Paloma Clay Studio, San Miguel De Allende, Mexico
Workshop Instructors
2025
Adrian Arleo -The Narrative Figure in Clay
Adrian Arleo has spent the last 29 years living outside Missoula, Montana, with her family and a menagerie of animals. Adrian studied Art and Anthropology at Pitzer College (B.A. 1983) and received her M.F.A. in ceramics from Rhode Island School of Design in 1986. She works full-time as a ceramic sculptor, and says the following about her work:
For 40 years, my sculpture has combined human, animal and natural imagery to create a kind of emotional and poetic power. Often there's a suggestion of a vital interconnection between the human and non-human realms; the imagery arises from associations, concerns and obsessions that are at once intimate and universal. The work frequently references mythology and archetypes in addressing our vulnerability amid changing personal, environmental and political realities. By focussing on older, more mysterious ways of seeing the world, edges of consciousness and deeper levels of awareness suggest themselves.
Adrian’s work is exhibited nationally and internationally, and is in numerous public and private collections. Her work has been widely published in books, magazines, and on the internet. Adrian is a frequent workshop instructor across the US and abroad and enjoys teaching courses on figurative ceramic sculpture. More information about Adrian and her work is available at https://www.adrianarleo.com/
Christa Assad - Reinventing the Wheel
Mexico beckoned and Christa Assad relocated her home and studio south of the border in 2017. She was captivated by the small Pueblo Mágico of Todos Santos, Baja California Sur, with its colorful decorations dangling across the narrow streets, and one long dirt road out to her new land.
Her desert hideaway now houses the only wood kiln in Baja, and there she enjoys experimenting with local clay and found treasures from her hikes in the dramatic landscape. She balances her time between potting and painting, beach combing, and exploring cities on the mainland.
Assad’s work is in the permanent collections of The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, The Ceramic Research Center at Arizona State University Museum, and The Penn State Fulbright Scholar Collection, and is included in Garth Clark’s Shards, Kevin A. Hluch’s The Art of Contemporary Pottery, and Lark Books‘ 500 Teapots and 500 Pitchers. She teaches and exhibits internationally, creating useful, classic pieces that begin on the potter’s wheel, but move beyond the round. For more information about Christa and her work go to: https://www.christaassad.com/
Richard Burkett - Sprigs, Jigs, & Pouring Pots:
Beyond Round!
Richard Burkett has worked in clay for over 50 years, and exhibited his work internationally. He taught all aspects of ceramics as a professor at San Diego State University for 30 of those years. After working as a full-time studio potter for 10 years, he received his MFA from Indiana University, then taught at the University of Wisconsin-Madison for three years before moving to SDSU. His clay work has alternated between functional pottery and sculptural forms throughout his career, with a focus on soda and salt glazed pottery in porcelain and stoneware. Since retiring from teaching at SDSU he has focused again on primarily being a studio potter. He has given workshops and lectures in Wales, Turkey, Ireland, Korea, Ecuador, Canada, Sweden, Finland, at universities across the U.S, and at Penland and Arrowmont craft schools. He is the author of HyperGlaze ceramics software, Ceramics: a Potter’s Handbook 6th edition, and Porcelain Masters (Lark Books) and Mythical Figures and Mucawas (co-authored with Joe Molinaro). He was endowed with NCECA’s highest award, Honorary Member status, in 2023.For more information about Richard go to: http://richardburkett.com/
Linda Christianson - What If? Ideas and Making
Linda Christianson is an independent studio potter who lives and works in rural Minnesota. Working with high-fire clays, she fires her work in a two-chambered wood kiln. She studied at Hamline University (St Paul, Minnesota), and the Banff Centre School of Fine Arts (Banff, Alberta, Canada). She exhibits nationally and internationally, including one-person exhibits in London and St. Louis. Her pieces are in numerous public and private collections, including the American Museum of Ceramic Art and the Glenboe Museum. An itinerate educator, Linda has taught at colleges and universities, including Carleton College, the University of Georgia – Athens, and the Hartford Art School. She received fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the McKnight Foundation. One of her goals is to make a better cup each day. For more information about Linda and her work go to https//www.christiansonpottery.com
Tony Clennell -Finding Your Voice: Casual Work and Extreme Handles
Tony Clennell is a second-generation potter who has taught workshops in Canada, the US, Japan, China, Korea, Wales, Italy and Portugal. He has a Master of Fine Arts from Utah State University and is a member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts. Tony has written articles for an assortment of ceramic journals including Fusion, Contact, Ceramics Monthly, Pottery Making Illustrated, Clay Times, and Studio Potter, He has exhibited in museums and collections in North America, Europe, and Asia. He is the author of Stuck in the Mud and a celebrated blogger. smokieclennell.blogspot.com
Suze Lindsay: Altering Form/Designing Surface
Suze Lindsay's formal ceramic studies started with a 2 year CORE fellowship at Penland School of Craft, followed by earning an MFA at Louisiana State University. She then returned to Penland School of Craft as a long-term artist in residence. After completing those 3 years in residence, her goals focused on creating life as a full time studio potter, setting up her studio in Penland's rich craft community with her husband, and fellow potter, Kent McLaughlin. Working with stoneware clay, Lindsay subtly suggests figure and character by manipulating forms after they are thrown. An integral part of her work includes surface decoration to enhance her pottery forms by patterning and painting slips and glazes for salt firing. Her mark making is strongly influenced by studying historical ceramics from cultures in Japan, Crete, Chile, China, and Native North American. Lindsay has said, "I make things to entice the user to take pleasure in everyday activities, inviting participation, promoting hospitality.” Currently, she owns and operates Fork Mountain Pottery. She lives and works in the mountains of western North Carolina. You can find more about Suze and her work at forkmountainpottery.com/
Lorna Meaden -Decorating Utility: Balancing Utility & Aesthetics
Lorna Meaden has lived in Durango, Colorado on and off for almost 30 years. Having originally moved there from the Chicago suburbs to go to Fort Lewis College, she has had many adventures in the local art scene along with intermittent moves to other places seeking education, artist residencies, and as much international travel as possible.
After receiving a BA from Fort Lewis College in 1994, and an MFA in ceramics from Ohio University in 2005, she completed artist residencies at the Archie Bray
Foundation for Ceramic Arts and Anderson Ranch Arts Center. She has been visiting faculty at San Juan College in Farmington, NM, Southern Illinois University in Edwardsville, and Fort Lewis College in Durango. Some of what she considers her most fulfilling work has been teaching and learning abroad including time spent in Jamaica, Nicaragua, Nepal, Italy, and most recently, Bali, Indonesia. Lorna is currently a full-time studio potter. She teaches workshops and shows her work extensively, both nationally and internationally.
More information about Lorna and her work is available at: https://www.lornameadenpottery.com/
George Rodriguez -
Masks for Any Occasion
Born and raised in the border city of El Paso, TX, George Rodriguez creates highly ornamented, ceramic sculptures, often underlined by a connection to sociopolitical themes. His guardian figures, tomb sculptures, and installations, commemorate and build community. His most recent projects include a permanent installation at the new Kansas City International Airport, a community tile mural at The Clay Studio in Philadelphia, and an outdoor public sculpture at CASA of Maryland, an immigration advocacy organization in Baltimore. His work has shown extensively throughout the U.S. including the Whatcom Museum, Bellingham, WA; Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, CA; Canton Art Museum, Canton, OH; amongst others. His sculptures are part of the collections of the National Museum of Mexican Art, Chicago, IL; the University of
Washington's Paul G. Allen College of Computer Science and Engineering, Seattle, WA; Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington D.C. and the National Museum in Stockholm, Sweden amongst others. Rodriguez holds a BFA from the University of Texas El Paso and an MFA from the University of Washington, Seattle. He is an Assistant Professor at the
Tyler School of Art and Architecture in Philadelphia and was featured on PBS Craft in America "Storytellers" episode. For more information about George and his work visit https://georgerodriguez.net/
Tip Toland - What's on Your Mind?
Portrait and Other
Tip Toland lives in Vaughn, Washington. She received her MFA from Montna State University in 1981. Tip is a full-time studio artist and a part-time instructor in Seattle. She conducts workshops across the United States, Europe, Australia, Mexico, Taiwan, and the Middle East. Traver Gallery in Seatle, WA represents her work.
Her work is in numerous public and private collections, including The Yellowstone Art Museum, The Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian, Nelson Atkins Museum, The Crocker Museum, St. Petersburg Museum of Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Eleanor Wilson Museum at Hollins University, Kohler Arts Center, Portland Art Museum, Racine Art Museum, Yingee Ceramics Museum, Icheon Museum of Ceramics.
More information about Tip and her work is available at: http://www.tiptoland.com/