ClayWays Pottery Studio & Gallery, Inc.

5442 Burnet Road, Austin, Texas 78756-1602
512 459-6445

ClayWays Studio Hours:
Monday - Thursday: 10:00 a.m. - 9:30 p.m.
Friday: closed
Saturday & Sunday: 9:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.

Gallery Hours:
Monday - Thursday: 10:00 am - 6:00 pm
Friday: closed
Saturday & Sunday: 11:00 am - 4:30 pm

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Instructor Bios

Kit Adams

I was a secondary education major at the University of Wisconsin- LaCrosse, when I made the choice to take drawing for my art requirement. The problem was that Drawing 101 was full and I had to choose another studio art class. I decided to try ceramics, (although, I wasn’t so sure about how messy working in clay could be), and the rest is history. By the end of my first ceramics class I breathlessly and passionately stated to my instructor, Len Stach, I was working in clay for the rest of my life! Gentle, kind man that he was, he didn’t laugh at my declaration- Len, thank you. I graduated in 1978 from UW-L and started the graduate Ceramics program at Northern Illinois University. I completed my Masters in Ceramics at NIU and having never been keen about winter in the Midwest, I decided to move to Austin, Texas.

My Dad had been self-employed and he loved what he did. However, I remember him telling me when I was around 14 years old, that he was an entremanure not entrepreneur, because being self-employed involved a lot of poop! Dad was right. Selling pots is not an easy way to make a living, but I thought I was doing what I loved. I realized early on that production pottery was not as much fun without all of the other graduate students to hang out with. Let’s just say I wasn’t a quick study. I struggled for years making and selling my pottery and absolutely hated working alone. The 15th year of making pots, 6 out of 8 art fairs I juried into rained out, with no rain date and no refund. I sold my antique furniture to make the house payments that year. I had done some teaching for Austin Parks and Rec. for about 5 years, but there weren’t enough classes to make a living at it. I was a secretary for 8 weeks and a registered massage therapist for several years. Making pottery became secondary. I still needed extra income, so I brought students into my home studio and pottery became fun again.

I dreamed of opening up a large teaching facility of my own, and annually updated my business plan for it. In 1996 I had the opportunity to open ClayWays Pottery Studio & Gallery. I was essentially recreating graduate school, the happiest time in my life- lots of people living and breathing pottery. It was the right time, I found the right place and all of the right people came together to make it happen- words can’t express how grateful I am to KT Thompson, Pam Neill, Tom Scott, Denise Kavanagh, Vernon and Lois McKean, Cissie Williams, and Sara Lyford.

After thirty one years as a potter and twenty one as a wheel teacher, the thing that brings me the most joy is being a part of the ClayWays community. Birth and death, weddings and divorces, good pots and bad, we share it all at ClayWays. When I opened ClayWays, creating a community was not in the business plan, it just happened. It’s this exceptional bonus. I liken it to winning the lottery.

Today, I make pots for the moment of connection and exchange, when someone picks up one of my pots and needs to take it home. My pots become a “must have” for that person or for someone they care about. I teach pottery on the wheel for those moments of connection and exchange as well. When one of my students finally makes that first pot they’re proud of, it just doesn’t get any better than that.

I make pots because I like to; I teach pottery because I love to. Despite the poop, I’m forever grateful to be an entremanure, like my Dad.

Kris Asthalter

For me it was a natural progression from biology to German literature to clay bird puppets. I walked in to ClayWays in the mid 1990’s to visit my old buddy Kit, and she suggested I take a class. I started with wheel, and soon became Kit’s apprentice, loading kilns, mixing glazes and getting hooked on clay. (The first bag’s free.) When taking a class from Diana Seidel I made a fountain that was a combination of a wheel thrown basin with handbuilt legs. It involved birds. It was fun to make and still makes me laugh. Thrown pieces rarely make me laugh. I enjoy handbuilding bird puppets, bird whistles, bird masks, and wren houses that are bird heads. I also enjoy learning from my students and watching them get carried away with clay. If there are a dozen people in the class there are always at least a dozen different and wonderful interpretations of any demonstration I share with them. Clay is like that.

Patty Creamer (bio coming soon)

Kelly Hill (bio coming soon)

Kate Nelson (bio coming soon)

Roni Powalski ()

I grew up in downtown Buffalo, New York. Every year the Allentown Art Festival would set up one block away from our home. My brother and I would hang out for the weekend of the festival getting to know the artists year after year. It always seemed that the potters were the friendliest. I bought my first piece of pottery when I was a Junior in highschool and that was when my love affair with clay began. I had an opportunity to work in clay during my last two years of college. After graduation, I took a 10 year hiatus from clay to concentrate on raising my two young children.

I returned to clay when my husband was transfered to Houston in the early 90's. There, I studied with several local professionals. At North Harris Community College, I learned to fine tune my craft . I have since moved to Austin where I teach adult throwing classes at Clayways Pottery Studio and Gallery.

The functional pottery I create is made of a white stoneware clay that is fired to cone 8 (2100*F) in an oxidation atmosphere. I have developed a palette of food-safe glazes that have bold, intense color and flow in the firing to activate the surfaces of my forms. My work may be purchased through home sales, galleries and a few fine art shows each year.

I still love the excitement of juried shows. My pieces have been selected for competitions including ENCECA, Strictly Functional, Craft USA, and Clay Times.

Christie Rodgers (bio coming soon)

Diana Seidel (www.dianaseidel.com)

Diana Seidel took her first pottery class with Joanne Edelson in New York City in 1972. It was love at first sight. She apprenticed with Sally Silberberg in Plainfield, Massachusetts and took part in workshops with Karen Karnes, Bruno LaVerdiere and Byron Temple.

Diana had her studio in Garrison, New York from 1976 until 1996. During that time she worked full time as a potter, participating in twelve to fifteen craft shows each year. She also filled many special orders, both retail and wholesale.

In April, 1996, Diana and her family moved to Austin, Texas. Shortly thereafter, she set up her studio space at ClayWays, a teaching studio and gallery. Since then, she has been working with new clays, glazes and developing new lines of work. She has taught intermediate and advanced classes at ClayWays and helps to manage the gallery.

Emphasizing simplicity of form, Diana creates wheel-thrown stoneware with rich matte glazes. These lead-free and dishwasher-safe pieces are intended for daily use in the home.

John Vela

John Vela was born in Caracas, Venezuela.  With a father from Brownsville, TX and a mother from Belle Plain, Minnesota he grew up with a broad cultural diversity within the home. John grew up in suburban Houston and excelled in math and science.  He first started working in clay in college at the University of Texas at Austin and graduated in 1993 with a BFA in Art History with a concentration in ceramics and Italian. 

While at UT he started working at Armadillo Clay and soon became manager. It is here where he developed many technical skills and also relationships with clay artists from the entire Southwest of the United States. Seeing a lack of communication within this region he and Stephanie Thomas co-founded the Texas Clay Arts Association, a non-profit organization dedicated to help ceramic artists and enthusiasts share information about events and news within the ceramic community in Texas.

Glazes and kilns have always been a keen interest of John’s. Formulating new glazes or troubleshooting existing ones draw on a lifelong interest in chemistry and chemical reactions. Kiln building and rebuilding are also of great interest due to the exacting need for precision and accuracy during planning and execution.

After six years of production pottery at Sunset Canyon Pottery and fifteen years in ceramics John is now trying to create a personal line of ceramic products. Handmade glazes in subtle colors like aqua, rose and amber dominate his color palette and give his simple forms a somber yet sophisticated look.

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Kiln Firing Rates

We no longer offer firing services of any kind.

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Other Good Stuff