Manassas Clay Online


	Lindsay Arrington Lindsay was born in Billings, Montana. With a father who was an officer in the Air Force she spent the first 18 years of her life moving around with her family. She attended the University of Florida for 2 years then finished her college education at the University of Mary Washington with a BA in studio art. After graduating in 2000, she began renting studio space at Manassas Clay and has been working or teaching there ever since. She is now married, and she and her husband have two daughters. I love clay. I love the versatility of that simple unformed lump. Pottery, for me, acts as a bridge between the world of fine art and the world our everyday lives. You have very familiar objects such as bowls, mugs or plates that are pieces of that have their own intrinsic beauty. I get such satisfaction out of making something that someone will use in their home. My ultimate goal is to make pottery that is both functional and beautiful.

	Linda Becketti Bio coming soon!

	Caroline Brinkman Caroline Brinkman learned to work in clay under the tutelage of Margo Borge for 3 years. She has been working in clay ever since; 16 years. She was one of the original members of the Creative Clay Studios in Alexandria, VA. She is currently a member of the Clay Connection guild and the Washington Kiln Club. She has shown work at local galleries and shows for the past 14 years. “My goal is to continue to produce uncommon and completely personal results. I do not intend to make a political statement with my work but to share my delight with the beauty of creation. My faces are benevolent spirits watching our human foibles and endeavoring to assist when possible.”

	Liz Callahan and Ginger Hayes Liz and Ginger received a Christmas present from Roger of Clay Classes. We now have a studio and a kiln and its onward and upwards.

	Lorelei Crerar My name is Lorelei Crerar and I got into pottery as a gift. My brother gave my husband and myself a class for our birthdays six years ago. We have taken classes from both Fran and from Andy Miller. Since Andy's class works well for us on Saturday, we continue to take that class even though neither of us are beginners at this point. I began making the Celtic pottery last year. I began by making and painting dishes with Celtic animals and knots in a set of 6. This led to the creation of the Celtic animals plates. All of my pottery is hand drawn, hand painted and hand thrown. I do not use stencils but I do base my work on historical images. I will also do custom work for people who want painted pottery.

	Jane Cullum Since I first touched clay over twenty years ago, I have been fascinated by the process of throwing. I just like playing in the mud. There is something so soothing, so meditative in working with clay on a wheel. From those first little dumpy pots in the beginning to what I am doing now I enjoy the process. I do not consider myself a fine artist—I am a potter. I do what I do because it is fun and I get a great deal of satisfaction from it. How many people do you know who make their living doing something they really enjoy? I have found, with clay, that there is always room to grow, new things to try and different perspectives to consider. Twenty years is barely time to learn the basics and scratch the surface. I am taught by clay, time, other potters, my students and my customers. There is always something to learn. My work is both functional and decorative. The pieces are made to be used and enjoyed. I believe a little of a potter’s soul is in each piece made. Using handmade things in our daily lives brings us in better contact with humanity. I am not opposed to machine-produced goods, but using handmade things adds depth and personal touch to an increasingly impersonal world. Hand-crafted items are a luxury in our time."

	Mickey Cuzzucoli Medieval, Renaissance, or Just Plain Fun Images in Raku You've often heard the phrase "life is too short", but what do we actually do with it? I graduated from northern Illinois University with a BS in Art Ed, I didn't really want to teach and didn't pursue art in any fashion after I graduated. But I loved working with clay, and when things in my life got scrambled, I always returned to throwing on a wheel. Completing a piece of pottery gave me a sense of satisfaction that I could never find in my nine to rive world. After a recent trip to London, where I spent long hours exploring many of their wonderful museums, I returned home with visions of romantic imagery swirling through my mind. I decided that I was no longer content to have art at the edges of my life; it needed to be at the center of my life. I returned To clay and created a new niche. I do relief images of the Medieval, Renaissance and Elizabethan periods. Why? I don't know. They are whimsical, fun, uplifting. They are pieces that I can look at everyday and enjoy everyday. They inspire daydreaming—the sort of stuff you dreamed about as a kid: gallant riders on horseback, castles in the clouds, King Arthur, dragons, and ladies in waiting. I invite you to daydream with me. For the Official Record, my work experience is in trade show exhibit sales and New Business Development. My future includes art.

	Jennifer L. Dinkelmeyer I work in porcelain and stoneware, making primarily functional as well as some art pieces. My functional work is lead-free, ovenproof and microwaveable. When working in clay I am reminded of the connection to the ancient potters. Working with my hands, making pots that other people can use, is a great gift. I find it important to remember that we live with the hands of people caring for us, growing our food, weaving our clothes, building our shelters and making our pottery. I feel our hands are extensions of our hearts. Thank you for enjoying handmade crafts.

	Sara Dise I began to work in clay in 1997 and have found it hard to stop. Taking a lump of clay and forming it into a useful object is very rewarding. The rhythm of the wheel as well as the feeling of soft clay in my hands is soothing to me. My pots are functional and practical with a touch of elegance. I use both shinny and matte glazes letting each compliment the other yet still be striking alone. I find that working in porcelain and stoneware produces a strong pot which stands up to the abuse in the kitchen. My pottery is microwave, dishwasher and oven safe and may be found at Manassas Clay where I maintain my studio.

	Pam Eisenmann Clay work has always been fun for me, so is an ever-evolving exploration and manipulation of the medium from a whimsical viewpoint. I like to see what develops in the exploration process as I combine wheel and hand formed components to create fanciful, functional creature forms. Hopefully, they inspire a smile or two in everyday use and interaction, whether on the table, in the office, or in the bath. My inspirations are diverse, from experiences among artistic and witty people, study with other potters, nurturing in a farm community, foreign travel, and an avid reading habit. I come from a family of painters, but I chose clay while an undergraduate at Ohio State University, where I discovered the joy and satisfaction of manipulating clay, and where I was introduced to the excitement of the sculptural possibilities. I think it was the sensuous aspects of clay that hooked me. The clay wouldn't let me go, so after a short public school teaching career, I went on to graduate studies at the University of Tennessee. The creatures I make have been appearing in many forms and environments over the years, as fluid fantasy beings, as soldier dragons inspired by Xian warriors, as surprises in vessels, and as domestic animals in human pursuits (sometimes they drive cars!). I have been working in clay for about 35 years as student, teacher, art center manager, and studio artist. I presently maintain a part time studio at Manassas Clay.

	Marylou Hobbs "I want my pots to be carefully crafted pieces that people can use, enjoy looking at and also afford to own. Stoneware clay is my medium for achieving this. "The agelessness of pottery-making has always appealed to me. When I work with the clay, I like to think of the people through the centuries, in many parts of the world, who have done the same thing to make vessels used in their daily lives. "My pots are made to be used, not dusted. The glazes are food-safe, and the dishes may be placed in the oven, microwave and dishwasher. I welcome custom orders."

	Willie Leftwich "Creating functional stoneware pottery has provided me with an alternative to the private practice of law, and given me a chance to work in a medium that I find totally satisfying." Sixty-seven-year-old former engineer and lawyer Willie L. Leftwich has been practicing pottery for 6 years. While still new to the art, Leftwich credits pottery with saving his life. After a very fulfilling and gratifying career, Leftwich was diagnosed with cancer on Martin Luther King., Jr. Day in 1995, and quickly started to take a different outlook on the world. Although he has been retired from law for the past nine years, Leftwich most recently served as counsel and founding partner of Washington, D.C.-based law firm Leftwich & Douglas for nearly 11 years. Prior to that, he was a founding partner in Hudson Leftwich & Davenport, a commercial firm that represented corporations in litigation of construction, real estate, employment discrimination and public utility cases from 1971 to 1974. Leftwich also held professorships at both the University of the District of Columbia and George Washington University School of Law. He began his legal career in 1968 as a patent attorney for the Federal Aviation Administration before spending a year as vice president and general counsel for Technical Media Systems. While law was a large part of Leftwich's profession, he started his career as an engineer working in several high profile government aerospace projects. Leftwich worked as a research aeronautical instrumentation engineer for NASA, helping to design and fabricate a gantry-timing device for the Blue Scout Rocket and helping develop missile trajectory systems. He also worked with the Naval Air Systems Command as a research electro-optical engineer, developing smart weapons and reconnaissance air-to-surface sensors for Navy and Marine Corps aircraft. Leftwich is a lifetime member of the NAACP and the American Bar Association. He has served as director of the Pennsylvania Avenue Development Corporation, the D.C. Redevelopment Land Agency, the Neighborhood Legal Services Program, and for 10 years with the National Institute of Trial Advocacy. He served as an ordnance officer with the First Cavalry Division in Korea, from 1961 to 1962. A Washington, D.C. native, Leftwich earned a B.S. in electrical engineering from Howard University and his JD and LL.D from George Washington University, with honors. He and his wife Norma have been married 27 years and have an adult son, Curtis. They reside in Washington, D.C.

	Graciela Testa Lynt "I think the attraction of handmade pottery comes from our shared need to surround ourselves with objects that appeal to the senses and uplift the spirit. The morning coffee or tea ritual is most satisfying as we warm our hands on our favorite mug. "At another level, the interest in pottery (and other handmade items) has to do with connecting to other people in an impersonal age. Each piece I made is a personal act of creation; each pot takes with it a little of the person who made it. "I like to watch as customers lift bowls or mugs, trying to find the one that is ‘theirs’. They always smile when they find the one that is just right. That’s the connection between the maker and the user that I try to achieve in my work."

	Robin Morton Born in California, Robin studied pottery in Santa Monica during her early college years, and later trained at Anderson Ranch in Colorado. She has a Masters in Nursing Administration and a PhD in Human Services with a focus in Health Care Administration. She began teaching pottery in 1973 for George Mason University’s Extended Studies Division, and was the Arts and Crafts Coordinator for the Craft Studio in the Student Union building until 1983. During this time, she also taught children’s pottery classes at Northern Virginia Community College and GMU. She headed the department and instructed for Colorado Mountain College, Aspen, Colorado from 1984 until 1988. She was awarded Teacher of the Year Award in 1987. She became affiliated with Manassas Clay, where she was a resident/studio artist, in 2002. Robin spent most of her early pottery years as a production artist and participated in art shows. Her experience includes work in raku, gas fire, salt fire and electric kiln firing.

	Fran Newquist "I am a potter because clay is fun. I came to clay late in life--or, rather, it came to me, but once I found I could center a mound of clay, I knew I had found the right medium for expression. To me, making pottery is a very powerful, sensuous and intimate experience. I get to play in the mud, put it in the fire, and when it’s done, I get to use it. The idea that I can take a mound of wet clay, shape it by hand and on the potters wheel into a vessel that can be held in my hand, touched to my lips, hold my food and decorate my table is a very intimate concept. I can think of no other art form that can evoke that feeling by its very nature and usefulness. That is the gift the potter gives to the consumer and to herself. "I work in stoneware, porcelain and raku clays, creating decorative and functional pottery. For me, clay begins on the wheel and is then altered by hand to achieve the look and design. The final control is left to the kiln atmosphere to finish the design with color. The interplay of fire, air, water and natural chemicals in the semi-controlled chaos of the kiln creates the magic of pottery and ceramic art. All of my work is fired at my studio, the Tin Barn, in The Plains, VA. This final control, the fire, always determines the outcome of months of work. That is the nature and excitement of working with clay and making pottery. There is a majesty of working with clay that I want to keep exploring."

	Diane Puckett I have had an affinity for earth as long as I can remember. Playing with mud, be it clay or garden soil, is incredibly healing. There is nothing I enjoy more. Creating pottery is humankind’s most basic, functional art – using nothing more than earth. On a good day, I play in mud and create pots. On a really good day, I get to play with fire and create raku pottery. Pottery has been created for thousands of years. Nothing I create has not been created before or will not be recreated again. I believe all pottery carries the energy of its creator potters. I wonder if that energy is able to transcend time and pass through to the people who, in the future, enjoy using those pots.

	Tammy Ratliff Bio coming soon!

	Carol Ann de Los Reyes Laughing Pup Pottery’s intention is to celebrate every day by surrounding ourselves with things that make everyday living more fun. All of my work tells a story. There are lots of influences from nature: all kinds of plants in my garden and animals like my amazing dog, Peekaboo. Anything and everything creates pictures in my mind--funny words, my outlandish dreams, the absurdity of life on our planet. Each piece is one of a kind, either wheel-thrown and altered or hand built with irregular, overlapping slabs of clay which are painted with colorful glazes. Most of my work arises spontaneously. It’s my goal to make unique pieces to use and enjoy--pieces that make people look and smile. My work makes me laugh. I hope it does that for you too. You can find it in the gallery at Manassas Clay in Manassas, Virginia, where I also teach Hand Building with Clay, and at the Red Door Folk Art Gallery in Watkinsville, Georgia. Every joyful moment of this work is dedicated to the short but luminous life of my irreplaceable daughter, Corinna Ann Thompson.

	Neville Sherk Is it art? You bet and it whistles! Neville Sherk is a former fashion illustrator turned sculptor who makes each of his sculptures into a whistle. Whether he is designing an angel, Abraham Lincoln or George Washington, an orange, duck, penguin, or a police whistle, each of these sculptures whistle. Neville is fascinated by nature in all forms--flora, fauna. human, birds or bees. He sees an image and turns it into a sculpture which he shapes out of stoneware clay. He decorates the pieces and fires them to 2100 degrees in the kilns of Manassas Clay. These whistles are collectable folk art on display and for sale at the Gallery at Manassas Clay. Come by and see the artistry of Neville and give the whistles a try.

	Susan Stamper Back on that spring day in 2001 when I was fired from that well paying job in Washington, D.C., I had no idea my life was about to change in ways I could not imagine. A few months later on 9/11 we were attacked and the two events woke me the fact that life is short; it caused a driving need for me to live my life differently. I wanted to create a life that I love and to live it with intention, courage and joy. I wanted to learn how to make pottery for years but I did nothing about it. Certain that it was my own idea to enter Manassas Clay that day in February 2002, I soon realized that it was not. It was a higher power helping to fulfill that driving need. I later realized that every choice, every person I met, every conversation I’d had up to that point, was to bring me to just this spot at just this time in my life. This is the outlet for self-expression I’d been searching for. It was the beginning of a whole new life and one that I embrace and continue to develop. I consider myself a total rookie. I am passionate about clay and as I experiment and explore new ideas, I learn a little more each time I work. Someone once told me that to learn anything you have to do the work it takes to get there; this just doesn’t seem like work. For me, life is about the journey, not the destination and I’m having a blast.

	Lynn Street Bio coming soon!

	Sarah Weaver Sarah G. Weaver is a graduate of Sweet Briar College. While serving as a member of the Friends of Art, she visited galleries in Washington D.C. and New York City purchasing work to be exhibited in Sweet Briar College Galleries. She has worked as a graphics artist and has been commissioned to do watercolor, drawings, oil paintings, and even wire sculpture. Her favorite medium, though, is clay. Each of us has a gift, a talent of some kind - it is up to us to find it and use it. For me, it's art. As an art major at Sweet Briar College, I almost felt guilty because I was having so much fun while getting my degree; and this continues for me today through clay. Working with clay takes me on a voyage into my creative self. I only wish that I could enter it more often because in it, time vanishes; there is just self-expression and fulfillment. It is quite a fascinating journey to take a piece of clay and an idea and form the clay into an art piece that is something functional and can be used in our everyday lives. I take tremendous satisfaction through sharing my creations with others and touching their lives in some small way. It is an awesome experience, start to finish.

	Suzanne Wright What can I possibly say about my passion for pottery that every other potter hasn’t already said? We all share in the love of clay and in the love of creativity. I got “hooked” on pottery while taking my first class in high school. As a result, I continued to throw and eventually taught pottery for the next several years while earning a degree in Art Education. I reluctantly left pottery to start a career ... yet my dream was to someday return to throwing. More than twenty years passed before I touched clay again. Discovering Manassas Clay made my dream a reality, and thankfully, I’m “addicted” all over again. The entire process is amazing. There is nothing quite like taking a ball of clay - shaping and molding it, and having it result in a piece of functional art that you created with your own two hands. What’s even more satisfying to me is when other people appreciate and enjoy my work. When I pour my heart and soul into a piece and that piece is sold, I come to realize that it may be sitting in someone’s living room somewhere in another state. How awesome is that? Pottery is a never-ending learning process. One can never completely know everything there is to learn about clay, glazes, or techniques; therefore, I look forward to being a pottery student for the rest of my life! I find throwing pottery extremely therapeutic. It is my passion. If you haven’t tried throwing pottery yet, it’s time to jump in – with both hands!

	Lori Yankovitz "From the time the first gatherer lined her woven basket with clay and noticed how the clay became hard when she accidentally burned it, the art of pottery has changed little. "I am closer to the woman with the clay basket than any other artist is to their ancestor."

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