The Clay Collective, a group of 9 potters based in South Central WI, boasts a combined total of over 250 years of experience and a wide variety of traditions. The Collective formed in 2012 to bring more pottery to the public by showcasing their art in the studios where it was created. Together, they represent styles in pottery ranging from Arts and Crafts to rustic wood-fired pottery.

It has been an honor for Jean's Clay Studio to have been an invited guest in the Spring Pottery Tour for the past three years of this growing event.  This year, I will be a guest potter at Bruce Johnson's Studio, at 302 Campus Street in Lake Mills, Wisconsin, along with Winchester Pottery and Susy & Erik Anderson.

The Tour will be held on Saturday, April 30 and Sunday May 1 from 10am - 5pm both days.  A driving tour with 7 total locations in the towns of Lake Mills, Johnson Creek, and Cambridge, WI, the tour offers a unique variety of contemporary pottery from 27 regional potters.

For more information, maps and photos, visit: www.claycollective.org

This past Saturday was our Bowl-A-Thon for Milwaukee Empty Bowls.  We created approximately 900 bowls that will need to be glazed over the summer and then sold at Milwaukee Empty Bowls' annual event held on Sunday, October 4, 2015 at MSOE Kern Center in Downtown Milwaukee.  For only $20, you can purchase one of these lovely handmade bowls and get served a meal of soup and bread from 35 different restaurants serving their homemade soup at the event.  All proceeds go to fund area food banks and meal programs that were selected as recipients this year.

The Bowl-A-Thon has been hosted for 17 years by Murray Hill Pottery Works, and is an essential part of making Milwaukee Empty Bowls' event a success.  Professional and amateur potters from around southeastern Wisconsin come to make bowls this day. Twelve wheels constantly working from 9 am till 1pm throwing the bowls.  At 1pm we take a break and enjoy a wonderful pot-luck lunch. Then from 2pm - 5pm we sit back down at the wheel and trim the bowls that were thrown in the morning. This can only be accomplished by the many volunteers who are moving, monitoring, and flipping bowls for the potters throughout the day.  Numerous volunteers also work in the morning weighing and forming the clay into balls during the morning trowing time. It is a fantastic community effort by so many generous people!  I feel very honored to be a part of the group.

Back in February, I had my first 'Lifestyle" photo shoot of my work in a art colleague's, Barb Pelowski, beautiful kitchen.  It was a true pleasure to work with Stephanie Bartz from Stephanie Bartz Photography for what took most of the entire day; arranging pottery, lighting, adjusting, re-adjusting and having lots of laughs.  I am thrilled with how the photos turned out.  It is more pleasurable to look at the work in a home setting, the way people would see and use the pottery in their own home.  A good investment in my business as I grow and learn to market my work on my own, in the ever-changing technical world and market place.

In the ever changing world of business and technology, I felt the need to update my website.  If you would like, please take some time to check out the content on various pages and feel free to give me some feedback and suggestions to make the site more user friendly and informative.  What information do you think is missing?  What would like like to see?  How is the navigation?

This blog will also be a new feature on the website.  I hope to post information about my work in process, and perhaps feature different artists from time to time and interesting events. 
Do you have suggestions for blog topics? Questions about what I do?

Any thoughts you would like to share will be appreciated.

Happy Spring! - Jean