Hudson Valley Craftspeople: Ceramicists

We’ve shared some of our favorite florists, textile makers, candle and soap makers in prior posts from our Hudson Valley Craftspeople series. In this post we’re sharing some ceramists we adore from around the Hudson Valley!

As someone who works with ceramics myself, I love having the opportunity to pick up people’s stonework. Having work in my hands allow me to dissect how they made the form, how they glazed it, how they executed the texture they ended up with, etc. With such a tactile material I love looking at the work and understanding the amount of love, work, and respect for the material that goes into it. Clay can be molded and made rough, transformed with glaze, and leave the unique traces of its maker.

I admire all of these artists and hope one day to add their work into treasured pieces of art. Here are some ceramicists in the Hudson Valley:

Hudson Valley Craftspeople: Ceramicists

Tellefsen Atelier

Alexis Tellefsen calls the goal of her work simple, “to create pieces I want to use in my own home”. Tellefsen Atelier’s pieces have muted colors that evoke comfort and home. The shapes are soft and begging to be held.

Beiko Ceramics

Based upstate, Rita Seiko Payne, creates unique functional bowls, trays, baking dishes, and more by slip casting foods. Through slip casting, Payne is able to create molds of these foods to create her pieces. I recommend looking at her IG and website to see more behind the process!

Alexandra Fitzgerald Design + Pottery

Fitzgerald creates beautifully intricate paintings on her organic forms. Delicate imagery of birds, cats, mice, rabbits, and other garden animals flower her pieces, invoking wonder and childhood memories. I also love how the playful imagery mimics the visibly hand-made touch the forms have.

Dawn Shishaw

Shishaw’s ceramics play with pattern making and colors. While functional and familiar, Dawn’s pieces stand out with the glazing.

Re Jin Lee

We saw Re Jin Lee’s work at Ravenswood during Upstate Art Weekend last month (pictured in the header image). Re Jin Lee’s work is inspired by the softness in nature.

Helen Prior

We’ve seen Helen’s work at Field + Supply and she also showed at Upstate Art Weekend. Prior’s work is delicate both in form and glaze work. They evoke care and tenderness with muted colors and raw edges.

Paula Greif 

Paula’s pieces investigate line work, organic forms, and how the two can communicate with one another. I love clay works that use the clay as a canvas.

Bryan Czibesz

Bryan has a made such a breadth of work throughout his practice. I’m particularly drawn to the different ways he experiments with the clay 3d printer. The machine is used as an extension of his hands and is then transformed with glaze.

David Hughes

David Hughes’s glaze work is breathtaking from raku works to crystalline glazed vases. Knowing how tricky glazes can be, I am drawn to his practice of trial and error and trial and surprise to end up with the glazes on the pieces.

Another way to keep an eye out for ceramics in the Hudson Valley is to visit local boutiques and home good stores that vend these works. In addition, some of the artists I listed have shown in the Hudson Valley Pottery Tour. Similar to Upstate Art Weekend, the Hudson Valley Pottery Tour is a time when ceramicists open up their studios and have one of a kind pieces open to the public.

I hope you enjoyed reading about these ceramicists and could sense that I was fangirling over their works. I also aim to attend the Hudson Valley Pottery Tour this fall, so I’ll be sure to give a recap after.