Upcoming events
Earth and Fire Ceramics Exhibition
I am excited to say that my piece, Volume 1, was accepted to the Earth and Fire Ceramics Exhibition in Wheeling, WV!
Oglebay Institute’s Stifel Fine Arts Center will be hosting a national juried exhibition of ceramic art on February 28 - April 11, 2026. This is the third annual exhibition and will be a focal point of Ceramics Take Over Wheeling.
Ceramics Take Over Wheeling is a citywide event that will celebrate ceramic artists and clay enthusiasts alike. Galleries and venues across the “Friendly City” are excited to showcase the very best in contemporary and traditional ceramic art during this newly organized four-day experience.
Opening Reception
Join us from 6:30-8:30pm Saturday, February 28 at Stifel Fine Arts Center for the opening reception of Earth & Fire: 2026 A National Ceramic Art Exhibition.
Learn more at: https://www.ceramicstakeoverwheeling.com/
Engineering The Large Vessel - 2 Day Demonstration Workshop
From The Village Potters Clay Center in Asheville, NC:
We are thrilled to host our own, Tori Motyl, a fearless and amazingly skilled potter!
Tori returns home to The Village Potters Clay Center for an exciting two-day demonstration devoted to the art and thrill of Making Really, Really Big Pots. A former graduate and apprentice of our Advanced Studies Program and staff instructor, this is where Tori first began throwing bigger, and now she’s coming home to share just how far that journey has taken her. Now based in Vermont, Tori brings her latest skills, refined techniques, and new perspectives she has gleaned from her life and work in Vermont, her studio home.
In this demonstration workshop Tori will challenge your thinking about the vessel as an architectural structure and the clay as our building material. Over two days Tori will build a vessel from start to finish while covering topics including:
● How to plan and prepare for a large vessel while taking into consideration the structural integrity of your design
● How to build a pot on the wheel wider than you can throw
● How to design pots taller than your kiln
● How to incorporate new technologies like CAD and CNC machining to execute more exact designs
There will be ample time to ask questions and gain information that will help you customize what you learn for your own work and studio practice, or just enjoy the mind blowing demonstration.
After a season working with renowned large-work potter Steven Proctor, Tori has developed a confident, grounded, and safe approach to large-scale throwing. She’ll generously share her process, problem-solving strategies, and the determination it takes to bring really, really big pots into being.
Tori’s work has also caught the attention of Ralph Lauren, with a commission of her large, colorful vessels featured as centerpieces in recent retail displays, proof that big pots can make a big impact.
Whether or not you ever plan to throw at this scale, these two days promise to be pure magic: watching Tori build a monumental vessel, approximately 32" wide x 44" tall, while sharing stories, insights, and her deep love of clay. We’ll break bread together sharing lunch each day, and soak up the energy that only a generous, passionate maker like Tori can bring.
Let’s give Tori the warmest welcome home and join her as she shares her amazing techniques and her love for big pots with us, her community.
Learn more and sign up at: https://streams.thevillagepotters.com/product/july-11-12-2026-engineering-the-large-vessel-w-tori-motyl-2-day-demonstration-workshop-copy/
M&T Bank Clothesline Art & Fine Craft Festival
I am excited to be heading back to my home town of Rochester, NY to participate in the Clothesline Arts Festival - a show I first participated in when I started my pottery business in 2011!
The Memorial Art Gallery and MAG Council are teaming up to bring more art, more music, and more food to the M&T Bank Clothesline Art & Fine Craft Festival, the museum’s largest annual fundraiser and biggest celebration of the arts.
For almost 70 years, over 300 artists from across the country have offered their work for sale at this two-day festival, held on the beautiful grounds of the Memorial Art Gallery. Clothesline is the place to experience all-day live entertainment, sample food from some of Rochester’s favorite food trucks and vendors, enjoy free family art activities, and visit the museum.
Learn more at: https://mag.rochester.edu/clothesline/
Big, Fat Pots: Techniques for Making Bigger Work. 2-Day Intensive Workshop
Hosted by Jewell Town Pottery in Amesbury, MA, this class is all about scale. On day 1 students will learn the basics of doubling and tripling the size of their work by stacking and stretching thrown sections. We will cover important skills including being intentional about wall thickness, controlling moisture content, and avoiding slumping. The morning will be spent on learning the basics of stacking thrown sections to create tall, narrow vases and the afternoon will focus on stretching wide to create generous moon jars.
On day 2 we will put our new skills to the test as students will spend the whole day making a complex acorn vessel - a double bellied form with a tight waist and narrow neck and opening.
Students will leave the class with multiple projects and the confidence and skills to continue making big, complex pots as part of their own clay practice.
Level: Experienced beginners and up. Day 1 is open to any students who can center and throw any amount of clay consistently and is looking to learn or refine the basics of throwing and stacking sectional pots.
Learn more and sign up at Jewell Town Pottery: https://www.jewelltownpottery.com/store/p/tori-motyl-workshop