Michelle  Heinesen

Artist Bio:

Michelle Heinesen (aka HANSDOTTIR) and owner of POTCLUB Studio, is a Singaporean-Faroese transplant based in Houston. She had her art start at the Lasalle-SIA College of the Arts Singapore and a ceramics apprenticeship after shortly after. She teaches and hosts workshops at POTCLUB. - My sculptural language is formed by my surrounding environment and engages with themes of memories, migration, identity, intersectionality and place. The association of clay with the earth, functionality and civilization is turned on itself when we are confronted with this material in other states. When seen in the organic formations of my structures, a whole made from sprigs and modular pieces is recreated, this time estranged from its original context of tradition and cultivation, but nonetheless unified by an overall cohesiveness of movement and composition. Often, I inject humour / optimism in a somber body of work. Ultimately, I strive to strike a balance between contrast, culture and connection.

Contact information:

Website: https://www.heartmadehouston.com/hansdottir

Instagram:  @potclubtx,  @michellehansdottir

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Lenie Caston-Miller

Artist Bio:

Lenie Caston-Miller has been working in the medium of ceramics for a decade. In that timeframe she has used the medium to convey the interconnections life brings in ones journey through finish surface treatments, form, and the elevation of a craft medium into a fine art form. For Lenie, the transformation of the simple and humble material of mud/clay, a readily found element in our daily life that we literally walk on, into forms that reflect that transformation and hardening of the material process and personal journey of tangential and steadfast relationships one transverses in life.

Lenie has taken her reparative work from her traumas during her service for the country during Operation Iraqi Freedom, journey of finding words and space that contradict her conservative formation as a member of the LGBTQ community, and work within a Title I public school system to tell her abstract narratives through her artwork.

Contact Information:

   Website:   Leniecastonmiller.com

   Instagram:  @themillhtx

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Jes Dougherty

Artist Bio:

Jes has an affinity for design and form which is reflected in her architectural education and her career in design. Entrepreneurial in spirit, she co-owns a structural engineering firm with her husband in Houston, Texas. A student at Foelber Gallery and Pottery Studio and a partnership with Boaf Pottery Co-Op, Jes is constantly perfecting her ceramic techniques with simple handbuilt forms applied with monoprint transfer designs to create functional pieces that can be used every day. Her work is a reflection of her interest and inspiration of colorful plants and flowers found in her garden, textile, and paintings. 

Contact information:

   Website: jesusaudougherty.com

   Instagram:  @boaf.pottery_jes

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Kathleen Hamlet

Artist Bio:

I’ve been a color clay artist since 1988. I work primarily in porcelain because of its density, whiteness, and translucency.

Colored porcelain allows me to form patterns and imagery within the piece itself and becomes its own decoration. The structure and decoration are critical to the final form.

I design my patterns by drawing and coloring. My block shapes are determined by how I want to use the slices.

I will always be interested in processes and techniques required by craftsman in other fields such as metal, stone, glass, and food. And, I stay inspired. Especially when light hits a piece just right

Contact information:

   Instagram:  @HamletKathleen55 

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Maria Hernandez

Artist Bio:

Maria Hernandez is a ceramicist who was raised in Houston, Texas. She is the owner of Sunflower Ceramic Studio and focuses on making functional pieces as well as artwork. She received a BFA with a Ceramics concentration from Angelo State University in 2017. Maria believes that it is important to have an object to turn to for comfort, whether that be a favorite mug or everyday bowl. By having a minimalistic style, the focus of her pieces becomes the color. Color is a major influence in her work because of how much control it has over a person's mood. This year, Maria is experimenting with negative space and subtractive methods of alteration. This would allow a person to reflect on how parts of you can disappear with the passage of time.

Contact information:

   Website: www.sunflowerceramicstudio.com

   Instagram:  @sunflowerceramicstudio 

   Facebook:  www.facebook.com/sunflowerceramicstudio

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Jessica Kreutter

Artist Bio:

Jessica Kreutter grew up in Denver, CO, received a BA in Anthropology/Sociology from Lewis & Clark College in Portland, OR and received a MFA in ceramics from The University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Jessica has been a resident artist at Anderson Ranch, Vermont Studio Center, Art342, PlatteForum, Caldera, Oregon College of Art and Craft, The Houston Center for Contemporary Craft and Red Lodge Clay Center. In 2016, she was a recipient of a Houston Arts Alliance Individual Artist Grant. She is a full-time art faculty member at Houston Community College where she teaches ceramics and sculpture.

Contact information: 

  Web Site:  www.jessicakreutter.com

   Instagram:  @jfkreutter

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Michael Lesher

Artist Bio:

Introduced to ceramics in high school, Michael Lesher’s journey through exploring the medium has been diverse in nature. Michael has been destined to continue throwing since his early explorations at the University of Toledo, Ohio where he graduated with a Bachelor of Art Education. Shortly after moving to Texas and starting his career as an art teacher, Michael’s career took a shift into the world of counseling where he earned his Master of Counseling Education at the University of St. Thomas. Since living in Houston, Michael has attended local studio ceramic classes and eventually set up an at home studio after finding a “free” kiln at an estate sale. Michael currently houses his studio and therapy office space at Spring Street Studios. Mechanically altering wheel thrown forms, Michael’s work explores the themes of mental health and embodies the act of understanding and empathizing life’s joys and struggles.

Contact information:

   Instagram:  @ceramicsml

   Facebook:  https://m.facebook.com/mlesherceramics

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Angel Oloshove

Artist Bio:

Angel Oloshove is a ceramic sculptor living in Houston, Texas. Her work often experiments with painterly glazes to express feelings of transcendental experiences through form and color. She has balance a fine art practice of sculptural ceramics as well has her own line of functional design pottery.

Contact information:

   Web Site: www.angeloloshove.com

   Instagram:  @angel_oloshove

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