Lori Theriault, Owner & Studio Potter
Born in Vermont, Lori had her first experience with clay at a very young age when she dug clay out of a stream bed for a school art project (and she still has the pendant to prove it!). After more than a 30 year break, she returned to clay in 2001 and began more intentional studies clay studies in Washington, DC in 2001 where she studied at Hinckley Pottery. After seeing slides of western North Carolina during a visiting artist workshop, she knew that's where she wanted to put down her studio roots, and she relocated to Asheville in 2006. She completed a two year Resident Artist Program at the Odyssey Center for Ceramic Arts and then opened Crazy Green Studios, a working and teaching studio, in West Asheville. Crazy Green Studios now happily resides within The Village Potters Clay Center, in Asheville's River Arts District, where she is the Marketing Director, and serves as a mentor in their Independent Study & Mentoring Program. Crazy Green Studios employs a small team of talented artists to create all the work, each piece an individual, handmade design. She and her team work out of both her main studio at The Village Potters Clay Center, and out of a satellite production space in Asheville, with plans to eventually house all of Crazy Green Studio's crazy dreams under one roof!
Her work is sold in The Village Potters Gallery in Asheville, NC and by direct and wholesale commissions.
Her work is sold in The Village Potters Gallery in Asheville, NC and by direct and wholesale commissions.
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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 in restaurants inspires me further to seek out creative chefs for collaboration in seeking that same joy, and 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 grain of clay, 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 pottery made.
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.
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 grain of clay, 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 pottery made.
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.
Lori Theriault is proud to be a founding member of
The Village Potters Clay Center,
whose mission is to nurture creative exploration
through education, experience, and community.
You can find Lori's work in the TVPCC gallery, and you might find her there as well on Mondays as the prima gallerina. She is also a mentor in their Advanced Ceramics program and teaches online classes as a part of the Study From Afar program.
I'm sure you've heard, and I'm sure I've used, most variations of "It takes a village to ...". It's true - very little that is accomplished by anyone, in my opinion, happens alone or without collaboration and/or assistance. My Village is vast and includes people from every segment, phase, age, career, and experience of my life. And I am grateful for each and every one. And even as Crazy Green Studios expands and grows, my studio home remains with The Village Potters Clay Center in Asheville, NC. I am a founding member, but any who know me know that while I was helping to build this wonderful space, I was also rebuilding myself, and I couldn't have asked for better company and community.
Crazy Green Studios is located at The Village Potters in Asheville, NC. While my working studio is not open to the public, you will find a full range of my work in our galleries. If you're interested in purchasing or commissioning any of my work, please contact me.
I'm sure you've heard, and I'm sure I've used, most variations of "It takes a village to ...". It's true - very little that is accomplished by anyone, in my opinion, happens alone or without collaboration and/or assistance. My Village is vast and includes people from every segment, phase, age, career, and experience of my life. And I am grateful for each and every one. And even as Crazy Green Studios expands and grows, my studio home remains with The Village Potters Clay Center in Asheville, NC. I am a founding member, but any who know me know that while I was helping to build this wonderful space, I was also rebuilding myself, and I couldn't have asked for better company and community.
Crazy Green Studios is located at The Village Potters in Asheville, NC. While my working studio is not open to the public, you will find a full range of my work in our galleries. If you're interested in purchasing or commissioning any of my work, please contact me.
