Introducing our September Pots for Membership Artists!

Each month, Studio Potter features a small selection of artists and their work, which is available for sale in our online store for thirty days only. In exchange for the sale of their piece, the artist (or a chosen beneficiary) will receive a one-year free membership to the journal. 

Here are the September 2017 featured artists: 

John Oles

John Oles received a BFA from the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth in 1998.  For three years, John taught high school ceramics in Massachusetts before moving to North Carolina to attend the Penland School of Crafts in 2004.  In the summer of 2005, John moved to New Orleans just before hurricane Katrina devastated the city. He temporary relocated to Athens, Georgia, where he was adopted as a refugee graduate student at the University of Georgia, until he could return to New Orleans to complete his MFA at Tulane University. John has been invited to lecture and teach visiting artist workshops at many ceramics programs around the country, including Hartwick College, Louisiana Tech., Texas Women’s University, and Harvard University.  From 2008-2013, John taught at Loyola University, as well as Tulane University.  He is currently Assistant Professor of Ceramics at Jacksonville State University in Jacksonville, AL.

In my vessels and functional forms, I honor the tradition and familiarity of the domestic object, with its ability to enrich our lives through daily use, as a vehicle for communicating content. I approach the making of each pot as an individual sculptural object. By using a loose, casual line and a mark, or finger swipe, a history of intent and expression is recorded onto the surface, while simultaneously building tension with the interior volume.

 Learn more about John's work at http://jolesart.com/home.html

Check out John's piece on our store here!

Michael Gesiakowski

Mike's work is influenced by urban architectural facades and designs of the early twentieth century, both of which he was exposed to during his childhood in Chicago. He received his BFA in Design from Northern Illinois University, and his MFA in Ceramics from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. He was an apprentice for Simon Levin at Mill Creek Pottery in Wisconsin, and a Wingate Scholar as a short-term resident at The Archie Bray Foundation. Mike currently resides in St. Louis and is the ceramics instructor at the John Burroughs School.

In my work I investigate the process of physical and cognitive degradation by using the construct of architecture to question our perceptions of memory and our concept of place. I draw inspiration from degraded and weatherworn buildings and their ornamentation: aged stone and terra cotta facades, fractured adornment and other architectural components left to the elements. My aim is to capture the unperceived intricacy of this ongoing process of deterioration.

 See more of Mike's work at http://www.mgclay.com

Check out Mike's piece on our store here!

Joanna Powell

Joanna Powell is a sculptor and painter, born and raised in Dallas, Texas. She contextualizes common objects with personal meaning; her work is the result of thinking about longing, privacy, history, and sexuality. She draws inspiration from Etruscan and pre-Columbian pottery, Sèvres porcelain, folk art, and painting. 

 “The pieces are more about touch than they are form.” 

Joanna currently lives in Helena, Montana and is a full time studio artist and traveling lecturer. She holds a BFA from The University of North Texas in Denton, and a MFA from The University of Colorado at Boulder. Powell was a finalist in the 2014 Zanesville Prize for Contemporary Ceramics, and awarded an Honorable Mention. From 2013-2015, she was a long-term fellow at the Archie Bray Foundation, and in 2015, was named a 2015 NCECA Emerging Artist. 

See more of Joanna's work at http://joannapowellstudio.com

Check out Joanna's piece on our store here!

Justin Lambert

Justin Lambert holds a BFA from Florida Atlantic University (1999), and an MFA from Indiana University (2003). He has spent the last seventeen years wood-firing utilitarian pottery. In addition to running the Live Oak Pottery studio, Justin chairs the ceramics department at the Lighthouse ArtCenter, where he has been rebuilding the clay program since 2007.  Justin is a very accomplished fly fisherman, a licensed USCG captain, and ran fishing charters for many years.  He enjoys spending time with his wife Andrea cycling, snowboarding, surfing, hiking, swimming, eating delicious vegan meals, playing banjo, traveling, and playing with their dogs Rusty, and Daisy.

See more of Justin's work at http://www.jlpottery.com

Check out Justin's piece on our store here!

Sam Chumley

Sam Chumley earned his BFA in ceramics at Indiana University Southeast, where he built and fired wood- and soda-kilns, which fostered his appreciation of ceramics and atmospheric firing. Sam focuses on clay and the culture surrounding the medium, and is currently an MFA candidate at Ball State University.

See more of Sam's work at http://www.samchumley.com

Check out Sam's piece on our store here! 

Want to find out more about the program or submit a piece of your own? 

Email sophie@studiopotter.org