Pots for Membership
Join us in welcoming the new year and our first Pots for Membership program of 2017!
Each month, Studio Potter features a small selection of artists and their work, which is available for sale in our online store for thirty days only. In exchange for the sale of their piece, the artist (or a chosen beneficiary) will receive a one-year free membership to the journal. This month we feature several artists who have emigrated to the United States in their lifetime, or who have strong multicultural ties, in an effort to celebrate diversity in the ceramic field.
Here are this month's participants:
Megumi Naitoh
Megumi Naitoh was born in Japan and emigrated to America in her young adulthood. She first studied ceramics at San Diego State University before getting her MFA at Massachusetts College of Art. She is currently an associate professor of Art at Emmanuel College in Boston. Her Skull Cup is an example from her Collabo+ware project. One half of the form was digitally created by Megumi and the other half by one of her students, Keith Becker (Emmanuel College class of 2017). Keith produced the original model and mold for this product. Collabo+ware is produced on campus under Megumi's direction. The project aims to promote student work through the medium of ceramics as well as to raise proceeds for the Emmanuel College Art Department Scholarship fund.
See more of Megumi's work at http://www.meguminaitoh.com/collaboware/
Check out Megumi's piece on our store here!
Puneeta Mittal 
Born and educated in India, Puneeta Mittal received a Master’s degree in Hindi Literature in New Delhi, and launched her teaching career at The Valley School, A Krishnamurti Foundation boarding school, in Bangalore. After moving to the United States in 1994, Puneeta discovered her passion for clay and focused on exploring clay forms and surfaces with Betty Busby of “The Clayroom” studio in Oyster Bay, New York. In 2006 Puneeta graduated with an MA in Studio Art from Adelphi University, followed by an MFA from Long Island University in 2008. She was invited to teach ceramics at Adelphi University in 2005, and in 2010 at Suffolk County Community College where she continues to instruct as an adjunct professor.
With a strong belief that everything that is born, grows and withers away to be born yet again – incessant change from one to another proceeds in an evolutionary cycle – I choose not to be limited to a small corner space that defines who I am and what I must create. The exploration of materials and processes help me realize a specific idea in clay or on canvas, with surface or form - it is this exploration that is the driving force behind each piece that I create in my studio. I seek surfaces that purposely encourage touch and by inviting the hand to explore the forms as well as the eye,
I continually draw inspiration from the natural world – internal and external. The simple ceramic forms I make are enhanced by the use of layering of ceramic materials, often they are left raw so the ash from the wood firing process create a surface that is an imagined space.
See more of Puneeta's work at http://www.puneetaart.com
Check out Puneeta's piece on our store here!
Lucy Fagella 
Lucy Fagella is a full time potter and ceramic instructor living in Greenfield, MA. She makes functional pottery for the home and heart. Her work graces the tables and mantles of homes around the world. Lucy earned her B.F.A. degree from Alfred University 1985. Her work has been featured in numerous ceramic exhibits throughout the United States, and in several publications on ceramics.
I make pottery for the table, for food, family and gathering; pottery that is used in our daily lives, be it a mug for morning tea, a large pasta bowl, or a salt cellar. I like to say my pottery is made for the home and heart. Another aspect of my work is to create urns for loved ones - a treasured jar to hold the remains of a family member, friend or pet. I am honored to have people choose my work for a treasured memorial. As an artist/potter I love soft clay and glazes. I work on the potters wheel in porcelain, and fire my kiln in a Cone 6 oxidation atmosphere. My focus is on the glass like quality of glaze. I try to capture the softness of clay and the drip of glazes through pattern, fine lines, and edges.
Fong Choo
Originally from the Republic of Singapore, a tiny nation situated in South East Asia, Fong Choo first came to this country in 1983 to pursue a business degree in Louisville, Kentucky. There, he took an art class as an elective, enjoying it so much he then enrolled in a ceramics class and became quickly so enamored with the medium he has never stopped working in it. His current body of work began in 1994 as an exploration of the diminutive teapot form as a surface for experimenting and utilizing an unorthodox method of applying low temperature glazes and over-firing them at a significantly higher temperature creating his unique jewel tone effects.
See more of Fong's work at http://www.fongchoo.com
Check out Fong's piece on our store here!
Robbie Lobell
Robbie Lobell is co-founder and co-owner of Cook on Clay. She is a full-time studio potter and educator living and working in the Pacific Northwest. Her studio focus is designing and producing flameproof cookware.
Lobell's pots reside in kitchens, on tables, and in cupboards across the nation. Her flameproof cookware is used by award winning chefs. Robbie's work has been exhibited nationwide and featured in a number of ceramics books and ceramic and food publications.
See more of Robbie work at cookonclay.com
Check out her piece on our store here!
José Sierra 
José Sierra was born in Mérida, Venezuela in 1975. While José is a self-taught artist, he was introduced to ceramics at the University of the Andes in Mérida, Venezuela from 1993-1996, where he learned the basic skills of mixing clay, glazes, as well as wheel throwing. In 1996, José began working professionally as an artist in Mérida, Venezuela, doing sculpture. In 2000, José moved to Iowa where he dedicated himself to both sculpture and pottery. José currently resides in Oregon where he is a studio potter.
The images and memories of coffee mills, intensely colored mountains, dramatic landscapes, pre-Colombian art and architecture of the Andean region of Venezuela all form an important part of my visual inspirations. These elements combine with contemporary design as well as the geometry of the Catalina Mountains to influence and inspire my work. The range of textures and colors of the Andes and Catalinas also inform my palette of glazes and engobes, which are achieved through high-firing in oxidation and reduction. By altering wheel-thrown porcelain and stoneware, my work fuses organic and geometrical forms, in which I express both the fluidity and abruptness of the shapes and lines in the landscapes and architecture that surrounds me.
See more of José's work at http://www.cheoart.com
Check out José's piece on our store here!
Want to find out more about the program or submit a piece of your own?
Email sophie@studiopotter.org
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