Our Incredible Teaching Staff
Kirsten Bassion
Kirsten Bassion, owner and teacher, received her Master of Fine Arts in Ceramics from the School for American Crafts at Rochester Institute of Technology in New York in 2004. She did her undergraduate studies at Skidmore College where she majored in studio art and graduated in 1997. She uses beautifully bright colors, unusual glazes with hand carved textures and layers of underglazes to create unique and useful pottery. Her work is both in porcelain and dark brown stoneware.
Kirsten's work has been shown in galleries throughout the country. You can see more of Kirsten's work at www.kirstenbassion.com
Kirsten's work has been shown in galleries throughout the country. You can see more of Kirsten's work at www.kirstenbassion.com
Elizabeth Bocknick
Elizabeth Bocknick, Teacher and Studio Tech Extraordinaire, has been working in clay for over 20 years. She has been working with us since the beginning of The Clay School and is a wonderful resource. On top of being the studio's main technician/studio manager, Elizabeth teaches beginners to advanced students and brings a whimsical and gentle approach to clay and her classes.
Elizabeth has done the SOWA show in South Boston as well as other local craft shows. You can see Elizabeth's work at our annual Open Studios the weekend before Thanksgiving each year.
Elizabeth has done the SOWA show in South Boston as well as other local craft shows. You can see Elizabeth's work at our annual Open Studios the weekend before Thanksgiving each year.
Kimberly Allison
Kim Allison, teacher, is a studio potter in Salem, MA whose wheel-thrown and hand-built ceramics are inspired by Nordic nature, design, and culture. Kim is fascinated by pottery’s unique ability to convey visual and tactile experiences simultaneously. She uses porcelain forms with mishima inlay, carving techniques, and slipped surfaces to create or obscure texture in an effort to explore the relationship between what we see and what we feel when we interact with ceramics. Kim fell in love with clay in 2012 when she took her first ceramics class as a date night with her husband. She spent four years in classes and studio workshops with the amazing teachers at The Clay School before deciding in 2016 to shift careers and pursue ceramics full time. Born in Southern Massachusetts, Kim studied film production and graphic design at Boston University, graduating with a B.S. in 2005. She spent more than a decade as a corporate graphic designer in Boston. Her backgrounds in film and in design contribute to her love of storytelling and her enthusiasm for the art and joy of making by hand.
www.kallisonceramics.com
www.kallisonceramics.com
Zachary Mickelson
|
Zachary Mickelson, teacher, is a potter and ceramic artist working out of the Boston area since 2010. He grew up in Gloucester, Massachussets surrounded by the vibrant arts community there. After studying sculpture and ceramic arts at Lewis and Clark College, Zac spent a year teaching English and making pottery. Since then he has been building a community in the Boston area, teaching at the Harvard Ceramics Program, Maud Morgan Arts, and now the Clay school.
More of Zachary's work can be found on his website http://zacharymickelson.wixsite.com/zachary-ceramics |
Ruth Easterbrook
Ruth Easterbrook, teacher, has always enjoyed the process of working with clay, first discovering it as a sophomore in high school, captivated by the magical transformation of wet clay to bowl and then the lasting effects that take place within the firing and glazes. She creates pottery with the idea of interactive art; that they will become part of the sharing, presentation and pleasures of food. In her work she investigates form, surface and their supportive relationship. Building slopes, handles and walls that set up decoration, then layering or masking glazes to create depth and atmosphere. Influenced by the subtleties of nature and the wealth of floral pattern throughout history, Ruth applies a range of floral motifs bringing summer blooms to the table.
She received her BFA in Ceramics from Syracuse University in 2007. After she apprenticed and assisted various ceramic artists and studios. She has shown work nationally at places such as Baltimore Clayworks and Carbondale Clay Center. A turning point in her personal growth took place while participating in an eight-week concentration at Penland School of Craft in 2014. Anderson Ranch Arts Center has been an important place of learning for Ruth, spending extensive time there are student, then summer intern and returning as the Artist in Residence in 2016. Most recently she earned her MFA in ceramics at Alfred University in 2019. Currently Ruth is the Artist in Resident at Harvard University Office of the Arts. http://www.rutheasterbrook.com/
She received her BFA in Ceramics from Syracuse University in 2007. After she apprenticed and assisted various ceramic artists and studios. She has shown work nationally at places such as Baltimore Clayworks and Carbondale Clay Center. A turning point in her personal growth took place while participating in an eight-week concentration at Penland School of Craft in 2014. Anderson Ranch Arts Center has been an important place of learning for Ruth, spending extensive time there are student, then summer intern and returning as the Artist in Residence in 2016. Most recently she earned her MFA in ceramics at Alfred University in 2019. Currently Ruth is the Artist in Resident at Harvard University Office of the Arts. http://www.rutheasterbrook.com/
Erica Hood
Erica Hood, Teacher, was born in Massachusetts and moved to Southern Maine as a teenager. She made the move back to MA to attend Massachusetts College of Art and Design, where she graduated in 2014 with a BFA in ceramics. She has travelled throughout the New England area teaching ceramics ever since. She currently resides and creates work in Attleboro, MA with her partner, 2015 MassArt ceramics alumni Owen Roberts. When she isn’t in her ceramics studio, she spends her time outside enjoying nature and exploring old cemeteries.
Erica Hood enjoys throwing, handbuilding, and sculpting with a cone6 white clay body. Each piece is hand painted during both the leather hard and bisque stages. The clay surface is built up with layers of slip and underglaze, resulting in a depth of color, texture, and line quality. Grayscale florals often fill the foreground, floating atop a rich layer of swirled brushstrokes. This painterly surface is dark yet soft. Her work is influenced by nature, texture, and emotion.
https://www.ericalynnhood.com/
Erica Hood enjoys throwing, handbuilding, and sculpting with a cone6 white clay body. Each piece is hand painted during both the leather hard and bisque stages. The clay surface is built up with layers of slip and underglaze, resulting in a depth of color, texture, and line quality. Grayscale florals often fill the foreground, floating atop a rich layer of swirled brushstrokes. This painterly surface is dark yet soft. Her work is influenced by nature, texture, and emotion.
https://www.ericalynnhood.com/
Conor Pickett
Conor Pickett, teacher, has been working with clay for over 10 years. After graduating from Eckerd College in 2013 and receiving a BA with high honors in Visual Art, Conor moved back to Salem, MA where he was lucky enough to get his first job teaching youth classes and volunteering at The Clay School.
In 2014, he moved to San Francisco joining the team at Clay By The Bay where he taught and led the operations and program development for 5 years. Conor returned to the North Shore in 2020 and looks forward to rejoining the warm community at The Clay School and sharing what he’s learned.
Conor's work is mostly hand built, soft slab forms that mimic the functional, but are often quite impractical when put to use. His lack of concern for the function of a piece provides room for the whimsical and gestural shapes that emerge as he interacts with the clay. This playfulness and freedom to explore informs his style of teaching.
In 2014, he moved to San Francisco joining the team at Clay By The Bay where he taught and led the operations and program development for 5 years. Conor returned to the North Shore in 2020 and looks forward to rejoining the warm community at The Clay School and sharing what he’s learned.
Conor's work is mostly hand built, soft slab forms that mimic the functional, but are often quite impractical when put to use. His lack of concern for the function of a piece provides room for the whimsical and gestural shapes that emerge as he interacts with the clay. This playfulness and freedom to explore informs his style of teaching.