Connor finds joy in the process of transfiguring clay, giving shape and structure to realize form.

In high school, he was fortunate to have an accomplished potter for a teacher who introduced him to the wheel, and he has been throwing ever since.

As a studio assistant at Burlington City Arts, he helped manage all aspects of running a community clay studio and continued to refine his skills on and off the wheel.

Now, he is thrilled to be a part of the Clay'n Around community and is excited to continue teaching and helping others on their own journey with clay.

Katrina Razionale Vahedi is the owner of Uphill Pottery, a one-woman ceramics studio located in Hardwick, VT. She has worked with clay since 2016, established her business just three short years later in 2019, and most impressively, Uphill Pottery is now her full-time work in 2024.

Katrina is interested in the relationship between clay and glaze, specifically how a glaze flows over texture on a pot (at the rim, handle, or over carving). Often her pots have minimal adornment so that this clay-glaze relationship can be the star of the show.

After leaving a career based in spreadsheets and computers for the world of pottery, Katrina has come full circle, bringing spreadsheets back into her studio practice to support her deep dive into glaze chemistry - something so rich and complex it’s sure to occupy her interest for years to come.

Katrina is an inspiration for artists and entrepreneurs and we are grateful she has joined the Clay’n Around teaching team!

Ellie started her ceramics journey in a small local studio in Oregon and in the years since, has worked as a production potter in Washington and completed a Ceramics Post-Baccalaureate at the University of Montana. While at UM she was a teaching assistant and it was there that she dove into the world of glazes and native clays.

It is our great fortune that Ellie moved to Vermont! Ellie is an exceptionally patient and thorough teacher who understands that everyone experiences and learns to work with clay differently. She is passionate about creating bespoke glazes and colored slips to suit individual ceramic pieces. Her positivity and enthusiasm for the craft will fits in beautifully with the Clay’n Around community.

Hope A.C. Bentley started throwing when she was eleven years old in a beautiful but drafty and unheated barn. She pursued her passion for throwing through high school (in a heated studio!) and college and then whenever her peripatetic twenties lead her to within reach of a studio. After a long hiatus without clay, she is delighted to have found Clay’n Around and is excited to share her ever evolving approach to pottery with the Clay’n Around community. She is a professional gardener and writer as well.

My name is Bailey-Grey, you can call me Grey, and I am the Clay’n Around Studio Assistant. This means, if you have questions or need assistance, feel free to ask me anything!

I have lived in VT my whole life, growing up on my family’s garlic farm, and working the local farms in the NEK. I graduated from St. J Academy, then graduated from UVM with my BA with a focus on ceramics and have been Assistant at UVM Pottery Co-op for the last 2-years.

My love for ceramics started young (probably playing in all that dirt and mud as a child!). I make small pieces and large (4 feet dare I say!) and hand built sculpture. Needless to say, I adore clay as a medium and am so excited to work with and talk with all the members and students at Clay’n Around about clay…cats, motorcycles and swimming too!

Meet Natalie - our enthusiastic and hardworking Studio Intern!

Natalie loves throwing and has been doing so since since middle school - but really got into it when she had the resources to explore thanks to the fantastic St. Johnsbury Academy Ceramics program. Natalie finds working with clay a great form of self-expression and relaxation.

So, when Natalie’s ceramics teacher recommended her, we didn’t hesitate to invite her into the Clay’n Around fold! Natalie is excited to bring her talent, knowledge and enthusiasm to Clay’n Around and is someone we can count on to help make the studio thrive!