Pottery
Mountain Living Studio's potters make quite unique and beautiful works of art. Our large collection ranges from gorgeous practical dishware to exquisite expressions of culture.
Sumi von Dassow
Golden resident Sumi von Dassow is well-known in Colorado as a potter and ceramic artist, a teacher and a writer. Her work includes brightly-colored functional pottery, burnished and pit-fired vessels, and ceramic sculpture. She has participated in the Cherry Creek Arts Festival and has won numerous awards in major local and national shows. Her work has appeared in books and magazines, and is in the permanent collections of several arts institutions in the country. In addition to creating her own innovative work, Sumi teaches pottery at Lakewood's Washington Heights Art Center. She is widely recognized as an expert on pit firing and burnishing, and has led numerous workshops both in Colorado and in other states. She frequently contributes articles about pottery to the magazines Ceramics Monthly and Pottery Making Illustrated, and writes a book review column for the latter magazine. She edited the books Barrel, Pit and Saggar Firing in March, 2001, and Electric Kiln Pottery in February 2003, both published by the American Ceramic Society. Her book Low-firing and Burnishing was released in 2009, as well as a DVD entitled Pit Firing and Burnishing. Sumi's pots have been exhibited and won national awards in major juried shows including "Feats of Clay" at the Lincoln Arts Center in Lincoln, California and the Kennedy-Douglass Center for the Arts "Monarch National Ceramic Competition.” Sumi's work is in the permanent collections of institutions such as the Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library in Topeka, Kansas, and the Hoyt Institute of Fine Arts in New Castle, Pennsylvania. Commissioned work includes a tile installation at the Foothills Art Center in Golden. Sumi was born in Seattle, Washington and began studying ceramics in high school. At the University of Washington she studied under Patti Warashina and the late Howard Kottler. Continuing at San Francisco State University, she studied with Joe Hawley and David Kuraoka, graduating Summa Cum Laude in 1987 with a degree in Art with an Emphasis in Ceramics.
Neil Celani
A statement from the artist: "For the past eight years my passion for clay has fueled my artistic creativity. This obsession and continued curiosity has allowed me to express my reflections on life through the ceramic medium. Through the production of stylized utilitarian ceramics I am able to represent the earth, allowing both functionality and artistic merit to have an equal voice. The repetition of production pottery and the use of my own work present the insight and stimulation needed to continue to pursue clays’ seemingly endless possibilities. Each pot that passes through my hands exposes the fragile, volatile, and serendipitous nature of the ceramic process. Clay demands an enormous amount of attention and patience. This commitment has driven me to work hard to continually create pots to use and reflect on. From each piece created I attempt to learn something new. Within each pot lies the seed for the next. It is this constant analysis, reflection and revision that leads to the work of which I am most proud. While engaging in the struggle to refine my work; my successes, failures and often times baffling results, keep me humble and in awe of the process. Our culture is saturated with disposable objects and the handmade object often goes underappreciated. Their humanity and insight get lost. Part of my passion involves attempting to fill this gap by sharing the knowledge I have gained by educating others on the history, the process, and the value of handcrafted ceramics while producing a line of work that represents me."
Lori Hannan
Lori Hannan is a native of rural Pennsylvania. She received her BFA in ceramics, and minor in weaving from the University of Texas at Austin. A couple of years later, she moved to Germany, where she taught pottery to American soldiers and their families in Mainz. She was promoted to arts and crafts director, which included overseeing various art programs for the soldiers. Lori also had the opportunity to teach art at an International Youth Camp in Norway. This really sparked an interested in teaching youth, and upon her return to the United States, she received her teaching credential from the San Francisco State University. She taught art and ceramics to high school students for five years in the Bay Area. After the birth of her children, she and her husband moved to Southern Colorado, and Red Cloud Pottery was born. For the past 11 years, Lori has been a working potter. She shows her work in several gift shops and galleries, including Mountain Living Studio in Manitou Springs. Lori continues to grow in the process of producing fine pottery that celebrates her connection and love for all that is born of the earth. Her home and studio are nestled up to mountains, with a grand view of the plains. All this nature continues to inspire her works with clay, which is evident in the contrast of raw clay and shiny glazes.
Jan and Hideharu Igaki
Jan is a cell biologist by education, and until just recently worked in the biotech & pharmaceutical industries. Hideharu, a native of Japan, has taught & coached karate since he was very young; he recently retired as the Head Coach for the USA National Karate Team, under the auspices of the US Olympic Committee. While they are mostly self-taught as potters, they each have had several wonderful teachers along the way. They collaborate on nearly every piece. Hideharu specializes in throwing, and Jan on sculpting and handbuilding. They happily call Loveland, Colorado their home. Their platters are made one at at time from stoneware clay. The clay is rolled through a slab roller (kind of like a very large pasta machine), cut to shape & formed into a platter by hand. After drying slowly, the platters are bisque fired to harden & strengthen the clay so that it can be handled more easily. The designs are drawn on each platter with a pencil, allowing the design to flow off the platter’s edge. Glazing is the most fun, and the most challenging. The food-safe glazes are layered on with a paintbrush, blending to give depth. The platters are then re-fired to a higher temperature to melt the glazes and basically turn the clay into impermeable stone. Stoneware is fired to a very high temperature – about 2200°F– which renders it much more durable & less brittle than earthenware. Each platter is a truly unique original work of art. All are food-safe, microwave & dishwasher safe. They look great on the wall, it’s true, but they love it best when they are used to serve food for family & friends. Enjoy!
David and Margaret Nelson
Colorado artists David and Margaret Nelson began their journey into the world of ceramics with the production of functional stoneware. Before long, the dazzling beauty of crystals in the nature inspired them to study crystalline glazing on porcelain. Time and experimentation yielded the sought after results. From the jewel-like appearance of each finished piece, the “Jewelry of Pottery” was born. Few ceramic artists work in this medium due to the difficulty and laborious processes required to produce these beautiful and unique pieces. Every firing ends with a myriad of surprises - unpredictable and enchanting in its loveliness. Though worthy of display as an object d’arte, each item is also fully functional for use at table, or as a vase for fresh flowers.
Becky Traynor
Here is a statement from the artist: "I find that organic forms fascinate me! Colorado’s beautiful colors and textures inspire me to create “The Art of Organic Forms”. I grow wildflowers, sunflowers, hollyhocks, columbine, elephant ears, rhubarb from seeds and bulbs. I also collect cottonwood and aspen leaves to create one of kind clay designs. I roll and press these leaves into soft clay and use forms to create bowls, plates, and wall hangings. The pieces are bisque fired to a cone 5, hand painted food safe glazes are used in the glazing process and fired to 2100 degrees Fahrenheit. I have lived in Colorado for the past twenty years with my daughter. I hold a Colorado Teaching License K-12 Art and have a BS degree from Colorado State University Pueblo. I currently teach art to K-5 students at one of the schools here in the area."
Mark Wong
Mark Wong specializes in high fire stoneware, which is more muted in tones and color than majolica, raku or even earthenware. The nature of the medium is such that the hotter the kiln the more colors are lost. The up side is that the resulting ware is much more durable than its lower fired counterpart. The exception to this rule is the brilliant reds represented by this body of work. Fired on a porcelain white stoneware to highlight its natural beauty, this glaze is known as Sang –De – Boeuf or ox blood red. The color is dependent on a variety of factors. The glaze’s recipe is an obvious one. Not quite as obvious to most is the atmosphere in the kiln. Many a clay artist, enchanted by this rich color, has searched out an appropriate recipe only to get side lined by the capricious nature of the firing. Pieces come out white or even green as that rich color is burned out in unwanted oxidation. The kiln’s atmosphere has to be carefully controlled in reduction (reduced oxygen) while the glaze melts. This requires a burning heat source (gas,wood, oil, etc.) in order to draw the oxygen out of the glaze. Mark's love affair with this glaze began in college with an old technical manual of glaze recipes. His first attempt was a rich brilliant red but was stuck to the shelf by the runny nature of the glaze. The fix for this is to lower the firing temperature of the kiln or raise the firing temperature of the glaze. Since this was just a couple of pieces in the middle of a field of other students work, all of which were using glazes based on the higher temperature, lowering the firing temp was not an option. Thus began a tug of war that continued long after college was over. Raising the maturation temperature of the glaze muted the colors. Increasing the percentage of the compounds responsible for the colors lowered the maturation point. Some parts of the kiln were hotter than the glaze liked. and some were colder. Kilns have air leaks as well which can lead to cold spots and, worse, oxidation burning out color. Since beginning of his career as an artist, he has been known for my decorative raku pieces. Bright copper lusters and consistently surviving large vessels are the bugaboo of the raku artist but he finds this child’s play compared to a consistent line of that elusive brilliant red. For years the reds seen here were reserved for personal gifts and private enjoyment only. It is only in the last couple of years that he has felt comfortable enough in his control of the process to offer these pieces to the public. These pieces are all food safe as well as microwave, dishwasher and oven (always preheat with the oven!) safe. Pieces and sets can be made to order as well in a variety of other colors.