Artist Categories Pottery | Volcano Art Center

Volcano Art Center Featured Artists

Adams, Lisa Louise

Lisa Louise Adams--painter, potter, printmaker, bookmaker, papermaker, jeweler, poet and quilter--lives in the lush rainforest village of Volcano, on the Big Island of Hawaii, where she works out of her Spiral Triangle Studios. Her work has been displayed in LEARN MORE >>

Aguirre, Amber

Long known as a skilled potter, Amber uses two specialized techniques that take her ceramic pieces beyond the usual. The basic process calls for a “bisque” firing to remove moisture from the formed piece, a second firing to get it red hot for a “reduction” firing LEARN MORE >>

Amemiya, Clayton

Clayton Amemiya was born in Wahiwa on O‘ahu. He attended Punahou Academy and received a bachelor’s degree in Asian studies from the University of Hawai‘i-Mänoa. Clayton was introduced to pottery while working at the U.S. Consulate in Okinawa in 1972, when he met LEARN MORE >>

Chavez, Gayle

Born and raised in Southern California, I relocated to the Big Island of Hawaii in 1988. In 1989 a business partner and I co-created a pottery manufacturing company called Rift Zone Ceramics. Glazing and decorating low-fire Raku ware sparked my initial interest in LEARN MORE >>

Cumes, Heide

A native of Germany Heide moved to South Africa with her family at age 12. At university, she studied both psychology and art earning a Bachelor’s degree in both subjects and completed a doctorate in psychology. Despite a lifetime of professional practice, art LEARN MORE >>

Datlof, Patti

Originally from New Jersey, Patti had been drawn to Hawaii all her life, ﬁnally moving here in 2004. Her love for clay grew from her study of art at Humbolt State University, where she received a B.A. in Art with an emphasis in ceramics. Her "Lava Inspired Pots" LEARN MORE >>

Davenport, Doug

Douglas Davenport became an apprentice in production pottery at the age of fifteen and feels fortunate to have learned all aspects of production—from making clay and glazes to building and firing kilns. He has been throwing production stoneware for many years and LEARN MORE >>

Frazier, Birgitta

Birgitta knew she belonged in Hawai'i a day after she landed. "My paradise on an active volcano is exciting and inspires my daily work," she says. Originally from Germany, she was just 17 when she received a 3 year degree as a Milliner (ladies hat maker). She took LEARN MORE >>

Freedman, Bella

Bella Freedman was born on Hawaiʻi Island in 1997. In her own words she, "was raised semi-feral in the jungle by two ceramicists." After graduating from University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo with an undergraduate degree in philosophy, she "gave up all hope for a normal LEARN MORE >>

Freedman, Stephen

Stephen Freedman trained since childhood as a ceramicist. He worked in studios and industry on several continents to develop a repertoire of techniques which facilitate the expression of his diverse interests, ranging from formal pottery in the Sino tradition, to LEARN MORE >>

Freeman, Tim

He ipu ho ihi Pele (Vessels honoring Pele) Tim Freeman's pit-fired vessels are inspired by the experience of living in such close proximity to the summit of Kilauea. His fascination with the volcano stems from a unique experience in the summer of 1991, when as a LEARN MORE >>

Hagen, Karen

Karen Hagen is from California and attended the University of California in Santa Barbara. After college, she married a high school sweetheart and moved to Oahu while he was in Vietnam. She joined him for a few weeks on R&R, and on his return from Vietnam they LEARN MORE >>

Hanatani, Ron

Ron Hanatani was born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii. He graduated from the University of Hawaii at Manoa with a degree in geology. He moved to the Volcano Village in 1978 and worked at the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory intermittently from 1978 to 1988. Ron spent LEARN MORE >>

Herb, Emily

Emily was born in the Midwest, but has lived in Utah, Alaska, Arizona, Seattle and now, Hawai’i. She has been working with clay since she was a child, and has had some very inspiring teachers who sparked her passion for clay with their own enthusiasm, dedication, LEARN MORE >>

Hickey, Shannon

Perched on the side of an ancient cinder cone with a distant view of the smoke and glow from Kilauea Volcano's active vents, my Hamakua Coast studio is an inspirational site for creating art from earth and fire. The open-air studio is nestled in a lush tropical LEARN MORE >>

Jacobson, Kate and Will

Kate and Will Jacobson have been collaborating artists for thirty-ﬁve years. Their open-air studio is on a one-lane country road and graced by a huge mango tree and an abundance of tropical ﬂowers. They enjoy sweeping ocean views and the dichotomy of a natural, LEARN MORE >>

Johnson, Patty Uldra

“I live in Volcano Village. Volcano is my favorite place on Earth; the place where I feel I am at home. I love the quietude, the rain, [and] the mystical forests. “I am a multimedia artist. I am a self-taught photographer. I also work in clothing design and LEARN MORE >>

Lynch, Matrgaret

Originally from Oregon, Margaret Lynch began dividing her time between Hawai`i and fishing in Alaska in 1973. She did that until 1989, when she decided not to go back to Alaska again, and settled on O`ahu. A friend invited Margaret to visit the Fort Shafter Craft LEARN MORE >>

Makua, Kainoa

Kainoa Makua grew up in the Puna district of the Island of Hawaii where he still resides. A graduate of Kamehameha Schools and he earned a B.A. in ne arts from UH-Hilo. It was while he was at Kamehameha Schools, after exploring various art mediums, that he dis- LEARN MORE >>

Ono, Ira

Ira Ono grew up in Brooklyn, New York and graduated from the prestigious High School of Performing Arts with a major in dance. He earned a BFA in painting from the Tyler School of Art, Temple University in Philadelphia and then received a Max Beckman scholarship to LEARN MORE >>

San Miguel, Ralph

Ralph lives and works in East Hawaii, operating the Shibui Ceramic Studio. Shibui translates to mean "simple but elegant", and that can certainly be said of his work. His wish is that his vessels will become personal daily use items, touched and washed by human LEARN MORE >>

Seastone, Claire

Claire has been working with clay for 18 years making functional and sculptural work in porcelain and stoneware. She has taught and worked in various clay studios in Montana, Oregon, Italy, and Hawai`i. A deep love of the natural world is a major influence in her LEARN MORE >>

Smith, Shelby

Shelby is a sculptor who uses all types of media to create works that stretch the use of/and potential of materials. His work has a fantastical and humorous quality that influences his reuse of many materials. His most recent series; P.A.R.T.S. involves both LEARN MORE >>

Ster, Joseph Boris

A resident of the Big Island of Hawaii, his life began in 1940 in Yugoslavia. He has also lived in Argentina and California. Joseph was a research chemist for a major company until he decided to devote all of his time to art. He began by designing jewelry and metal LEARN MORE >>

Stokes, Jamie

There’s an undeniable impatience I feel as an artist. Time spent working intensively in clay over the past six years has shaped and changed me as a person. While clay challenges my demand to have ideas come to life quickly, jewelry satisfies both my long and LEARN MORE >>

Wang, Suzanne

Born in Taiwan and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, Suzanne’s love for travel, culture, and artistic expression has taken her on many adventures. Although she developed a passion for ceramics as a teenager, by the time she was twenty she was pursuing scene LEARN MORE >>

Wold, Erik

After graduating from Leilehua High School in 1987 Erik spent a year of intensive labor picking pineapple in the fields of central Oahu. Subsequently motivated to stimulate himself with further academic study, he enrolled at Leeward Community College where he soon LEARN MORE >>