Deborah Bedwell
Deborah Bedwell is the founding executive director of Baltimore Clayworks and a past president of the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts (NCECA). Bedwell is a potter and has exhibited her work regionally and nationally with Baltimore Clayworks. Bedwell’s teaching and her own work in clay focus on the making of utilitarian pottery – both hand-built and thrown on the potters’ wheel. She uses a variety of clays to produce her ceramic work, primarily porcelain and red earthenware, which provide receptive surfaces for a variety of color, brushwork and tool marks that make the pieces unique. NCECA -Artist Spotlight
Patrick Ryan Bell
Patrick Bell was born in Baltimore, Maryland but currently teaches and lives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He received his BFA in Ceramics with a Minor in Printmaking from Edinboro University in 2016 and subsequently spent two years studying Ceramics at Wichita State University in Kansas. Most recently Patrick completed his MFA in Ceramics at Kent State University and has begun teaching both locally and remotely. The latest ceramic works of Patrick Bell raise questions about the internal body, anomalous sensations, and anxieties about health. You can see his work at www.patbellstudio.com
Caylynn Fahey
Caylynn Fahey began working with clay in 2011 at CCBC Essex and became focused on throwing on the potter’s wheel in 2013. Her work is inspired by Scandinavian and Japanese aesthetics with designs that gravitate towards minimal, modern, functional pieces with an emphasis on modern housewares and tablewares intended for everyday use. Caylynn lives in Baltimore City with her husband, their 2 dogs and over 300 houseplants. www.cayceramics.com, Instagram at @cay_ceramics.
Yoshi Fujii
Yoshi Fujii is currently a visiting artist with Baltimore Clayworks and was the recipient of the 2008–09 Lormina Salter Fellowship. Yoshi received his B.F.A from University of Southern Mississippi in 2002 and his M.F.A. from Southern Illinois University Carbondale in 2008. While serving as the Director of Exhibitions and Shop at Clayworks, he teaches colleges and art centers in the region and leads workshops nationally and internationally. His interest is in delicately carved wheel-thrown utilitarian and sculptural work. yoshifujii.com / Artist Spotlight 2019
Clara Hayward
Clara Hayward has a bachelor of fine arts from Virginia Commonwealth University in Painting and Printmaking, with concentrations in figure drawing, watercolor and screen printing. Clara discovered ceramics as a senior at VCU. After graduation, she continued her ceramic education at Northern Virginia Community College, studying under Bill Schran. She furthered her ceramic work at various co-ops and community studios over the years. She now has a home-studio where she produces her professional work, which she sells in galleries and online. Clara’s functional pottery is highly textured with extensive use of colored slip and underglazes. Clara earned her certification as a yoga instructor in Kathmandu, Nepal, in 2017. Since then, she completed her mastership training in reiki. Outside of pottery and yoga, Clara enjoys hiking, kayaking, canoeing, cooking, organic gardening, and spending time with her family.
Melissa Hope Davis
Melissa Hope Davis has been working with clay since 2007. Davis earned her Associate of Arts Degree in 2009 from Harford Community College. Building upon her experiences at HCC Davis established her pottery business, Hope Pottery, in 2010. Davis continues to create unique works of art and hopes to strive to share her passion of clay with others.
Matthew Hyleck
Matthew Hyleck received a BFA from Xavier University in 1997. He is currently an associate artist and instructor at Baltimore Clayworks whose outstanding functional pottery has earned recognition by the Maryland State Arts Council Individual Artist Fellowship award in Craft in 2018, 2011, 2007 and 2005. He has completed visiting artist-residencies at Tainan National University for the Arts, Taiwan R.O.C. in 2005, Ohio University’s Woodfire Symposium in 2010 and Watershed Craft Center’s summer 2012 AIA residency. He serves as the education coordinator for Baltimore Clayworks Mt. Washington campus, a position he has held since October 2000. www.matthewhyleck.com
Emily Lamb
Emily Lamb joined Baltimore Clayworks as a resident artist beginning in the fall of 2019. Originally from Denver, CO she attended Virginia Commonwealth University of the Arts to receive her BFA in Craft and Material Studies. Using a combination of blown glass, abstract forms and figurative hand-built ceramics, she focuses on the transition between the body and the mind.
Rebecca Maasry
Rebecca Maasry is an aspiring ceramicist and instructor within the Baltimore, MD area who hopes to encourage others and inspire them throughout their creative pursuits. She has received her Associate’s degree in Art and Design from Anne Arundel Community College and, more recently, her Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree with a concentration in Ceramics from Towson University. She mostly enjoys creating functional objects and is continuously exploring different ways of treating or decorating the surface of her forms. When she is not creating functional pieces, she likes to explore more abstract, sculptural forms and to learn different clay processes that she can incorporate into her work.
Lynne Molner
Lynne Molner has been an artist and teacher for over 30 years. She earned her Master’s Degree in Education from Johns Hopkins University and Master’s in Science, majoring in Clinical Psychology, from Loyola University. Lynne started her ceramics education at Baltimore Clayworks, expanding her skill-set through a variety of workshops with master potters at Haystack Mountain School of Crafts (ME) and Penland School of Crafts (NC), Workhouse Art Center (VA) and Sugar Maples Center for Creative Arts (NY). Her current body of work combines intuitive, expressive and incised paintings of familiar imagery on to utilitarian ceramics. She strives to imbue a personal quality of playfulness on to pots made for everyday use. Her instruction focuses on knowledge of fundamentals and inspired craftsmanship. Lynne encourages her students with exploration and technique to be open to the possibilities of their own creativity.
Vianney Paul
Vianney is but one example of the painter-turned-potter archetype. After studying Painting and Printmaking at VCU in Richmond, VA, he gradually delved deeper into the world of ceramics, notably with a short apprenticeship at Dancing Dog Clayworks in Bellingham, WA and by taking classes at Hinckley Pottery in Washington, DC before settling in Baltimore. Vianney has been an active member of the Potters Guild of Baltimore since 2012 and has taught there since 2014. Vianney is a teacher at Baltimore Clayworks and an active member of the Monocacy River Pottery Group in Thurmont, MD. While particularly interested in wood firing, he has a curiosity and appreciation for all types of clays and firing techniques.
Clarissa Pezone
Clarissa Pezone is a ceramic sculptor originally from Sacramento, CA, and now residing in Baltimore, MD. She received her BA in 2013 from Humboldt State University in northern California and an MFA from Indiana University Bloomington in 2021. Her current work depicts realistic figurative sculpture and found objects in installations that center in private space and moments. Her practice includes the construction of trompe l’oeil objects that depicts the power of personal objects to hold memory, legacy and self-hood. Clarissa has been the recipient of numerous awards and fellowships, including the Young Sculptors Award, the Christyl Ann Boger Memorial award, as well as a Windgate University Fellowship to attend Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts. Her work has been shown in solo and group exhibitions nationwide, including the NCECA Juried Student Show in both Minneapolis (2018) and Pittsburgh (2019), The Indianapolis Art Center (Indianapolis, IN), The Morris Graves Museum of Art (Eureka, CA), and the American Museum of Ceramic Art (Pomona, CA). www.ClarissaPezone.com
Jason Piccoli
Jason Piccoli is a native of Colorado and grew up moving between Littleton, Denver and Arvada. He spent his youth devouring sources of science fiction, fantasy, eastern thought, and obsessing about ancient cultures. He practiced painting, drawing, and lived with guitars. He studied Fine Art at Arapahoe Community College earning his Associate?s in Art, where he found his passion for clay and a fondness for the community that surrounded it. He earned his BFA in Ceramics at Metropolitan State University of Denver, and later his MFA in Ceramics at Edinboro University of Pennsylvania. In graduate school he wanted to explore the idea of bridging the functional, the sculptural, and the painted image. Water etching, underglaze painting, hand-built attachments and stacking wheel thrown porcelain forms are explored in his work. www.jasonapiccoli.com
Shawna Pincus
Shawna Pincus is a ceramic artist living in Baltimore Maryland with her husband Michael, daughter Amelia and their two cats. She grew up right outside of Philadelphia and attended school at the Maryland Institute College of Art where she earned a BFA in sculptural studies and continued on to Towson University earning her certification in Art Education. Shawna currently teaches for the Art Education department of Towson University in addition to exhibiting her pottery in various galleries and craft fairs across the country. In 2010 Shawna was awarded “Best of Baltimore” for “Best Locally Made Pottery” by Baltimore Magazine and has been featured in several publications and blogs nationwide.
Vanna Ramirez
Vanna Ramirez is an artist with a passion for clay who also explore various other mediums. She holds a BS in studio art from Skidmore College, and has attended the NCECA’s 53rd annual clay conference as a Multicultural Fellow, a residency at the Red Lodge Clay Center, and workshops at Penland School of Craft and Haystack Mountain School of Crafts. She recently began her new journey as a self-employed artist in Baltimore, Md.
Volker Schoenfliess
Volker Schoenfliess is one of the founding member artists of Baltimore Clayworks and he is a graduate of Towson University. In addition to being an instructor with Clayworks for 30+ years Volker is an instructor at the Baltimore School for the Arts and the JCC at Owings Mills. His narrative figurative ceramic work illustrates a wry sense of humor and whimsical take on human nature.
Jeremy Wallace
Jeremy Wallace is a current resident artist with Baltimore Clayworks and was the Lormina Salter Fellowship artist for 2014-2015 . He earned his BFA with a concentration in ceramics from the University of Wisconsin Superior in the fall of 2009. A native of Minnesota, he has recently worked as an artist-in-residence at St. Petersburg Clay Company for 2013-14 and instructor at the Morean Arts Center in St. Petersburg FL. He began work as the Noborigama assistant with Baltimore Clayworks in 2011-2013. Jeremy’s functional and sculptural vessels explore expression through line, texture and movement. www.jeremywallaceceramics.com
Samuel Wallace
Sam Wallace is a traditional Jamaican potter who became a resident artist and kiln technician for Baltimore Clayworks in 1993. His work has been featured in numerous regional and national exhibitions as well as being a featured demonstrator for the 1995 National Council on Education in the Ceramic Arts conference. Sam continues to teach and exhibit his work primarily through a wide range of artist residencies throughout Baltimore City, surrounding counties and the neighboring mid-Atlantic region including New Hampshire, Virginia and Pennsylvania.
Tamer Zaki
Tamer Zaki has more than 20 years of ceramics experience, specializing in large wheel thrown vessels and manipulation of scale to re-imagine classical forms. His work reflects practiced understanding of clay as material, and he enjoys exploring the structural limits of material construction in stoneware, porcelain, and earthenware ceramics. He is largely self-taught, but enjoyed mentorship under Gary Clarien at the Palo Alto Art Center. In 2014 he joined the Potter’s Guild of Baltimore, where he continues to be an active member, serving on the education committee and teaching beginning and intermediate wheel throwing classes.
Pamela Zhang
Pamela Zhang is a multi-disciplinary artist and potter with a BFA in illustration from Rhode Island School of Design. Due to a natural love for the physical process and working with her hands, the transition to the three dimensional was almost inevitable. Pamela makes functional pieces, drawing inspiration from nature, folklore, and a sense of humor. Her work can be found in several stores around Baltimore city, as well as on Instagram at @pamelazhang and online at www.pamelazhang.store.