About me

I've always loved creating things with my hands. So the fact that I get to make beautiful, functional pieces that I love to use daily and make for others feels like a special privilege and, honestly, a fulfillment of a dream I've had since childhood.

People who visit my booth always ask me how long I've been throwing pottery, and I always tell them since the summer of 2022.  But that's actually not the whole story. My middle school art teacher, Mrs. King, was the first person to teach me to use the wheel. I became obsessed. So much so that I worked it out with her and my Dad that he would bring me to school an hour early each day to get more time on the wheel. Pottery was my thing for about 3 years, so much so that I even convinced my parents to get me a wheel.

But upon starting high school and meeting a whole new set of truly fantastic art teachers (shoutout to Michelle Harrell and Jodi Aker) I started a new obsession with painting and printmaking. And that's what I stuck with even throughout my college years at SCAD in Savannah GA. But it also meant that my wheel went into storage at my parent's garage in Indiana, and I didn't touch clay or that wheel for almost 20 years. 

That is, until the summer of 2022. While struggling to mend after my dog, Cleo, had passed in the spring, I was gifted a beginner's class in wheel throwing at Clayer & Co pottery studio. I hoped it would help me heal and that even if I couldn't make much, I would enjoy returning to a medium I loved from long ago. And with the help, teaching, and generosity of yet another set of amazingly talented teachers, including Clair Buckner, Kyle Brown, and many other members of my now home community pottery studio, my skills have grown tremendously. Far beyond what I was able to do in my youth, and so much so that I am proud to say this is my full-time gig!

So what was supposed to be a creative outlet that would help me heal through a difficult time expanded to be something much bigger than I ever could have expected. I've heard Clair Buckner say many times that clay comes into people's lives when they need it, and I would say that is really profoundly true for me, too.  And I am so grateful. Being part of the Clayer & Co community has drastically changed my life, and I am excited to see where my life and the life of my community go from here. 

Now, my work and products consist of functional objects that I like to have for myself or like to make for others to enjoy. My hope and philosophy around the functional art I make is that life is so busy and time moves at such a breakneck pace that it really helps to have art in the objects you will use and interact with daily as a way of forcing art into your daily life. So I make oil bottles, mugs, vases, pitchers, salt shakers, bowls of all kinds, and a bunch of other clever and usefull things. 

Market events and craft shows are the main avenue for how people can view and purchase my work. Follow me on Instagram @AndrewCreswellPottery