Damascus Open Studios
Ian is a studio host at Studio #4
I studied ceramics at MHCC for a number of years, working closely with the studio tech, learning glaze chemistry and firing schedules for several kilns then later studied at OCAC. I now work with clay on my own in Damascus.
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/bergeronian
My name is Robin McDonald. Iʼm a full time potter working from my home studio in Portland, OR.
While in college earning my BFA & MFA I focused on the two dimensional arts; drawing, print making and photography. I relied on my sense of design and spatial relationships to create my images. I also loved elements from the Art Deco
and Art Nouveau periods.
Instead of going into teaching, I entered the trade of Graphics and Print Production. I followed that path from products produced by hand, through the beginnings of desktop publishing, to the amazing computer generated effects of todayʼs graphics.
During those thirty years the creative desire never left me. In 2005 I took my first pottery class and fell in love with the three dimensional and tactile experience of clay. I enjoy focusing on texture, shape, patterns and details. My inspiration is from a mixture of industry and nature.
Each piece is crafted by hand, giving them their individuality. My pieces are lovingly made, filled with creativity and care, and introduced to the public with the hope that they will love them as much as I have loved creating them.
Instagram: robinmcdonalds.art
Erin is a Guest Artist at Studio #2
Erin Patricia Redding was born in Manhattan New York and lived on Long Island and at the age of twenty-seven moved to the Adirondack Mountains of New York. Her love of gardening led her to become an organic farmer and move west to Oregon. While working on a Transfer Degree at Clackamas Community College she found her love of ceramics while
studying with artists Katy McFadden and Nora Brodnicki. Through her formal education in clay, Redding found a deep spiritual connection to clay that led her to making hand built intuitive pieces and forms thrown on the wheel. She now owns “Herbal Earth Pottery” and has loved playing in the mud for decades
Erin creates unique hand-built and thrown ceramic forms inspired by her life experiences and connection to nature. Using clay to hand-build forms allows her to combine formal and exploratory techniques using plants and natural textures to create organic functional and decorative works imprinted with fine detail. Throwing pots on the wheel is more of a
spiritual process for Erin. “Centering the clay allows me to center myself. My “Boss Lady” wheel allows me the opportunity to reflect on daily challenges and changes in life that have come my way. The process of throwing has a way of softening the hard parts of my life. My left hand stays firm in my choices and my right hand symbolizes the outer pressures of life’s influence. Through this process I feel a connection to the universe that mingles control and collapse.”
Instagram: herbal_earth_pottery
Clay has been a part of my life since my Dad found clay in our backyard in Eugene when I was 5 years old. In college, I majored in Art. My husband and I built a propane-fired kiln in our backyard during the child-rearing years. Now that the kids are grown, I have time in the studio! Nature, especially the beach, inspires my work.
I create wheel-thrown and hand-built ceramics for functional use in the kitchen or for dining and also art for the garden. I have a clay studio at my home in Oregon City. I mix my own glazes and fire my work in electric kilns, using a white stoneware clay. I like to pour, dip or spray my glazes, sometimes adding brushwork.
https://www.longfellowpottery.com
Instagram: longfellowpottery
Facebook: georginelongfellow
Brenda is the host at Studio #6
Wheel-thrown and hand-built functional and sculptural work.
Instagram: thelazypotter
Facebook: muddyfishstudio
I create wheel thrown and hand built functional and decorative pottery for indoor and outdoor use. I am largely self-taught after taking a series of lessons at a local studio. I like to see how things turn out.
https://www.homespunceramics.com
Instragram: pottery_by_gretchen