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 1990s 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)

Linda Mosley

Linda Mosley makes pottery in a traditional style that is functional as well as an abstract expression of her sense of design in nature. She has taught ceramics and worked mainly with stoneware clay on the potter's wheel and by hand-building for over forty years. She also enjoys metalsmithing, fiber arts, Chanoyu (Japanese Tea Ceremony) and garden design.

Linda grew up in a unique small country town near the University of Illinois. Early memories that influence her work include walks through the formal European-style gardens of the public park, formerly a private estate, nestled among vast corn and soybean fields, as well as working in her parents' store on the square surrounding the courthouse. Later visits to gardens and museums in Japan and Europe added to her mix of influences.

Becoming part of ClayWays in 2008 made her move to Austin a smooth transition from teaching ceramics at the college level and operating her own studio in St. Louis, Missouri, where she and husband Kim raised two wonderful children. She holds a Master of Fine Arts degree (1975) and has exhibited, lectured and published articles on ceramic art in major American periodicals. She was Editor for the NCECA Journal, and is featured in Richard Zakin’s book,Ceramics Mastering the Craft. Linda helped form and acted as president of two non-profit arts organizations in St. Louis.

Christie Rodgers

Christie is a native Texan and first studied ceramics at North Texas State University in 1974.

She then studied graphic arts in Norman, Oklahoma and worked as a graphic artist for several years until she moved to Austin in 1983.

At that time, Christie began studying ceramics in earnest—her first classes were with Billy Ray Mangham at ACC. Billy Ray’s passion for ceramics sparked Chris’ enthusiasm for clay. Christie transferred to UT and in 1988 received her BA in Arts with all of her studio hours in ceramics.

Christie always had diverse interests and has tried her hand at many different arts and crafts, including blacksmithing, stone carving, fiber arts and paper arts. She has worked in galleries, artists’ co-ops, and always continues her individual work at her home studio.

Christie began teaching tile-making and handbuilding at ClayWays Studio & Gallery in 1997. She excels at teaching all phases of handbuilding and mosaics, and helping her students explore their own projects. Through the year, she teaches adult classes and, during the summer, ClayWays’Kids Clay Camp. She also teaches handbuilding classes for Project Clay Play, a pottery studio on wheels non-profit. Her enjoyment in teaching and interest in arts and crafts has a long history in work with children of all ages, in Texas, New Jersey and Oklahoma.

Christie particularly likes to work in series exploring different aspects of handbuilding (pinch/coil/slab) and architecture ceramic—e.g. tile murals, vases, chairs, boats, totem poles, figures, boxes, cars, etc.

Christie’s approachable style, both in her craft and personality, result in many returning students to her classes and a loyal following at ClayWays.