West Chicago
Host: Laurie Pollpeter Eskenazi at her studio in the garage adjacent to her home
Laurie has been drawn to all things vintage; old button boxes, quilts and other traditional needle crafts made by woman across the globe. She is fascinated by the mosaics and textiles produced in places like Spain, India, and Morocco. These things inspire her. She believes that work made by hand is infused with a part of the maker and that energy is passed on to the collector. Laurie creates objects rich in texture, pattern, and color. Her work possesses a feminine, playful touch that speaks to contemporary sensibilities with a touch of nostalgia woven in.
Tatyana Schierl grew up in Moscow, Russia. Once in America, she attended Macalester College where she fell in love with ceramics. While raising her four children, Tatyana always found a way to get her hands in the mud. However she finally became a full time potter in 2019. Being an avid hiker, she pulls images of nature into her work, finding inspiration in the ordinary. Tatyana draws her images on rice paper. She then applies them to her wares with slips, incorporating underglazes and mason stains for coloring.
Reiko’s current predominant processes are achieved through Sgraffito and Mishima. She loves the bold graphicness of the black and white finish and to top it off by adding a pop of color. Through Mishima, I can create a similar boldness through an opposite way of thinking and working. This technique allows for extremely fine, intricate design work with hard, sharp edges that can be difficult to achieve in any other way. In the end pieces are assembled into whimsical conversation starters.
Andrew Krueger is a self-taught potter from Sheboygan, Wisconsin, with a deep fascination for the intersection of art and material science. His work explores the delicate balance between a simple form and a complex surface. Specializing in vivid and bold crystalline glazes, Andrews glazes are a result of zinc crystals forming on the surface of the pot during the firing process. His pots are a reflection of his ongoing artistic journey, which is everchanging.
Samantha makes functional, comfortable pots to encourage people to slow down and enjoy the rituals and conversations of everyday life. She designs each pot to create depth, tension, and comfort, hoping to draw you in and inspire you to linger a bit longer. Her surfaces are inspired by natural landscapes and the contrast of order and chaos.
For CJ each piece is a reflection of a specific memory or set of memories, and the emotions and associations that come with them. The feelings and thoughts that they evoke, through subject matter and environment, is an attempt to reach the viewer and connect with their own memories to gain a deeper understanding of the way in which memory shapes our lives.
Michael is fascinated by form and how that combines with function. And ever since he learned to throw he has been fascinated by firing with wood. His work emphasizes strong simple lines and uses glazes that are enhanced by the flame and ash moving through the kiln. Michael’s current work focuses on the interaction of the flame and ash with glazes, especially matte microcrystalline glazes. His forms tend to be full and round, though he does make complimentary forms to make efficient use of the kiln space. In the kiln, the flame flows around his forms like stones in a stream, leaving it mark and depositing ash as it passes.