Lori Theriault, Owner, Potter, Designer
(Hi, it's me, Lori! Welcome, and thanks for taking a moment to read about my clay journey.
I had my first experience with clay in the third grade in Vermont when my class dug clay from a stream bed to make pendants. More than 30 years later I took my first pottery class at Hinckley Pottery in Washington DC, where I saw almost immediately how my love of cooking could be so greatly enhanced by making beautiful, handmade pottery. In more than four years at Hinckley, I took classes, trained in the studio assistant program, apprenticed as a teacher under Jill Hinckley, and worked as studio manager. I saw slides of western North Carolina during a workshop, and in 2006 I relocated to Asheville, NC and officially launched Crazy Green Studios. After completing a Residency at Odyssey Center for Ceramic Arts, I opened my first studio where I made work and taught classes and workshops. After surviving the 2008 recession, I found my way to Riverview Station, where owner Helaine Greene introduced me to Sarah Wells Rolland and the other incredible women working to open The Village Potters Clay Center (TVPCC). I was fortunate to be invited to be a founding member, and for more than 12 years I proudly served as a resident potter, instructor, mentor, and marketing lead. During that time, I also ran Crazy Green Studios, making service wares and accessories for restaurants and food professionals around the country. In 2019 we had a banner year and plans were in progress to open a separate production studio to increase wholesale orders. Well 2020 had other ideas, so it was 2022 before Crazy Green Studios began to grow again, and production for local wholesale accounts moved into separate production studio space. A year later we moved again to a ground floor space at Riverview Station, adjacent to my studio with TVPCC. 2024 was another growth year where plans were being made to join a wholesale platform and scale production. This time Nature had other ideas, and sadly both the TVPCC facility and my production studio were destroyed by Hurricane Helene (you can read more about our hurricane experience here). Coming out of that devastation, I have focused my energies on rebuilding Crazy Green Studios, and while I am not able to rejoin TVPCC in their rebuild, 'once a Village People, always a Village People!'. I remain their greatest cheerleader and look forward to both studios thriving once again.
Crazy Green Studios employs a small team of talented artists to create our work, each piece an individual, handmade design. Since the hurricane, we are deeply grateful to be working out of temporary locations in Asheville. Tim Kerns is lending us his home studio to continue production of our sweet 'Lucky Three-Legged Pig' toothpick holders for Curate Restaurant, and new production for wholesale and retail is being developed and designed at Plays in Mud Pottery in West Asheville, where Kelsey Schissel has been an endlessly supportive and generous host, friend, and mentor. Thanks to the generosity of these and so many others in our local and broader community, along with funds from a GoFundMe that have helped sustain me and my crew, and grants for new equipment, I have nothing but great hopes for our future.
I am proud of the work I have designed in collaboration for many restaurants and food professionals, including Cúrate in Downtown Asheville, Jargon in West Asheville, Tandem in Carrboro, Treska's on Highland Lake, and Piccalilli in Los Angeles. Most of that work was designed and fired in high-fire reduction kilns. At this time, it's not financially practical to plan my new studio space for a reduction kiln, so I am developing all new work for Cone 7 Oxidation firing. This differs greatly from the gas reduction firing I have done for almost 20 years. But rather than mourn the loss of that firing source, I have been embracing the opportunity to discover new clays and glazes, as well as play with new designs I've thought about for years but never had the time to pursue.
I am in the process of securing a new home for Crazy Green Studios where we can eventually add a gas reduction kiln to our list of resources, but until then it is more practical to develop work I can fire with the resources we have. You can see an archive of the work I've created for clients over the past 20 years at the bottom of this page, and you can see our new designs in development here. As we get back to full production of our new line, I will also return to developing new works in my 'Vincent Series'. Stay tuned for more updates on all pages, and thank you so very much for your continued support!
I had my first experience with clay in the third grade in Vermont when my class dug clay from a stream bed to make pendants. More than 30 years later I took my first pottery class at Hinckley Pottery in Washington DC, where I saw almost immediately how my love of cooking could be so greatly enhanced by making beautiful, handmade pottery. In more than four years at Hinckley, I took classes, trained in the studio assistant program, apprenticed as a teacher under Jill Hinckley, and worked as studio manager. I saw slides of western North Carolina during a workshop, and in 2006 I relocated to Asheville, NC and officially launched Crazy Green Studios. After completing a Residency at Odyssey Center for Ceramic Arts, I opened my first studio where I made work and taught classes and workshops. After surviving the 2008 recession, I found my way to Riverview Station, where owner Helaine Greene introduced me to Sarah Wells Rolland and the other incredible women working to open The Village Potters Clay Center (TVPCC). I was fortunate to be invited to be a founding member, and for more than 12 years I proudly served as a resident potter, instructor, mentor, and marketing lead. During that time, I also ran Crazy Green Studios, making service wares and accessories for restaurants and food professionals around the country. In 2019 we had a banner year and plans were in progress to open a separate production studio to increase wholesale orders. Well 2020 had other ideas, so it was 2022 before Crazy Green Studios began to grow again, and production for local wholesale accounts moved into separate production studio space. A year later we moved again to a ground floor space at Riverview Station, adjacent to my studio with TVPCC. 2024 was another growth year where plans were being made to join a wholesale platform and scale production. This time Nature had other ideas, and sadly both the TVPCC facility and my production studio were destroyed by Hurricane Helene (you can read more about our hurricane experience here). Coming out of that devastation, I have focused my energies on rebuilding Crazy Green Studios, and while I am not able to rejoin TVPCC in their rebuild, 'once a Village People, always a Village People!'. I remain their greatest cheerleader and look forward to both studios thriving once again.
Crazy Green Studios employs a small team of talented artists to create our work, each piece an individual, handmade design. Since the hurricane, we are deeply grateful to be working out of temporary locations in Asheville. Tim Kerns is lending us his home studio to continue production of our sweet 'Lucky Three-Legged Pig' toothpick holders for Curate Restaurant, and new production for wholesale and retail is being developed and designed at Plays in Mud Pottery in West Asheville, where Kelsey Schissel has been an endlessly supportive and generous host, friend, and mentor. Thanks to the generosity of these and so many others in our local and broader community, along with funds from a GoFundMe that have helped sustain me and my crew, and grants for new equipment, I have nothing but great hopes for our future.
I am proud of the work I have designed in collaboration for many restaurants and food professionals, including Cúrate in Downtown Asheville, Jargon in West Asheville, Tandem in Carrboro, Treska's on Highland Lake, and Piccalilli in Los Angeles. Most of that work was designed and fired in high-fire reduction kilns. At this time, it's not financially practical to plan my new studio space for a reduction kiln, so I am developing all new work for Cone 7 Oxidation firing. This differs greatly from the gas reduction firing I have done for almost 20 years. But rather than mourn the loss of that firing source, I have been embracing the opportunity to discover new clays and glazes, as well as play with new designs I've thought about for years but never had the time to pursue.
I am in the process of securing a new home for Crazy Green Studios where we can eventually add a gas reduction kiln to our list of resources, but until then it is more practical to develop work I can fire with the resources we have. You can see an archive of the work I've created for clients over the past 20 years at the bottom of this page, and you can see our new designs in development here. As we get back to full production of our new line, I will also return to developing new works in my 'Vincent Series'. Stay tuned for more updates on all pages, and thank you so very much for your continued support!
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homemade tastes better on handmade, llc
photo by Kristin Fellows
The motivation for all my work in clay stems from my love of cooking and sharing meals with friends and family. To be able to share a home cooked meal in lovingly crafted pieces also from my hand gives me endless joy. My own experience working in restaurants over two decades inspires me further to collaborate with creative chefs seeking that same joy. In the process, my mantra of 'homemade tastes better on handmade' became the name of my company.
Homemade : "made or prepared at home, or by the maker's own efforts."
Handmade : "made by hand, rather than by machine."
Pretty simple, and yet not simple at all. A wheel thrown bowl involves the combination and coordination of materials, physics, and aesthetics. It must survive the making, the trimming, the drying, the firing, the glazing, and then the firing again. Like the cook, the maker has touched every ingredient a thousand times over. And just as the heart and soul of the cook is evident in every bite, so the heart and soul of the potter is evident in the look, the touch, and the feel of every piece of handmade pottery.
When you put your heart and soul into making a meal or designing a menu, you want the dishes you use to be worthy of that meal. And when you make or use beautifully crafted, handmade pottery, you want the food to be worthy of its creation.
Life slows down when you sit at a table, in good company, and find it set with handmade pottery that is laden with homemade love.
Homemade just tastes better on handmade.
While I haven't updated it in quite some time, you can find an archive of blog posts highlighting delicious homemade, mostly on our beautiful handmade, HERE.
Homemade : "made or prepared at home, or by the maker's own efforts."
Handmade : "made by hand, rather than by machine."
Pretty simple, and yet not simple at all. A wheel thrown bowl involves the combination and coordination of materials, physics, and aesthetics. It must survive the making, the trimming, the drying, the firing, the glazing, and then the firing again. Like the cook, the maker has touched every ingredient a thousand times over. And just as the heart and soul of the cook is evident in every bite, so the heart and soul of the potter is evident in the look, the touch, and the feel of every piece of handmade pottery.
When you put your heart and soul into making a meal or designing a menu, you want the dishes you use to be worthy of that meal. And when you make or use beautifully crafted, handmade pottery, you want the food to be worthy of its creation.
Life slows down when you sit at a table, in good company, and find it set with handmade pottery that is laden with homemade love.
Homemade just tastes better on handmade.
While I haven't updated it in quite some time, you can find an archive of blog posts highlighting delicious homemade, mostly on our beautiful handmade, HERE.
My Clients:
I'm so proud of the collaborations with these clients that resulted in these beautiful pieces to highlight their creations and enhance the experience that they offer to their clients.
