Dennis William Parks passed away on March 28, 2021 in Reno, Nevada. He was eighty-four years old. He was born in Berea, Kentucky, on December 31, 1936, to Elisha Taylor and Lois Ferry Parks. He lived most of his early years in Arlington, Virginia. His father worked as a specialist on Latin America … Read More

In the April 2021 issue of Studio Potter, Stephen Mullins wrote Paying the Bills. Editor Jill Foote-Hutton sat down with him to find out more about this enterprising potter working to put hand made objects in the hands of as many people as possible. Mullins runs Red Bison Studio on Main Street in… Read More

If you want something you have never had, you must be willing to do something you have never done. Words spuriously attributed to Thomas Jefferson, the sentiment seems to have started showing up in our collective consciousness around 2004. Even though the origin is unclear, the sentiment feels… Read More

We are grateful for the opportunity to engage with our community, to answer questions, and receive feedback from the people we are most directly accountable to: you. We are entering into this conversation with an open heart, receptive to and appreciative of the critiques and challenges ahead of us… Read More

Inspiration. If we don’t actively conjure it, we are at the unforgiving mercy of our muse. Knowing there is always clay to be wedged – well – it gives ceramists a leg up. When our brains can’t find traction, when our hearts are numb or heavy with burden, the physicality of our craft is the first… Read More

In November Studio Potter ran the first half of a report summarizing a series of conversations between galleries and artists. The impetus for the conversation was to consider the existing relationship between the two entities. Not a new conversation and certainly not a conclusive conversation.… Read More

Welcome to 2021. At our home the black-eyed peas and greens were prepared and eaten. The closets were cleaned, out with the old in order to welcome the new. We released old obligations, acknowledging our short-comings as we embraced our humanity. We were grateful for the gifts of grace bestowed… Read More

Congratulations to the recipients of our 2020/2021 Grants for Apprenticeships. Each team of mentor and apprentice will receive $10,000 to support their one-year apprenticeship. Established in 2019 and funded by an anonymous donor, Studio Potter’s Grants for Apprenticeships Program supports emerging… Read More

2020 has compressed us. The forces of history and nature confronted us like the chaotically arranged molecules we tend to be and exerted their force, descending with unprejudiced pressure on multiple planes.  Instead of thinking about the year as a series of unfathomable random pressures, it has… Read More

Everything is in question right now.  As I contemplated how to introduce the November stories to Studio Potter readers, Portia’s speech from The Merchant of Venice came into my mind, especially the opening lines,  “The quality of mercy is not strained; It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven… Read More