ClayWays Gallery represents about
60 Central Texas and nationally known potters
including...

Kathy and Ed Alonso: ALONSO ART POTTERY

After retiring from careers in zoo management and animal medicine, Kathie and Ed have settled in central Texas and have found time to indulge their artistic interests. Kathie has studied with several local potters and is completely enthralled by the process. She is influenced by two main sources: her admiration of nature with its beauty and intricacies and also finds that several historic American art potteries such as; Rookwood, Newcomb, and Weller, are continuing inspirations. She enjoys the daily challenge of "painting" with glaze.

Ed has had instruction in the art of hand building and throwing of clay with a local artist and has been greatly encouraged by his studies with the potters at Clayways Studios. He produces all the bisque ware that Kathie decorates, so it has become a team effort.

Alonso Art Pottery displays their art at several local galleries and art and craft shows throughout the area.

Recently Alonso Art Pottery was awarded the "Best in Show" at the annual Bountiful Bowl Pottery Show in Rockport, Texas. This is an annual show of about forty potters that benefits the Arkansas Council for the Aging.

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.

Don Bebout

When my older son left a pottery wheel in my garage before departing for UCLA in the fall of 1985, the die was cast; soon I was taking evening classes at local Austin pottery studios. But even as I became more and more involved in pottery, it still remained secondary to my career as a research geologist at the University of Texas. However, my interest in design and production of pottery increased through encouragement from friends and acquaintances and by rapidly increasing sales. Finally, in 1994, I retired from the University and became a full-time potter.

Mike Grafa

www.grafapottery.com

Mike received his BFA degree from Texas Tech University with a concentration in painting. He got his MFA in ceramics from North Texas State University. After graduating, Mike taught ceramics at Tarrant County Jr. College and Texas Weslean College. He now lives with his wife Norma in Austin, Texas where he teaches at Austin Community College and works in his studio.

Mike's work is displayed in Clarksville Galleries in Austin as well as other galleries throughout the southwest. Mike has exhibited his work at art fairs in Texas, New Mexico, Utah and Arizona. Mike works in porcelain clay and uses high-fire glazes in vivid colors. The brush work in the glazes reflects his interest in painting.

Terri Gray

Tom Hicks

Jason Hooper

Kathy Hull

Stan Irvin

2003 Rabb Road
Austin,TX 78704-3205
phone (512) 448-8685
stanleyi@adminin.stedwards.edu
myweb.stedwards.edu/stanleyi/index.htm

Stan set up the ceramics program at Laguna Gloria Art Museum in Austin, Texas in 1974 and taught ceramics courses there until 1976. After receiving his M.F.A. in ceramics from the University of Texas at Austin he started the ceramics program at St. Edward's University in 1976. As Associate Professor of Art, Stan is the Art Area Coordinator and Director of the Fine Arts Exhibit Program at St. Edward's. Stan has also taught numerous classes in wheel throwing, at the Daugherty Art Center in Austin and advanced classes in wheel throwing and glaze formulation at Hill Country Arts Foundation in Ingram, Texas, and at Clayways in Austin.

Maintaining his studio in central Austin, Stan focuses primarily on high temperature, single fire stoneware vessel forms. He is a member of the National Council On Education For The Ceramic Arts, The Texas Association of Schools of Art, and is an active member of Greater Austin Clay Artists.

ARTIST STATEMENT
Though clay continually reminds me of the value of rhythm and commitment in ones life and work, taking time for playful experimentation is often what is most fulfilling. The technical and expressive challenge of working with clay evolves out of experimentation, taking risks, and acting on intuitive hunches. The muse, for me, becomes the occasional, elusive, and unexpected glimpse of surprising potential in the clay and in myself.

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.

Susan Page

Angela Rogers

I discovered drawing in college and have passionately developed my skills since then by studying with artists in various media including oil-painting, mold-making for porcelain, and most recently hand-built and wheel-thrown pottery, glaze-formulation and kiln-building. My husband and I were born in Texas and enjoy exploring the backroads with our two dogs. We grow crinum lilies and native Texas plants for fun. I also collect rocks, make silver jewelry, sew and do beading. You can see my posts of iPad drawings and iPhone photos of pie birds, and other works in progress at Angeladianerogers.blogspot.com/, ebbiespiebird.blogspot.com/ and texasteabowl.blogspot.com.

In 1988, I created one-of-a-kind pie birds under the name Ebbie's Pie Birds, in honor of my maternal grandmother, a great pie baker in her own right. Hundreds of my pie birds have been purchased by collectors, including Linda Fields, who featured many of them in her book, Four and Twenty Blackbirds. Some of my other pie birds are featured in Pots and the Kitchen by Josie Walter.

In 2007, I began learning to throw on the potter's wheel and handbuild, which led me to learn how to make stoneware glazes and fire gas kilns. My current focus is making tea bowls for Chanoyu (Japanese tea ceremony) and pinch pots for soda firing, but who knows what the next challenge will be. My life goal is to learn as much as possible and share my enthusiasm for what I know along the way.

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.

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.

Sunset Canyon Pottery

Todd Van Duren

toddvanduren.com