Meet Your Instructors

Kristina Albright

Brenda Barron

Brenda has been a part time potter since 1997. Her ceramic learning has come from many instructors and participation in numerous workshops.

Brenda loves to share her knowledge with other clay lovers and has facilitated many workshops in her home studio.

Seeking tranquility in a fast-paced world, Brenda found her calling by combining her love of cooking with making functional ceramics for everyday use in the kitchen.

Alexandra Box

As someone who began their journey with clay through community clay classes and summer camps through my local potters guild and rural potters, Alexandra arrives to teaching from a long background in art education as a student. She is excited to teach private lessons, multi-day workshops, and also 6-week courses on both throwing and hand building. As a practicing ceramic artist who is working across throwing, coil building, and other hand building methods, Alexandra brings a wide range of lesson plans to each course that encourages artistic risk taking and skill building. Having spent many years as a student and assistant instructor in community clay classes, she is excited to begin teaching about clay.

Alexandra is a transdisciplinary artist who began her formal art education at Bealart where she specialized in Ceramics and Printmaking. Alexandra now holds a BFA specializing Ceramics. Alexandra is a three-time resident of Medalta (Treaty 7) in the Historic Clay District in Medicine Hat, Alberta. Alexandra is an avid Brent wheel user, builds large coil pots and sculptures, and is always keen to fire up an atmospheric kiln.

Heather Brooks

Heather’s first experience with clay was in 2005 and she hasn’t stopped working in clay since that introduction so long ago! She finds working in clay both grounding and meditative.

Continuous learning is a mantra that Heather lives by. Over the years she has learned from numerous teachers and participated in many workshops. In 2022 she completed a mentorship program at KPG with Darlene Malcolm-Moran and in 2023 travelled to Korea to learn from the Korean Masters.

Heather has been a member of KPG since 2015 and you can find her pottery the Guild’s shop.

Cathy Allen

Cathy has been an avid part time potter since 1991 when she enrolled in her first evening pottery class. Over the years, she has participated in countless different method workshops, including Fusion workshops, and more recently some fantastic virtual workshops too. Cathy has a strong belief that continual and organized learning enriches our craft and practices far more than we may originally recognize.

She had the opportunity to travel to Korea in 2018 with other KPG members to study with Korean Master Potters, and in 2017 participated in Fusion’s Creative Directions mentorship program with Michelle Mendlowitz.

Recently she has taught numerous surface treatment workshops at Kawartha Potters Guild, including sgraffito, slip transfer/monoprinting, and mishima decorative techniques.

She has been the host of Saturday Clay Club since 2014, where enthusiastic and clay loving students come to practice and play!

Karina Bates

Karina has been working with clay, since about 2004 and became a Guild member shortly after that. Studying under Darlene Malcolm-Moran, George Stewart and Scott Walker, amongst others, Karina participated in the 2016 Creative Directions Mentorship, travelled to Korea for three weeks of intensive study under pottery masters in 2018 and was one of the members selected for the KPG Juried Show held at the Peterborough Art Gallery in the fall of 2018. You can find examples of Karina’s work on Facebook at Horus Eye Pottery.

Carolyn Cisco

Carolyn started throwing in first year university and found it calming and challenging. After 30 years of teaching dance and phys-ed she is now retired from teaching high school and looking forward to sharing her love of clay with others.

Check out Carolyn’s Guild Member page and see a selection of her work.

Jacquie Cole

I started pottery in 2014 in sunny Florida. It was supposed to be a “taste of pottery” only but it didn’t end there. I have been practicing pottery now for 9 years and began teaching 7 years ago. Beginning with first year students and moving to advanced students in the past 4 years. In addition, I continue to take pottery lessons both in Florida and back home at KPG. I have been very lucky to have had multi talented teachers and it would be my pleasure to pass along what I have learned so far.

Dan Ferguson

June Goodwin

June has spent most of her life involved in working, teaching and selling in a variety of media. After attending Luton School of Art in the UK, she moved with her husband to Canada and became immersed in the craft community.

June now works solely in clay, teaching children and adults and exhibiting and selling her work.

Visit June’s Guild Member page too see a selection of her work.

Emily Gateman-Vail

Emily began her pottery journey in 2020 and has fully immersed herself in her new found passion. She is thankful for the community the Kawartha Potters Guild has provided and for the potters that have fostered her growth. Emily feels pottery is a wonderful creative outlet, while connecting people with their body and the earth elements in clay. Emily has always enjoyed “coaching” and helping people explore new things and is enjoying the new journey in teaching at the guild.

Priya Harding

Priya has worked in both pottery and education since the 1980s. Her home studio, “Windring”, specializes in mid-range porcelain functional ware. The flow of throwing, exploring form to fit diverse functions and folks, and creating surface designs are her passions. She has given workshops and classes in pottery through the Guild since 2013, to children, youth, and adults.

Priya continues to enjoy sharing her love of clay and learning.

For more information and to see a selection of her pottery, visit Windring Pottery.

Ann Hobday

Ann taught Secondary School Visual Arts and ceramics for two decades. Since retirement she has switched to hand building in stoneware. She has subsequently volunteered with community non profits to share hand building techniques with adults. Hiking and cycling keeps her grounded and in tune with the earth’s rhythms. She always looks for ways to incorporate nature themes and motifs in functional slab plates, bowls, bird and toad houses, landscape plaques and jewelry. Currently, she is experimenting with sculptural forms for wind chimes and garden poles. Ceramics and teaching is keeping her excited about life.

Darlene Malcolm-Moran

Since graduating from Sheridan College School of Design in 1976, Darlene has pursued many aspects of Ceramics and enjoys sharing this knowledge instructing pottery classes and workshops.

She likes to use contrasting textures, marbled surfaces, different coloured stoneware clays to combine with her bright clay slips and food safe glazes.

Beauty, form, function and fine craftsmanship are all equally very important to every piece of pottery that Darlene creates.

Jaz Raine

Jaz embarked on their pottery journey in 1999 when their parents enrolled them lessons at the local recreation centre. They returned to clay over and over again through out their teenage years and into their twenties. Apart from those early childhood lessons, Jaz is largely self-taught and draws inspiration from the natural world, their relationships, and the possibilities of turning domestic routine into ritual through functional art.
Jaz is currently a doctoral student at Trent University where they teach in the political studies department. They have experience in accessible learning and teaching, and are excited to support students of all embodiments and identities at KPG.