Our Artists
Rachel Gunsch
Rachel, the new owner of Pottery 101, was raised in Salisbury, NC, where she first discovered pottery at the very studio she now owns. At the age of 16, Rachel began working for Cheryl Goins, the former owner, immersing herself in the craft and learning everything she could. This mentorship laid the foundation for Rachel’s future in pottery, and she later graduated from Warren Wilson College with a degree in art.
Rachel returned to Salisbury and opened SunRay Pottery, where she participated in fourteen craft shows each year. Rachel’s work is primarily functional dinnerware, painted in bright colors and busy designs that reflect her vibrant style. Her passion for pottery also expanded into teaching, and she began offering classes in Charlotte, Concord, Salisbury, and Winston-Salem.
In December 2024, Cheryl Goins retired and sold Pottery 101 to Rachel, marking a significant new chapter for both the studio and Rachel herself. Today, Rachel combines her experiences as a business owner, artist, and educator to continue Pottery 101’s legacy. Not only does she share her love of pottery with her students, but she also welcomes new artists into the gallery, helping to expand the ceramic community.
Lin Barnhardt
Lin Barnhardt graduated from Appalachian State University in 1974 with a BS degree and later
returned to his alma mater to receive his Masters.
He taught art at the secondary level in the public schools of North Carolina for 29 years. In 1997, his seventh graders created unconventional birdhouses, while eighth graders drew
winning poker hands using linear perspective.
From the class projects, he incorporated his interests in architecture, linear perspective, painting, and sculpture.
He has since created a line of Home & Garden ornaments, garden stakes, birdhouses, feeders, lanterns, and ornaments.
Brett Beasley
Beasley makes wheel thrown utilitarian pottery intended for everyday use. He also makes one-of-a-kind ceramic sculptures. Earning a Master of Fine Art degree from East Carolina University, Beasley is currently a full time, self-employed ceramic artist working out of his home studio located in Charlotte, NC.
Brett has assisted top-ranked, professional artists such as Ayumi Horie, Justin Rothshank, Steve Loucks and Lynnette Hesser at various nationally recognized craft schools. He has been an active member of the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts (NCECA) since 2011 and attends the annual conference. Beasley exhibits his artwork at both the national and regional level.
Although art is the chosen profession, fishing is his primary passion.
Meghan Bernard
I love making the objects that people use during their daily rituals. The favorite coffee cup that starts the day, the serving bowl that completes a family gathering, the teapot that brings drama and humor to a collection. Pottery is meant to be used and touched for both the most humble activity as well as the most important. Each piece is from my hand to yours, as a tactile reminder to appreciate the moment and those you share it with.
Sylvia Coppola
Sylvia Coppola has been working in clay since 1976 after taking her first clay class at Western Carolina University and later earning her BFA in pottery and jewelry. Over the years she continued her education by taking scores of workshops from master potters and clay artists from across the US and the UK. For most of her career in clay she has been a studio potter and for the last 20 years she has wholesaled her work to over 50 galleries and gift shops in the US. Sylvia also teaches workshops at John C Campbell Folk School in Brasstown, NC and has taught at Red Sky Gallery, Rising Sun Pottery, Mint Hill Arts, Spring Island Art Barn and at Duck Creek Pottery. Duck Creek Pottery is her business located on her farm in Union County where she lives with her husband. She currently offers pit firing, raku, throwing and glazing one day workshops. Her pottery is thrown or hand-built and is often altered and textured. Most of her pottery is thrown on the wheel but she also makes many hand-built pots from slabs of clay. Her work may be seen on Facebook and Instagram @duckcreekpottery.
Linda Dalton
Linda Dalton Pottery is the creation of Linda and Jim Dalton, a husband and wife team of studio potters who craft one of a kind high end functional and decorative pottery, both wheel thrown and hand built, at their studio just minutes north of Pinehurst, NC. A working studio, open by appointment, their studio has become a popular destination venue for out of town visitors as well as regulars, patrons and pottery collectors. Here visitors can follow the progress of work from raw clay to finished work, and chat with the creators about the processes, as well as trying their hand at making a piece of art.
Sue Davis
After studying how to create kaleidoscopes in 1999 at John C. Campbell Folk School, Sue Davis began exploring new concepts for mirror systems that create the colorful patterns found in kaleidoscopes and the exteriors of her kaleidoscopes. Currently, Sue Davis is spending more time in her glass studio, making fused glass pieces for functional use.
Katy Freeman
Creating handmade jewelry has been a passion of mine for the past decade. My jewelry incorporates locally sourced chromatic glass beads and copper-plated wire. The goal of Chroma Nook is to create fashionable art that encourages self-expression and connects people from all walks of life.
Amy Hart
Amy graduated from Syracuse University with a BFA in Surface Design and Metalsmithing. She has worked as a commercial artist for York Wallcoverings, Hallmark Cards, and Springs Industries. Amy has also been welding and forging iron for over 20 years.
“I believe each object has its own intrinsic value. Just as we can all reinvent and rediscover ourselves, and old rusted out muffler can be transformed to represent a dog.”
Because she creates “found object” art, when Amy is not stopping her car on the side of the road to “re-purpose” an old muffler, she can be found at one of the local scrap yards in North and South Carolina.
Candice Hensley
I currently make porcelain pots, fired in my high fire gas reduction kiln and in wood kilns throughout western North Carolina. My work centers around two of my most passionate loves: food and flowers. I strive to make classic, elegant shapes that serve to elevate their everyday uses.
Darla Hudson
Nature, functionality and impressionism blend together in the works of this native North Carolina artist. Darla Hudson has created a collection with the core tenet being that everyone should celebrate their relationship with art on a daily basis.
Having a passion for clay, and whether working on the wheel, hand building or with slabs, she is influenced by the elements of her home state, where water, flora and fauna come to life in the colors, textures and shapes of her work.
Darla has been creating pottery for over 20 years, and she works out of her studio in Mooresville tucked away on a creek in the woods. Beaver Creek Pottery is the ideal place for inspiration. Beaver Creek got its name as several beaver dams have been built on the creek, and like Darla’s energy, this lively and active environment is part of her “everyclay” creations.
Shirl Hull
SculpShirl Original is owned by Artist and Designer, Shirl Hull. SHirl studied Fine Art at the College of New Rochelle in NY and is a graduate of Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, CA with a B.A in Studio Art.
During Shirl’s career, her jewelry has been featured twice in Essence Magazine. Her jewelry has adorned many Hollywood celebrities, and her SculpShirl Int’l. Jewelry mail order catolog was well received throughout the United States and Internationally. She was also the owner of two successful boutiques and gift stores in NY.
Shirl has always had a love for jewelry and fashion and as a teen, took regular trips into Greenwich Village NYC to purchase unique earrings. Today, Shirl creates one-of-a-kind bracelets, earrings, and necklaces utilizing textured brass, copper, and silver in her signature links jewelry line. Natural gemstone beads and metal beads along with leather lace are also featured in her line of jewelry. Love and attention to detail are put into each wearable piece of art by Shirl and she hopes that the recipients of her work love and enjoy wearing their unique piece of jewelry.
Sunsuk Lee
After I retired as a CPA, a friend gave me a handmade blue mug she crafted on a
pottery wheel. Inspired, I went to Sawtooth School for Visual Arts and asked questions
about their Ceramics program. Shortly after the first visit, I enrolled in their Ceramics
program and took classes in different techniques, levels and workshops and many
more.
After a few years, I had started assisting in classes and for a few years I have been
teaching Hands on Clay and Taste of Arts classes at Sawtooth schools. I also taught a few workshops at Pottery 101 and will begin teaching their 8 week handbuilding class beginning in August!
Mellie Mae Lonneman
Mellie began her journey of making when she was gifted her aunt’s old Singer sewing machine at age 16. This led to her love of making and pursuing the craft of the handmade object. She received a BFA from Alfred University with a concentration in ceramics. Her craft moves between fibers and ceramics with texture, subtle colors, and exploration at the core of her work. She lives with her husband and two sons in Asheville, NC.
Ellie Lyle
Ellie Lyle holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Art Education and Community Arts from Tyler School of Art at Temple University. She moved to the Charlotte area after graduation and was a High School Art Teacher for nearly 8 years. In 2021 she pivoted into the printing industry where she began work as a Wide Format Screen Printer and Technical Graphic Designer. Over the years she has taken a range of pottery courses and worked as a Studio Assistant at Clayworks in Charlotte, NC. She now calls Pottery 101 home, where she teaches private wheel throwing classes.
Sign up to take a class with her today!
Jennifer Mecca
I am a utilitarian potter. My goal is to create pots that are visually pleasing and unique in character, but also useful in everyday life. I enjoy making serving pieces and tableware that bring delight to the daily activity of eating, setting a table and enjoying a meal.
I was born in upstate New York, and moved to South Carolina in my late teens. I spent many childhood weekends observing and participating in the traditions of my paternal Italian-American family. Among the most prevalent was the preparation of elaborate meals. I observed how tableware and the type of serving pieces were as important as the planning, preparation and enjoyment of a meal. This served as the foundation for my interest in utilitarian pottery and my love of creating elaborate surfaces and forms.
I earned my BFA in Interior Design from Virginia Commonwealth University then completed a BFA and MFA in Ceramics at East Carolina University. I now live in Gastonia, North Carolina, where I split my time between teaching and working as a studio potter. I also love to teach workshops, and I'm a member of a pottery group in Charlotte called Thrown Together.
Nanette Pengelley
My work centers on the use of found objects. When I integrate semi-precious materials, I introduce these unique discoveries into a transitive context. As a result, my process is a derivative of my environment. Through experimentation, I endeavor to locate myself in my surroundings, as an artist—as a person. To put it simply, my work is shaped by materials that I am attracted to, and oftentimes I find myself captivated by an object because of my encounter with it. In this way, my experiences are carried forward with me, through the act of making.
Tim and Lisa Kluttz
Tim and Lisa are self-taught folk artists who share their farm/studio with two cats and other assorted creatures. The couple began painting collaboratively about ten years ago after being inspired by the Outsider Art Collection at the House of Blues, Myrtle Beach, S.C.
Both love bright colors and use found, reclaimed and recycled materials to create happy, colorful and sometimes whimsical art work. Tim is the ultimate collector and recycler so there is never a shortage of materials. The couple's styles are complimentary and favorite subjects are cats, flowers, dogs, chickens, mermaids and the Statue of Liberty. Their work can be found in galleries and at art shows throughout the Southeast and of course at their home studio, St. Peter's Farm.
Joseph Sand
Joseph Sand (b. 1982, Austin, MN) graduated from Austin High School in 2001. He trained as a sculptor at the University of Minnesota, receiving a B.F.A. with honors in 2006. During his undergraduate courses, he studied art for one year in Italy, followed by another year in England, after receiving a very competitive, collegewide scholarship. While in England, he worked alongside many prolific potters, including Svend Bayer and Clive Bowen, which heavily influenced his direction as an artist, taking up functional pottery as a means of personal expression. He completed a threeyear and a half year apprenticeship with Mark Hewitt in 2009 and now resides in Randleman, North Carolina. Joseph built a 40 foot anagama kiln and makes functional and sculptural ceramics fulltime. He fires his large, woodfired kiln three times a year, and the majority of his work is sold on his property during kiln opening sales. Joseph's work is also represented in several galleries across the United States. His functional work combines the styles of traditional, Southern alkaline glazeware and East Asian design, among others.
Paula Smith
Paula Smith's functional and sculptural ceramics are an extension of a creative life that extends well beyond her studio. For Paula, everything is a creative act. Throughout her career she has had a strong focus on sculptural, narrative work – telling stories through the use of female imagery, including the torso, the archetypal house form, and the vessel. She is also interested in the use of Milagros, or miracles in Spanish, and their symbolism. These ideas are incorporated into her functional pottery, along with more organic references such as wood, leaves, flowers and animals. Her interpretation of these elements is full of whimsy, often playful in a Dr. Seuss kind of way.Paula received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Ceramics from the Kansas City Art Institute, and a Master of Fine Arts in Ceramics from the University of Illinois, Champaign. She currently lives in Rock Hill, SC and teaches ceramics at CPCC in Charlotte, NC.
Kelsey Sorensen
My recent body of work is an exploration of the concepts of balance and definition. The confluence of form and function gives way to the design process. I make utilitarian pottery including tableware, vases, and other functional home décor pieces. I believe that thoughtfully designed objects can bring joy to our daily routines, such as morning coffee or weeknight dinners. Leaving the surface undecorated emphasizes the refined, minimalist vessel. Among many things, I draw inspiration from ceramics of the Song dynasty, mid-century modern design, and Usonian architecture. My work is primarily wheel-thrown stoneware that is trimmed and fired to Cone 6 oxidation.
Joy Tanner
While I pay equal attention to form, surface, and detail, my pottery is most noted for its carved patterns inspired by nature. I am just as interested in the way a leaf connects to its stem as I am the folds of a mountain range or bursts of color at sunrise. These reflections I find in nature weave their way into the surfaces of my pots, and accrue a rhythm all their own as they swirl and drape across surfaces, suggesting spider webs, ripples in a stream, or water patterns in sand. Through my regular yoga and meditation practice I have become quite interested with the connection between our body and mind and the forms I create out of clay, or the inspirations I find in nature. Often it feels like the form of the pot swells with breath, like my body in certain yoga poses, or my jar knobs resemble hands reaching up in a sun salutation. The bones of the body, such as the rib cage, resemble the patterned lines and edges that drape over the form of the pot.
My work reflects an awareness of the present moment, resulting in uniquely designed pottery that is just as inviting to ponder and touch as it is to use and share. Firing my stoneware forms in a soda kiln or a wood kiln yields an ever changing palette of natural variations of color. Cradling a cup or bowl in their hands, people feel inspired to bring a sense of awareness and ritual into their lives. Integrating the way I experience the world with the way I design my pottery is essential to my creativity. Whether rinsing garden tomatoes at the kitchen sink, or pausing to study wildflowers along the trail, I believe in taking time to notice the little details of life.
Elizabeth Walton
My observations of nature's resilience and ability to grow in response to its environment informs my practice. I am fascinated by the development of systems and their intentional disruption as a means of highlighting change. Each piece is activated by the body and designed for wear in order to honor the presence and necessity of the wearer. My design approach is rooted in simple shapes gaining complexity by repetition and layering. Inspired by the slow yet systematic growth of nature into something magnificent, my work emerges in response to the limits I set. By thoughtfully disrupting the resulting patterns, I find an organic yet architectural language evoking intrigue and wonder.
Verna Witt
Pottery began as a means to create functional vessels for everyday use. I now enjoy stretching the limits of the clay to reach beyond the functional to create works that challenge the senses in both form and texture.
My life as a ceramic artist reflects my formal training as a textile designer. My work is often inspired by fashion; from clothing to accessories. I create clay vessels that might seem “wearable”, which I hope, will appeal to people who can see beyond the usual.
While I explore the pottery traditions of North Carolina, I am also looking for ways to create vessels that fool the eye. With the “faux” look of woven baskets or the metallic look of a zipper or buckle, I try to entice the viewer to come take a closer look and perhaps tempt them to touch my pottery to make sure it is all made of clay.
I have a serious commitment to clay but at the same time enjoy the whimsy and its infinite possibilities.
I continue to use clay as a medium for its versatility.