Artist Bios
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Martha Grover
I seek to enhance the experience of interacting with functional objects. I work toward creating a sense of elegance for the user while in contact with each porcelain piece. Reminiscent of orchids, flowing dresses, and the body, the work has a sense of familiarity and preciousness.
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Martha Grover is a functional potter, living in Bethel, Maine, creating thrown and altered porcelain pieces. She attended Bennington College in Vermont, where she received her undergraduate degree in Architecture. After going to Syracuse University in New York as a fifth year student in Ceramics, she decided to pursue a graduate degree in clay. In 2007, Martha received her MFA in ceramics from the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. Since then she was awarded the Fogelberg Fellowship for a residency at the Northern Clay Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and the Sage Scholarship for a summer residency at the Archie Bray Foundation in Helena, Montana. Martha completed a year long residency at Red Lodge Clay Center in Red Lodge, Montana in August 2009. She received the Taunt Fellowship at the Archie Bray Foundation in 2010. Her work can be found at the Red Lodge Clay Center, the Archie Bray Foundation, the Clay Studio of Missoula, Schaller Gallery, 18 Hands Gallery, Crimson Laurel Gallery, Charlie Cummings Gallery, and Cedar Creek Gallery. Her work has been published in Ceramics Monthly, Pottery Making Illustrated, Clay Times, 500 Pitchers, 500 Platters and Chargers, and 500 Vases. Martha's work was featured on the cover of Ceramic Monthly’s May 2010 issue.
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Sarah Pike
I am a full time potter living and making pots in Fernie, British Columbia, Canada. I make functional slab-built pottery in my home studio on a an acre of land on the edge of a little ski town. I live in a renovated old mining house with my husband, two kids and a dog named Enzo. |
I majored in ceramics at the Alberta College of Art and Design in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. I was then a student at Colorado University in Boulder and went on to do graduate studies at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis (which I never completed…because life happened and I had a baby!) Along the way I started a family, lived in a barn and helped run my husband's family ranch. Nine years ago we decided to make the big move to Fernie, BC. Saying goodbye to the ranch and cows was tough, but it opened the door to more studio time. Of course, living in a mountain town, we take breaks for big snow days in the winter and mountain-biking and lake days in the summer. The mountains inspire and sustain me. I took this photo from one of Fernie's many amazing bike trails.
I enjoy pottery that conveys personality, a slight air of attitude, that first step off the path. In that vein, my pots are never entirely symmetrical, as though they are leaning towards animation. I like this static sense of energy in pottery. It evokes the plastic nature of clay in its raw form, but also the movement associated with the pot's intended use. It reflects our beauty and awkward imperfections; imperfections that celebrate the handmade object over mass-produced, industrial ware. My pottery is inspired by many things, including the landscape around my home, the rich history of ceramics, but also by antique tinware, textured metal, and old things you might find in barns. |