Featured Articles

Jill Leary and Railyard Arts Studio: Persistence During a Pandemic

August 28, 2020

As the year 2020 got underway, ceramic artist and teacher Jill Leary was looking forward to another year of growth at her Westchester studio and school, Railyard Arts Studio. Open for about eighteen months, the converted former lumber yard building was humming with activity, with potters busy in the clay studio and a variety of artists painting, print making, and working in stained glass in the big “art room.” Leary’s dream of creating a warm and welcoming community for artists had become a reality. By March, that dream was under attack by a micro-organism called COVID-19.

Brian Peters, Digital Clay

August 17, 2020

As we are well into the new century, there is little left in our lives that has not been touched and transformed by the digital revolution of the late 20^th century. Even the humble potter, with hands in the earth, markets on social media, buys supplies online, and relies on digital programming for the kiln. Nevertheless, the basic work of transforming an idea into clay remains as it has been for centuries. Pittsburgh spatial artist and designer Brian Peters is changing all that. Using 3-D printing technology, Peters creates ceramic blocks and tiles for architectural installations and for smaller-scale art pieces, starting not with a slug of clay but with a computer.

Pittsburgh Potter Elise Birnbaum: The Hidden Order Within

July 25, 2020

A piece of pottery is a mantle for the richness of meaning and history that lies within it. The pristine flowing forms of potter Elise Birnbaum’s sculptural pieces reveal the vision, hope, and personal journey of this young Pittsburgh artist. Taking advantage of Pittsburgh’s many arts organizations, Birnbaum discovered and perfected her love of clay over after moving here a decade ago. She is now owner of the Homewood pottery studio called Oatmeal.