Jeff Oestreich - Host Potter

A majority of my work is intended for daily use, although some pieces challenge the notion of function and find their place in a more formal setting. With this in mind, thought is given to weight, balance and access. My passion is in the geometric, playful forms and patterns of Art Deco architecture, softened by the action of the flame and vapor of the soda firing process.

36835 Pottery Trl, Taylors Falls, MN  55084
Showroom by appointment only please

jeffo@frontiernet.net
oestreichpottery.com
Instagram: @Oestreich_Jeff

Casey Beck, Loch Lomond, CA

I make pottery not only out of a passion for my material, clay, and for the complex processes of wheel throwing and atmospheric firing, but also out of a passion for living with, using, and sharing handmade objects. For me, using pottery daily is an act of celebration. My philosophy of making pots comes in part from the particular history of utilitarian pottery that has developed over the last sixty years in Minnesota and Western Wisconsin, where I went to school and began my career as a potter. More recently, the form language that I employ in my work has developed out of a study of historical pottery and glass vessels, along with architecture. My crisp forms are contrasted with enigmatic surfaces that undulate around the vessels, speaking to a sense of timelessness and ephemerality.

Tinkering drives my studio practice. I tinker with my clay bodies, firing schedules, and pottery forms. Ten new clay bodies are formulated and mixed at one time, all with varying amounts or types of clay, silica, or flux. In each new firing, one variable is manipulated from the last. I sit down at my Leach-style pottery wheel with fifteen lumps of clay and make fifteen pots that each spring from a particular set of ideas, characteristics, and formal problems I am seeking to further understand. I am slow in my evolution as a maker yet make many pots. I find meaning in the numbers. Through the permutations, the pots become more nuanced and genuine and quantities of truthfully made pots suggest a sense of optimism and yearning for use. My pots are accessible for everyday use yet can also be used in and as an act of celebration. I strive to uphold the traditions of the studio pottery movement and follow those who came before me. Utilitarian pottery induces mindfulness and facilitates gathering and celebration and I hope that my pots are able to be recognized during these meaningful acts.

potsbeck@gmail.com
beckpots.com
Instagram: @beckpots

Nick DeVries, Brainerd, MN

My current body of work is made from porcelain and white stoneware. I often work in a reductive fashion, throwing heavier pieces, then altering, rasping, and carving the pots to reveal the final forms. I enjoy balancing large areas of subtle texture and color with small additions: stamps and other details that suggest windows or doorways. These forms and small details reference architecture and structure while the surfaces borrow from nature. Subtle textures suggest grass or bark; areas of micro crystalline glaze reference the random beauty of nature: lichens growing on a rock outcropping, the subtle coloration of river rock, the random intricacies of a leaf.

My hope is to create work that draws the user in to a tactile and visual interaction that might elicit a response to these physical qualities; that perhaps a moment of contemplation, consciously or not, may happen as fingers and hands work over the finished pots.

devriespottery@gmail.com
www.devriespottery.com
Instagram: @devriespottery

Jay Johnson, Apple Valley, MN

In my work, I explore the intersection of utility and aesthetic beauty through functional pottery. Each piece is designed not only to serve a purpose, but to enhance everyday rituals. I embrace the tactile qualities of clay, allowing the natural variations and imperfections to tell a story. My goal is to create objects that inspire connection between people and materials, and among those who use them. By merging craftsmanship with artistic expression, I aim to elevate the mundane into a celebration of daily life.

Jaylynn.art@gmail.com
jaypottery.com
Instagram: @Jayjohnsonceramics

Ernest Miller, Minneapolis, MN

My work is a partnership between achieving utilitarian ideals and aesthetic intentions. Concepts for my work are translations of visual elements from personal interests. I’m drawn to the interaction of the built environment that is subdued by the natural world, for example, weathered paint, an aging barn, or a well-used farm implement. In my process using slips and glazes, I build depth, highlight edges, and create patterns, all allowing for perceptions of depth or foreground and background.

emillerceramics@gmail.com
www.ernestmiller.com
Visit Ernest's webshop
Instagram: @ernestmillerceramics

Carolina Niebres, Prescott, WI

Using stoneware or porcelain, I seek to create pottery that is a pleasure to touch, hold, and use and be a joy to the eye. Currently, most of my work is thrown on a wheel. Some of these are altered out of round. The technique I use depends on the visual form or feeling I want to create. Some pieces call for an applied surface texture leading to simpler decoration like a flashing slip or leaving an entirely bare surface. Quieter forms tend to lend themselves to my love of patterns which I create using wax resist and glaze. The patterns that I use are mostly inspired by tribal tattoos from the Pacific Island cultures and nature. I fire my work in a soda atmosphere which reacts with the bare clay surface, glazes, and slips on the pots. I love how this interplay results in an exciting and unique varied surface putting a final stamp on each pot. I also believe that things that are in our lives have energy that can influence us. Therefore, as I make each piece, I ask the universe to imbue them with the most positive energy for health and wellness.

cpniebres@gmail.com
www.healingvessels.com
Visit Carolina's webshop
Instagram: @cpniebres

Nate Saunders, Montrose, MN

My work is a culmination of many components yet are constrained within traditions of functional pottery. My making process is filled with material limitations, which I thrive on as a process driven artist. These barriers are what pushes my work forward in a problem solving fashion. I am limited by the restraints of the clay’s agility and texture and use such limits to inform the production of my work. Restriction does not end there. Where it begins with the clay it continues into the firing of my work. Whether it be wood firing, pit firing, or my preferred soda/salt firing, the restrictions are numerous. I aim to be an observer to all the “problems” that arise in my work and hope that I am open enough to consider what it is attempting to tell me.

saunderspottery@gmail.com
saunderspottery.com
Visit Nate’s webshop
Instagram: @saunderspottery

Sue Schweitzer, Minneapolis, MN

My work is built around interweaving form, fluidity, and space through thrown and altered forms. Cultural influences from travels abroad often play a role in my artwork — from hearing the roar of the white lions in South Africa to exploring the pyramids of Teotihuacan. Working with clay, I ponder humanity and preservation at the core essence of being. This work undergoes one of two firing methods: high-fired soda, which reveals the imprint of the fire, or mid-range electric, where I explore atmospheric effects through glaze chemistry and sprayed glazes. My end goal is to enhance the depth of the textured terrain and bring the viewer inward in their experience.

sschweitzer08@gmail.com
schweitzerceramics.com
Instagram: @schweitzerceramics

Kat Wheeler, Cornwall, UK

I make functional ware that is largely utilitarian and decorative. It is thrown on the wheel using a groggy terra cotta. Each piece is decorated with slips using a variety of techniques including hakeme, scrafitto, slip trailing and layering thick slip to create texture. The work is then glazed simply with ash glazes and fired high to 1220. My work represents a blend of influences and life experiences. Most prominently, these include my American background and developmental years spent at the Leach pottery. I still live in St. Ives and make my work from my studio in the Gaolyard Studios.

kat@katwheeler.co.uk
www.katwheeler.co.uk
Visit Kat's webshop
Instagram: @kat.r.wheeler