Our Team
Amy
Amy Bouchard is a skilled ceramic artist who, with eight years of teaching experience, passionately shares her deep knowledge of ceramic technical processes. Her creations beautifully fuse traditional techniques with modern aesthetics, resulting in visually striking pieces that not only exude elegance and sophistication but also carry a profound sense of love and balance.
SPECIALTIES
Amy excels in ceramics, particularly in wheel throwing and hand building techniques. Additionally, she possesses a knack for troubleshooting and can address any challenges that may arise during the creation process in ceramics.
POTTERY WORK
Amy built and established a studio in her yard, where she operates her business, One Tree Pottery. In addition to handling commissions, wholesale orders, and gallery projects, she also prepares community building ceramic workshops. To learn more about her work, visit her Instagram profile @one.tree.pottery or her website at www.onetreepottery.com.
Callie
Callie has been making pots for more of her life than not at this point. She grew up in the Calgary area and got hooked on clay in high school, when the art program had a workshop in raku firing. She attended Alberta University of the Arts (formerly ACAD) and graduated in 2001. She holds a BFA in Ceramics, but didn’t begin selling work extensively until 2014. You may have met her working at many local venues under the Diesel Clay banner.
She’s been a regular contributor to the Ceramic Arts Network Forum, and has been the Business Moderator there for 5 years. When asked what she thought about a new teaching studio opening up, she said “Sounds fun!”
SPECIALTIES
Callie makes primarily functional work if left to her own devices. Thinking about how people interact with and use items is a pleasure, and hand feel/sensory considerations are usually at the center of her designs. She likes being able to make pieces that people can incorporate into their lives and build their own stories around. She’s an excellent glaze chemist, and has a sound technical knowledge of both cone 6 and 10 glaze techniques.
Emily
Emily is the ‘em’ behind CERemICS CERAMICS, and she has been hucking mud since October 2021. Originally part of the marketing and digital design world, pottery became a ‘hands-on’ creative outlet for her without the safety net of an undo button. Curiosity quickly developed into a passion, and with over a decade of teaching experience in power skating, the transition to instruction came naturally. Emily specializes in functional shapes and sets, and adores going down the rabbit-holes of techniques and science that ceramics involves.
SPECIALTIES
Personal design tends toward angular shapes and organic pallets, often throwing with dark clay bodies.
POTTERY WORK
Emily’s work can be found on her instagram @ceremics.ceramics, or her Etsy page linked therein!
Kendra
Kendra has recently graduated, attaining her BFA with a major in Cermaics from the Alberta University of the Arts. She is originally from London, Ontario, where she was first introduced to ceramics in high school. Kendra enjoys wheel throwing, making utilitarian wares, as well as incorporating her illustrations onto the surface of her works. She is inspired to make works that elevate mundane daily rituals we perform. Kendra also has a passion for teaching, wanting to teach and share with others skills and techniques, knowledge, building concepts, and how to execute artworks.
SPECIALTIES
Kendra works in a mid fire clay body, and primarily wheel throws. For the past two years, she has been learning and making teapots. Her surface decoration process primarily uses underglazes to create illustrations and motifs inspired by folk art. A common illustration that appears on most of Kendra’s works are strawberries, referencing Ontario strawberries that grow during the summer.
POTTERY WORK
Kendra has been a student artist at AUArts SA SHOW+SALE for the past two years. She has
also been a student Artist in Residence at Medalta in 2023.
You can see more of Kendra’s work and creative process on Instagram: @kes.ceramics
Lenke
Lenke is an artist and art educator. She creates small batches of wheel thrown pottery that are comfortable to use and inviting to touch and hold. Functional items, such as cups, teapots and dinnerware are made with an intention to elevate everyday routines with moments of warmth and ease. Throughout her teaching career Lenke has instructed Visual Art and Ceramics to all ages in recreational and academic settings. She has enjoyed guiding and building the creative abilities of her
students since 2002.
Lenke holds Bachelor and Masters degrees in Sculpture and a Bachelor of Education.
She is currently creating work for a few select sales and on commission when time allows.
POTTERY WORK
Lenke’s work can be viewed on Instagram at @lenkeharcsa
Meg
Meet Meg Gould, a dynamic ceramic artist whose six-year journey has been defined by playful experimentation and a vibrant palette. Since earning her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 2023, Meg has delighted in infusing her work with vibrant energy and boundless creativity. In her studio, Meg's playful approach shines as she explores the endless possibilities of clay. Whether she's throwing on the wheel or sculpting by hand, her pieces are a testament to her love for experimentation and joyful expression.
As a teacher for the past year, Meg brings this same enthusiasm to her students, encouraging them to embrace playfulness and dive into the world of ceramics with curiosity and excitement. Her approach fosters an environment where creativity thrives, and each student is empowered to explore their unique artistic vision.
SPECIALTIES
Handbuilding, wheel throwing, utilitarian and sculptural objects/design, altered forms, surface decoration, glaze exploration, and experimentation.
Nadine
Nadine's love affair with pottery began during her stressed-out days as a pharmacy student. Clay became her therapy, offering a mindful escape from other demands. Life took a new direction as she raised her young children, and she gradually drifted away from pottery. But fate had other plans: a move to Oman to support her partner's international assignment led her straight to a volunteer-run pottery studio. There, surrounded by like-minded artists and incredible mentors, Nadine discovered a renewed passion. Soon, she was invited to teach pottery wheel classes and joined the kiln team. Now back in Calgary, Nadine is committed to never straying from clay again! She's thrilled to share her love for clay with others and contribute to the vibrant community here at Fired Clay Pottery.
SPECIALTIES
Nadine is an explorer of new ideas and techniques, often distracted by the endless possibilities. Lately, she's been delving into collaring and closed forms, and always finding joy in crafting pieces for everyday use. Coffee does taste best in a handmade mug!
POTTERY WORK
Nadine's work can be found on Instagram/Facebook @CalgaryClayCollective
Sonja
Sonja first started getting muddy in 2016, and quickly got hooked. She became a full-time potter in late 2019 and began a dedicated studio practice from her home studio. She began teaching adult wheel throwing classes at Fairview Studios and working as the Artist in Residence at William Roper Hull School in the spring of 2021, and maintains those positions along with her classes at Fired Clay Pottery.
Sonja is looking forward to having you in class!
SPECIALTIES
Sonja works primarily with porcelain, and her favourite form to make are plates! She loves colour, and has developed a signature style of carving and glazing her pots that is inspired by the stunning natural landscapes of her home province, BC, and chosen home, Alberta.
POTTERY WORK
Sonja sells her work through several retail outlets, her own website, and in person at Artist markets locally and in BC. You can check out her work on Instagram: @cumulus.clay.
Sowgand
Sowgand started her journey in art in 1998 as a pottery student with taking a few courses at college. Her passion let her to excel her skills, becoming a potter and ceramic instructor after a few years. She began working as a teacher assistant at a ceramic school in Tehran, Iran. She and her husband, a fine art graduate, held two collective exhibitions in 2004 and 2005 in Iran. In 2007, Sowgand moved to Turkey, where she landed different intricate ceramic painting techniques and for 2 years, she collaborated with Ferce/Sultan Ceramic company located in Avanos, Turkey.
After moving to Norway, she started working in a ceramic school called Embla as well as teaching art at a school as an art assistant in 2012 in Oslo, Norway.
After immigrating to Canada in 2015, she began abstract and mixed media art and in 2021 she started working at Luna art studio as a Ceramic Pottery Instructor. She still is working as a ceramic instructor and artist.
POTTERY WORK
You may see some of Sowgand’s art works on Instagram @so-qartstudio
Taylor
Taylor knew she was meant to be a ceramic artist since her first time touching clay. It wasn't until the pandemic hit in 2020 that she decided to quit her job and prioritize her passion in ceramics full time. For 6 years she has been running her small business @potterywitch from the comforts of her home as an introverted artist. Recently based out of London, Ontario she felt the pull to the mountains of Calgary, Alberta in 2023 where she hopes to evolve in her craft surrounded by like-minded mentors. Her mission is to teach others that clay can nurture their spirit, connect them to nature, and also be a successful career.
SPECIALTIES
Taylor's art style focuses on blending ancient traditions with modern aesthetics to bring a touch of magic to your everyday rituals. Mugs, planters, ceramic altars, and incense burners are her areas of interest. She began her journey with stoneware and has made the switch to porcelain. She specializes in underglaze artistry, handbuilding, and creating small forms on the wheel. She has always been inspired by mysticism, ancestral work, the moon, and journeying deeper into the "Self."
POTTERY WORK
Taylor's work can be found at potterywitch.ca but she is most known for her social media presence on TikTok and Instagram (@potterywitch).
Tracy
Though Tracy’s pottery education began around 1999, she became serious about it after reconnecting with classes at North Mount Pleasant Arts Centre about 7 years ago. Tracy draws inspiration from nature, from the Rocky Mountains of Alberta, to ocean creatures that remind her of her Nova Scotia roots. Her creative, analytical and process-driven mind is captivated with every aspect of pottery, from the science to the art. Tracy is thrilled to share her passion for pottery as an instructor at Fired Clay Pottery Studio, and you can contact her at hippersons@gmail.com.
SPECIALTIES
Tracy spins clay (clockwise) on the wheel with a bit of a lead foot. Once a reluctant hand builder, she’s become an alteration addict, transforming wheel-thrown shapes into animals and imaginary beings. Tracy also creates clay “canvasses” to satisfy her passion for painting, glazing landscapes and natural scenes onto her work.
POTTERY WORK
Tracy operates a very tiny home studio, is a member of the Alberta Potters’ Association, and sits on the board of the Mount Pleasant Potters’ Guild. You can view Tracy’s works and find more information at hippersons.com