Rob & Jessica Sutherland

We’re the {very happy and very lucky} owners of Good Dirt Clay Studio and we feel privileged to be able to teach, create, and connect with our wonderful community of students, teachers and artists every day. We’ve been collaborating on our pottery together for about 5 years, and it’s been a beautiful way to deepen our relationship and do more than we could ever do individually. We try to each do the parts that play to our individual strengths. Rob is pretty dang amazing at creating beautiful, balanced, functional forms with graceful lines. He’s been throwing for over 20 years, and it’s apparent as soon as you hold one of his pieces. I (Jess) feel pretty lucky that he lets me draw and paint on them after he’s finished throwing. I’m drawn to imagery from nature - blooming flowers, twisting leaves, perching birds and other remarkable wonders of the Earth that we inhabit. In a time that feels frenetic and dominated by chaos and endless stimulation, the quiet groundedness of our natural world is my healing and my happy place. We fire 99.999999% of our pieces in our wood kiln at home, allowing the flame and the ash to be co-creators in the final pieces.

Contact Jessica &/or Rob for commissions, gallery viewings, questions at: info.gooddirt@gmail.com

Find their work at:

Good Dirt Clay Studio Gallery by appointment

Instagram #gooddirt_athens

Facebook @gooddirtathens

Website oxoxpottery.com (only updated when there’s a shop update…)

Mathew Meunier

Originally trained as a carpenter, I come from a family of skilled craftsmen and craftswomen. A chance encounter with a handmade pot in a friend’s kitchen led me to the pottery studio and to a new way of working with my hands. I spent three years working as apprentice to Mark Shapiro and one year as an artist-in-residence at the Kansas City Clay Guild before establishing his own studio in Comer, Georgia.

Find more of Mathew’s work:

Website www.mathewmeunier.com

Instagram @mathewmeunier

shannon lawhon

Hey there, I’m Shannon, and I’m a life long maker of things and collector of skills! I grew up in a family full of gardeners, artists and makers who truly enjoyed honing their skills and sharing them with each other. Making and growing things was our form of entertainment for sure, and it was so lovely to have beautiful custom items to play with and to use all the time. It made special occasions more special, and the everyday so much nicer. Pottery had been on my life list of skills to learn for as long as I remember. Pottery items can be for special occasions, but they’re also for every day, and they can be just about as decorative and as customizable as you can dream them to be. I love that I can work on this skill for the rest of my life and always learn more and never grow tired of the endless possibilities. My pottery is whimsical, colorful and of course useable! A lot of the decoration that I incorporate like smooth little frogs or designs with raised bumps and ridges aren’t just for decoration. They’re for anxious and fidgety fingers to rub and self soothe while you have that comforting cup of coffee, tea, or like my little boy hot chocolate. He’s a big fan of the “bumpiness” and I find that it adds a grip factor to mugs that keep them nice and secure in his little hands and my clumsy adult ones too. The more I make items for our daily lives the more ways I learn to make them more useful and beautiful. You want a mug that fits under your espresso machine? No problem, my mugs can slide right under there, but just in case that’s not your cup I make them big enough to hold enough coffee for 3 back to back zoom meetings the way my partner likes them too! I hope something that I make might bring some whimsy and comfort to you or someone you love. And thanks to Good Dirt for being the most supportive and inspiring community that I could imagine and helping me accomplish this bucket list/ life goal skill. I love learning and making here!

Find more of Shannon’s work:

Instagram @thegardeningpotter

Etsy Shannon Lawhon

caroline montague

The Studio faces South in a wildlife corridor on Walton Creek, Athens, Georgia, where the Winter sun fills the space. This atmosphere is reminiscent of mother's home, Meadows Mill on Little Uchee Creek in Salem, Alabama, home of scientist and farmers. This heritage encouraged value in creativity with energy, movement, form and color of our natural world. Graduate work in ceramics was completed in Mexico 1966. Additional studies in clay and various media have been explored with various Studio Artist. Today, pots are hand made on the potters wheel using high fire stoneware. I am intrigued as much by making the greenware form as I am by formulating glazes. These glazes are applied then fired in a outside brick gas kiln.

Find more of Caroline’s work:

Instagram @art.montague

Facebook @carolinemontague

Todd Mcglaun

Every so often during the 35 or so years after my Art Major college roommate brought home his works from his Wheel Throwing class, I have told any number of random folks that "one of these days I'd really like to take a pottery class". At the end of 2019, my wife, probably tired of hearing me say it, gifted me with a class at Good Dirt. By the end of 2020 I had retired from the Software Development field I never really fit in and begun throwing pots full time. I'm not sure its what she had in mind, but as mid-life crises go, it's less expensive than a sports car. Marginally. And then I discovered wood-firing. Pottery has opened up a whole second life in which I can create things by seeing with my hands as the clay turns beneath them. And I get to play in the mud and play with fire all in the same job, and take something home at the end of the day. The thing that draws me most to wood firing is the collaboration with nature that comes when you put the piece into the kiln. Every firing is different and thus too the results. Two identical pots made on the same day with the same clay, glazed with the same glaze, can go on the same shelf in the same wood kiln on different days - or even on the same day - and the unpredictability of nature, fire, the movement of the air and flame, the moisture in the air, and a hundred other little things, all can combine to render two utterly different works. And that just never gets old. Every kiln opening is like another Christmas morning, knowing what you asked Santa for and wondering what you will actually end up with. Sometimes its coal. But sometimes it's that shiny new bike you've been dying to ride. And that never gets old either.

Find more of Todd’s work:

Instagram @tlmcglaunpottery

Facebook Todd McGlaun

Frank jackson

I make things with clay because it makes me happy. Why making things with clay brings me so much happiness is a good question, but I don’t have an answer and I’m okay with the mystery. It is a well that doesn’t run dry. I can count on it. I never get tired of doing it and every kiln opening is like Christmas morning. When I look at a shelf full of my work I want to see a kaleidoscope of colors, patterns and textures with no two pieces alike. I want it to look like a garden full of flowers or houses on a hill in Mexico. For me, the making is more important than the end result. I like Andy Warhol's attitude about making art. "Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art." - Andy Warhol

But, when someone does like my work and likes it enough to buy it, it adds to the pleasure I found in creating the work. I hope that the things I make can bring happiness to other people, too.

Find more of Frank’s work:

Instagram @frankjacksonceramics

Emily burke

I am a painter that has adopted ceramics over the last few years. For the most part, I use slip casting to make my pieces. I’ve made most of my molds, but love collecting vintage molds too. My favorite pieces to make are jewelry boxes. The idea of having a special place to hold special things is so charming. To see the evidence of time and care put into a piece by another person, and entrusting it to hold your treasures. Nothing is more enchanting to me.

Find more of Emily’s work:

Instagram @cathedra.art

Marisa Castengera

In some form or another, I've always been an artist. I’ve worked here and there as an illustrator and as a professional entertainer, and I have made my primary career as a graphic artist for the last 27 years. At home, I have been a painter and a seamstress and a sculptor. As of mid 2021, I hadn't had clay in my hands for decades and I had only worked with it in sculpture. But I took a class at Good Dirt in the summer of ’21 and began to explore throwing pottery on the wheel. It turned out to be a good fit! Working with clay felt like coming home in a way I hadn't at all expected. Since then my home studio has been transformed to focus almost entirely on pottery. I enjoy the meditative feeling of throwing and refining pots – so much of my art over the years has been collaborative but my pottery is a solo journey. I especially love sculpting whimsical “household monsters” onto thrown vessels. Like so many others, I've weathered a great deal in the last few years, and I love the idea of creating ceramic forms and friendly creatures that might have a joyful, comforting presence in people's homes.

Find more of Marisa’s work:

Instagram @MarisaKC

marci white

I grew up in N. Atlanta with my mom and brother. I propelled myself out of Georgia as soon as I was able, and ping-ponged around the country working on farms and exploring intentional communities. Eventually I ended up back in Georgia, going to UGA, where I majored in ceramics, studying with Ron Meyers. After more traveling and farming, including time living in a residential, Zen community in California (where I met my partner), I settled back into Athens.   
Besides my home and garden, my favorite place to be is at Good Dirt, where I can hear the hum of creativity all around as I work in my studio. 

I use both white stoneware and red earthenware and mainly throw pots on the wheel. I then paint them with colored slips and carve designs into the colors, revealing the clay beneath - a technique called sgraffito. 

Find more of Marci’s work:

Instagram @mendelwhite1

Mary mayes

I intend for my pots to express a sense of place and to reflect my personal and geographical history. Arriving at this place in my work has been a long but happy journey. For many years after I began taking classes at Good Dirt approximately 25 years ago, I enjoyed using conventional studio methods of making with commercial clay, glazes from published recipes, and some pre-made glazes. Somewhere along the way I began to want a more personal connection. I wanted my pots to reflect more of who and where I am — my location, my personality, heritage, style, and tastes. After I'd begun making pots, I'd started to notice and appreciate the pots that had always floated around quietly in the background of my life — that I had here-to-fore taken for granted. These included the butter churns I’d been taught to use at my grandparents’ farm in Ellijay, Georgia, along with the handmade heirloom pitchers and vases that my mother cherished and carefully displayed at our home in Atlanta. Now, I needed to know more. Curiosity led me to a period of binge reading, travelling, and collecting. This eventually changed my pottery-making processes. In 2014, Good Dirt proprietor Rob Sutherland taught a couple of classes in glaze making at the old downtown Good Dirt location. With what I learned in that class (and with extensive experimenting), I was able to create functional glazes that included Georgia-sourced minerals. Lovely functional high-fire pottery clay, granite, marble, ochre and wood ash can all be sourced relatively nearby. There is time, work, and sleuthing involved in finding and acquiring them, but it IS possible. The results are in the pots I make now. These clay and glaze materials speak to me and give me a satisfying feeling of personal connection to my work. If you share a love for heritage, place, and connection, your heartstrings just might vibrate like mine do over a surface gleaming with melted granite or pine ash and decorated with impressions of a Jekyll Island palmetto frond or the needles and cones from a pine tree in my front yard. A nice brown or green pot created with bits of the state of Georgia might be just perfect. As for Good Dirt, it continues to feel like my local home away from home, and the familiar faces I see there feel a bit like kinfolks. Though I have a wheel and kiln at home I still attend Good Dirt pottery classes and the Tuesday music class. I learn something every time.

Find more of Mary’s work:

Instagram @maryminathens

Facebook @mary.mayes.79

Elise Robinson

I've been drawn to pottery and ceramics for as long as I can remember, but as a theatre artist and musician, I never had the time to pursue it as a hobby. In the aftermath of the pandemic, while I was writing my dissertation, I finally had the time to take a class a Good Dirt, and I immediately knew I had found my thing. Whether hand building or throwing on the wheel, making decorative or functional pieces, pottery centers me and gives me the ability to express my creativity in a form that can be shared with others on a daily basis. The process of making a mug or vase forces me to be present in the moment while the capriciousness of the "kiln gods" reminds me to let go of the illusion that I can fully control the outcome of what I make. For me, pottery is both a meditative and a creative process, and Good Dirt continues to be a magical space where I can hone my craft alongside dear friends and valued mentors. I hope you feel just a little of that magic when you hold one of my pieces!

Find more of Elise’s work:

Instagram @ginkgogirl.ceramics

Facebook Elise Robinson

Anna Gioseffi

I am an Athens-based artist and Florida native who has been working in clay since 2021. My work, under the name Curio Clay, incorporates sculptural and wheel-thrown elements as well as a variety of surface decoration techniques. I most enjoy creating intricately detailed, often anatomical, wearable and functional pottery. Together, my work is inspired by biology, body horror, American traditional tattooing, and a general Victorian appreciation for all things morbid and macabre. This body of work is also heavily influenced by my career in parasitology and experiences as a biomedical researcher, which has lead me to appreciate the beautiful and sometimes unsavory facets of biological life. In addition to my personal craft, I teach youth wheel classes and assists for try clay wheel classes at Good Dirt.

Find more of Anna’s work:

Instagram @Curio_Clay

Kathy Miller

Always a collector, never a maker. That’s what I thought before I took my first pottery class. Turns out I love making pottery! Everything about the process is exciting, from conception to the making to the glazing, all the way through till the opening of the kiln. Sometimes your pot goes on display, and sometimes it goes in the trash, but it always tells you something. Potters learn from each other, but also from traditional methods that are shared and passed down and evolve over time. Potters are such generous people, and our studio offers a place to learn together. I’ve recently mixed up and am testing a beautiful cone 10 glaze, meant for the gas kiln, something I might not have attempted were it not for the generous encouragement from my fellow potters. I’ve long been fascinated by the beauty of a pot glazed in the electric kiln, and am loving getting to compare the results based on different firing methods. The pottery studio is a place of discovery where I continue to practice patience, humility and tenacity, with myself and with the process. I love that there’s endless pleasure in the making of a simple pot.

Find more of Kathy’s work:

Instagram @kathleenmillerpottery

Facebook Kathleen Miller

Lisa campagna

Hello there!

I am a potter and photographer originally from Tuskegee, Alabama, but for 21 years I have called Athens and Watkinsville home. Growing up, I had had little to no exposure to art or art classes, so I never considered expressing myself creatively. Then in February of 2022, two friends and I signed up to take private lessons, at Good Dirt, with Rob Sutherland. It took only one 2-hour lesson to "catch the pottery bug", fall in love with the process and discover that art was something that had truly been missing from my life. 

So, after a few private lessons, I signed up for open studio and found myself at the wheel any chance I had. 

I would say that my process is learning by trial and error and asking a lot of questions. I come up with or see something I would like to create and work on it until I am satisfied with the results. To this day, I have yet to take an actual pottery class. My favorite form to throw is a chip & dip, and recently butter bells and salt cellars have joined the top of the list. I always enjoy pushing myself to try something new. 

There is something therapeutic about throwing pottery...the smell of the clay, the way the wet clay feels in your hands as it spins on the wheel, watching a form take shape...it has a way of comforting and healing the soul.

Find more of Lisa’s work

Instagram @motherofmonkeysceramics

Facebook Mother of Monkeys Ceramics

Sue Lawrence

It seems like I’ve been making things since early childhood, whether that’s creating oversized posters for elementary school musical productions or building paper mache animals in the backyard. I recall the time my sister and I stood on the fence and threw mud balls over onto the sidewalk for the sheer joy of hearing and seeing them go Splat! That didn’t end well; our next door neighbor called my mother to complain. We were scolded, spanked, and made to clean up the mess. Maybe that’s the root of my love of ceramics as an adult, since I love getting my hands into clay on purpose and with intention. ;-) I went on to earn a BFA in drawing and printmaking at Wayne State University in Detroit, followed by an MFA in experimental studios at Syracuse University. There, I fell in love, married, and eventually settled in Athens. Today, my work is a cross section of my love of the outdoors – trees, tiny plants, the sky with the colors I see – from rich earthy tones to vibrant hues. I’m influenced by my quilt making and the fabric palettes in each one. I feel so fortunate to be part of the Good Dirt community where creatives of all ages, sizes, shapes and wild imaginations are welcomed, embraced, and encouraged.

Find more of Sue’s work:

Instagram @suelawrenc1977

Facebook Sue Lawrence

megan motley

Hey there! I’m Megan Motley, the face (and hands) behind Mot’s Pots. In early 2022, I was looking for a hobby that would let my scientist brain let go of precision and perfection and wouldn’t leave me bored within a month (hello fellow neurodivergents). Since I had taken to buying locally made Athens pottery during the pandemic, I thought why not try it out for myself? I took my first class at Good Dirt and that was it—I was hooked. I have been creating in this amazing little space ever since. I love throwing small forms and using surface decoration to make them unique. Most recently, I have been playing with geometric tape resist while dabbling in what I like to call chaotic slip trailing. As a molecular scientist by day, I love being able to get off work and get my hands in some clay to create something that is perfectly imperfectly. I love to experiment with new glazes and new techniques which are often reflected in my one-of-a-kind creations. When I’m not at Good Dirt, you can find me at home with my husband and cats.

Find more of Megan’s work:

Instagram: @motspots

Etsy: MotsPots

Nasrin Noori

I'm a fairly recent transplant to Georgia and am happy to call Athens my home. Originally I had planned to learn to make a key few pieces for my own use & gifts. Pottery quickly became a pursuit that I could not tire of. I am a kinesthetic learner and pottery has taught me a great deal about the art form as well as about myself. Not only has it filled my house (as well as those of my friends & family) with cherished pieces but it has opened up a beautiful new world of talented friends. I am in a great studio filled with people who make this hobby and this town rich and rewarding.

Find more of Nasrin’s work:

Instagram @footlessfoodie

Lea Purvis

I’m Lea and I first experienced the Athens pottery community in 2008 after relocating here from Atlanta shortly after completing my BFA at GA State, but I had focused almost exclusively on drawing and painting. Helping out around the old Good Dirt studio in downtown Athens I began obtaining what knowledge I could like a little sponge. It was an invaluable experience that I’m so grateful for to this day. But then life beboped me around a bit and I had to leave pottery behind for many years as I found my path forward in the world but I never forgot about it. I also never stopped creating and in that time away from pottery I built my own business, Studio Pen Pen, from the ground up. After a long bumpy road Im now so proud to be running my studio full time. But it wasn’t until 2020, when I found myself with extra time on my hands, that I would finally have the opportunity to return to the pottery studio and I am so appreciative to have this community and art form back in my life. My current work reflects my love for animation and video game culture.. all imagery, colors, and forms heavily influenced by a lifetime of being just a massive nerd basically. I aspire to merge the beauty and function of pottery with subtle nostalgic imagery pulled from the games and cartoons that I grew up with…adding a little extra layer of cozy and whimsy to comfort objects like mugs.

Find more of Lea’s work:
Instagram @penpen_pots and @studio_penpen

Summer Blanco & Jordan Argrett

Summer Blanco & Jordan Argrett moved into a house next to Good Dirt in Fall 2022, and the rest is history. Both PhD researchers studying form and function in plants, they spend late nights at the studio to let off steam and find quality time creating alongside one another. From the start, Jordan had an eye for form, committed to capturing the perfect balance and motion in his functional pottery. He is inspired by Japanese pottery & the alpine forest, where he does field research every summer. While Summer, who grew up doodling in the margins of their homework and tests, quickly fell in love with all things surface decoration: slip trailing, water color underglazes, and virtually anything they could get their hands on. Much of her work is inspired by Mexican pottery. After a year of making separately and honing their skills, they started Argrett-Blanco Ceramics. Jordan’s forms become Summer’s palettes and they couldn’t imagine making any other way now. They hope to make someone’s favorite homemade ceramic ware, and eventually get their PhDs (on the side of course).

Find more of Summer & Jordan’s work:

Instagram: @abc_clay

Felim Corr

Originally from Illinois, I first started out in metal working and jewelry design before falling in love with clay. It wasn't until I moved to Georgia that I was able to get back into ceramics and rediscovering my love for the art. I create functional work as I love the idea of my work being held, used, and loved for years. My work focuses on what I call Beautifully Blunt and Perfectly Imperfect.

Find more of Felim’s work:

Instagram: @pookaclubs

bethany hamilton-jones

My love of pottery began with a mother and a grandmother who revered the craft. I grew up going to pottery shows and shops where my mother would hand me things and say, "Feel this. Doesn't it feel good in your hands?!" As someone who never felt they had any artistic talent, I came to my pottery practice through admiring the craftsmanship of creating a functional object that would bring you beauty in small, daily ways. I would define my work as functional pottery that I try to infuse with movement and color. To me pottery teaches you humility (you more often fail than succeed), impermanence (it is ONLY dirt!) and acceptance of imperfection (machines make perfect pots, people don't). I have been nurtured by Good Dirt and the generous community that resides there for close to 20 years. My hope is to continue to explore function and shape for many more years to come!

Find more of Bethany’s work:

Instagram: @ginkoleafpottery

lucY Inscoe

My name is Lucy Inscoe, I am from Mexico City with a background in gastronomy. I worked in the restaurant industry for over 10 years before deciding to try my hand at pottery. I took my first class at Good Dirt in 2021 and quickly fell in love with the practice. I enjoy creating whatever my heart desires and I find inspiration from my family, friends, travels and nature. I particularly enjoy crafting mugs, planters and free form art pieces and feel drawn to blue shades of glaze. I’m continuing to improve my skills by taking new classes and practicing at Good Dirt as much as possible. 

Find more of Lucy’s work

Instagram: @lucy_inscoe

jackie foley

I’m an artist based in Athens, Georgia who explored and studied ceramics at Lamar Dodd School of Art at the University of Georgia. Through the power of journaling and drawing I create work based on my experiences with my emotions, mind, and body. I am inspired by figure drawings, texture, and interactions between those I’m close with. My practice also includes drawing, sewing, and using found objects to make art. My work was shown at the Athica Art Institute in Athens, GA, and the University of Georgia BFA Exit Show.

Find more of Jackie’s work:

Instagram @jackiefoley.cer

erin boydstun

Hi! I’m Erin B of eBee Pottery! As a child I loved to find clay in creek beds and let my imagination soar. Flash forward a few decades and I’ve been in Athens for 11 years now and by day, get to follow one of passions of making beer with my day job as a cellarman at a brewery, and by night I get to follow my other passion of working with clay! I took my first ceramics course this past January at Good Dirt and have a found a second family within this amazing community.

As I am still in an early stage of my rediscovered ardor for clay I’m still experimenting with a lot of variables and techniques but I’m very drawn to organic shapes and layered surface decoration. They say that clay has a memory and I believe you can truly feel the care and love of the maker when you hold a handmade piece!

Find more of Erin’s work:

On Instagram eBee Pottery

Kathryn Pelon-Jones

I’m Kathryn Jones of Little Foxglove Shop. I love functional pots that bring beauty and warmth into everyday objects. One class in college (taken for the “easy” credit turned into a life-long love that welcomed me with open arms each time I returned to it. My pieces are made to live with, wear in, and pass down. I hope they bring joy into the little moments in life.

Find more of Kathryn’s work:

Instagram: @littlefoxgloveceramics

Etsy: Little Foxglove Shop