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The Painted Pot has many talented artists who teach and are involved with the studio. This page showcase some of their work and tell a little bit about them.
Lisa Mendoza
In 1998, I gave up a successful career in televison as a video editor and created The Painted Pot. My goals to explore, create my pottery, create a healthier lifestyle and see more sun, lead me to open two studios in Carroll Gardens and Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. I discovered my passion for clay in college and participated in several shows on campus. Graduating in 1987 with a B.A. in Communictaions from Hofstra University, I continued with my clay eduation at various schools in NYC while working in television. At the Painted Pot, I manage the studio along with instructor, Drew Montgomery, and together we provide a clean, student friendly, as well as a professional working pottery studio encouraging creativity. With my daughters by my side, I am fortunate to be doing what I love.
Drew Montgomery
www.montgomerypottery.com
Born in 1957, Drew was raised in Brooklyn and took pottery classes as a teenager at Greenwich House Pottery. In 1975 after graduating Brooklyn Friends School, he attended SUNY New Paltz majoring in mathematics and field biology. It was not until 1993 that he returned Greenwich House Pottery and working with clay. In the 19 years between, he worked for the Forestry Dept of Vermont, cooked in several restaurants, was a carpenter/foreman for a general contractor in NYC, a landscaper on Long Island, a manager at Paragon Sporting Goods in the camping department and a telecommunications/ computer consultant. Upon taking a class in 1993, he was totally absorbed by clay again and became a studio assistant for 5 yrs. Computers, slowly gave way to clay, replacing it completely by 1999. Drew teaches and produces pottery as a full time profession.
Frank Olson
I have been working with clay since 1995. While studying at Central Michigan University it became clear that clay was an important medium for me. In college, I studied making large ceramic musical instruments called Udu drums. More recently, I have designed and exhibited a line of teapots, mugs, and tea decanters in Long Island City. As a teacher in Michigan and New York City, I have created and taught clay curriculums for students of all ages. For many of these students, my classes were their first experiences as artists. I look forward to continuing to teach and exhibit in New York City and around the country.
Juan Sanabria
www.sourcelab.us
Juan Sanabria is a designer and educator with a focus on developing media for science and education across a broad spectrum of media. He taught high school ceramics and digital arts in Concord MA, before freelancing as a designer in New York and abroad. He holds an MFA from Parsons School of Design and a BA in Fine Arts from Brandeis University.
Steve Ruby
Originally from the Bay Area, Steve is a full time potter at the Painted Pot. He has been Working as a studio assistant, instructor for children's classes and instructing private lessons for the past 7 months. His first exposure to ceramics came early in college, some 9 years ago. Since then, he has explored a wide variety of mediums including t-shirt designing, screenprinting, sculpture, painting and of course wheel-work pottery! Prior to relocating to Brooklyn, NY, Steve had been working at the CCSF ceramics dept. as a Lab Technician learning a variety of throwing styles, firing techniques and exploration of decorative styles.
Chad Stayrook
Chad Stayrook is a living and breathing artist currently residing in Brooklyn, NY. He was born in Columbus OH in 1980. Chad received his BFA from Ohio University with a major in sculpture in 2002. He graduated San Francisco Art Institute’s New Genres MFA program in 2004. Chad has exhibited extensively throughout the US and abroad. He has taught installation, performance, ceramics, and photography classes at the San Francisco Art Institute, Sarah Lawrence College, and the Columbus Museum of Art. Outside his life as an artist/conceptualist, Chad works as the administrator for the visual arts program at Sarah Lawrence.