the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington and an M.F.A. in ceramics from the Rhode Island School of Design in Providence, Rhode Island. Laurel received a B.S. in biology from Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois. Since 1988 Paul and Laurel have been living and making pottery in Elizabeth, a small farming community in northwestern Illinois. They have three children who all worked in the pottery during their years at home. The pottery has gone out to enhance the lives of people across the country. The clay body is a red stoneware; the glazes are all lead free. Clarity is given to simple forms by contrasting glazed and unglazed surfaces. Paul's pure clean glazes render elegant presentations of food and drink.

• Winning Raffles are announced at 10:15 pm EST on September 26th
• If attending the event in person winners may pick up their Raffle in the first floor Gallery at 10:30 pm
• Any winner not in attendance will be contacted on Monday September 28th.
• Items can be packed and shipped, and the winner will pay the cost.
• Items can be picked up at The Clay Studio for no additional cost.
• Items with alcohol CANNOT be shipped.
• please note: one raffle sheet is 10 tickets for $10, or three sheets of 10 (total 30 tickets) for $25
• All Raffle Winners have ONE WEEK (ending October 5th) to claim their winnings, before a new number is pulled.

Raffle Items are currently closed. Additional tickets can only be purchased IN-PERSON.

The One with the Butterfly
Cup pair, 2026

Sandra Torres

Porcelain

2.5 in H x 3 in D

Inscribed Signature

Bring a taste of Mud Ball home with a trio of L'Effet Papillon wines from Domaine le Roc des Anges, affectionately known by fans as "the one with the butterfly." Approachable, delicious, and wonderfully drinkable, it's a wine made for sharing.

And what better way to enjoy it than from these beautiful ceramic cups by Sandra Torres? Together, the wine and handmade ceramics create the perfect pairing for an artful evening at home.

Artist Statement

The character of my current work resides in the contrast and modulation of different color shades. The color's softness and sharp edges result into a dramatic chromatic composition in contrast to the white, translucent, and matte porcelain surface and accentuate the simplicity of the shape. Porcelain, in the thinnest of its expressions, demonstrates a life of its own, moving to the heat of the firing and resulting in an imprint of its own memory. My desire for delicate looking but with a sturdy body inspired me to use slip casting as my preferred process, and my interest for unglazed surfaces led me to develop a selected palette of color using soluble salts to achieve watercolor-like effects. "Porcelain, in the thinnest of its expressions, demonstrates a life of its own, moving to the heat of the firing and resulting in an imprint of its own memory.

Artist Biography

Originally trained as an architect, Sandra Torres eventually transferred her creative outlet into clay work. Her ceramic education started under the wing of a master ceramist at an experimental studio in Mexico City. She then continued hands-on learning in Southern California in three different studios.

Her ceramic education was augmented by traveling to China and Mexico to learn about traditional clay work and techniques. An apprenticeship at Studio Pieter Stockmans in Genk, Belgium, had a great impact on her work, and later directed her to be an Artist in Residence at the International Ceramics Studio in Kecskemet, Hungary.

• Winning Raffles are announced at 10:15 pm EST on September 26th
• If attending the event in person winners may pick up their Raffle in the first floor Gallery at 10:30 pm
• Any winner not in attendance will be contacted on Monday September 28th.
• Items can be packed and shipped, and the winner will pay the cost.
• Items can be picked up at The Clay Studio for no additional cost.
• Items with alcohol CANNOT be shipped.
• please note: one raffle sheet is 10 tickets for $10, or three sheets of 10 (total 30 tickets) for $25
• All Raffle Winners have ONE WEEK (ending October 5th) to claim their winnings, before a new number is pulled.

Raffle Items are currently closed. Additional tickets can only be purchased IN-PERSON.

Pitcher

Nathan Willever

Hand dug wild clay soda fired

15 in H x 5.5 in x 5.5 in

Raise a Glass to Great Design

Elevate your home bar with this handcrafted ceramic pitcher by acclaimed Philadelphia artist Nathan Willever, whose elegant forms and refined craftsmanship make each piece both beautiful and functional. Perfect for serving cocktails or displayed as a work of art, this one-of-a-kind vessel is paired with a curated selection of premium spirits to help you stock your bar in style.

This package includes:

• Handcrafted ceramic pitcher by Nathan Willever
• 21 Seeds Tequila
• Bluecoat American Dry Gin
• Hidden Still Vodka
• Hochstadter's Slow & Low Rock & Rye Whiskey

Whether you're hosting friends or enjoying a quiet evening at home, this distinctive collection is the perfect blend of fine craft and exceptional spirits.

Artist Statement

I make pottery because I love the process of its creation. I pay close attention during each part of the process in an effort to make pots that are thoughtfully considered.

My work is designed for everyday use and is inspired by folk pottery traditions across the world. German, Korean, early American pots all have a wonderful energy that I try to capture in my work. I use dark stoneware clays with layered slips and glazes to achieve a surface that has a deep, atmospheric quality. My pots are complete when they are in service, bringing a sense of human connection to the user.

Artist Biography

Nathan Willever was raised in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. He holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Ceramics from Maine College of Art, in Portland, Maine. He has taught numerous classes and workshops on functional pottery at institutions such as The Clay Studio in Philadelphia, PA, Ox-Bow School of Art in Saugatuck, Michigan and Haystack Mountain School of Crafts in Deer Isle, ME. Nathan is currently a long term Resident and Zeldin Fellow at The Clay Studio.

• Winning Raffles are announced at 10:15 pm EST on September 26th
• If attending the event in person winners may pick up their Raffle in the first floor Gallery at 10:30 pm
• Any winner not in attendance will be contacted on Monday September 28th.
• Items can be packed and shipped, and the winner will pay the cost.
• Items can be picked up at The Clay Studio for no additional cost.
• Items with alcohol CANNOT be shipped.
• please note: one raffle sheet is 10 tickets for $10, or three sheets of 10 (total 30 tickets) for $25
• All Raffle Winners have ONE WEEK (ending October 5th) to claim their winnings, before a new number is pulled.