Meet the Artists and Instructors

Owner, Instructor & Ceramic Artist

Chris graduated from the Maryland Institute College of Art as a ceramics major.  She returned to her love of clay after raising her three girls.  Chris has owned New Phoenix for 15 years and is now a proud grandmother.  Chris enjoys making functional pottery and focuses on the calming and healing benefits she has discovered when working with clay.  In addition, Chris loves sharing the joys of exploring clay with others.

Instructor & Ceramic Artist

Lynne’s current work infuses functional pots with playful, painterly images that are joyful in expression and comforting in their familiarity. Her classes offer a developed curriculum that includes clear objectives and learning outcomes. Her instruction focuses on craftmanship and knowledge of fundamentals. She encourages her students to explore and be open to the possibilities of their creativity.

Instructor & Ceramic Artist

Brad Blair is an artist, educator, and gallery coordinator living in Baltimore County, Maryland. He graduated from Towson University in 2009 with a Bachelor’s of Science, majoring in Art & Design. He then earned a Master’s of Fine Art (MFA) degree from Florida State University in 2014.

Brad also teaches ceramic classes at Manor Mill, and is an adjunct professor of ceramics at Towson University. As well as being an active exhibiting artist, he is also the Chesapeake Gallery Coordinator at Harford Community College. Through his creativity, skill, imagination, and patience, he will surely help you find your way in clay!

Instructor & Ceramic Artist

Charlene has a Master’s Degree in Ceramics from Hood College. She has been a ceramic artist and teacher for over 27 years. She has shown and sold her work across the United States, has won several awards, and has had her work featured in prominent trade magazines. She has vast amounts of technical knowledge and experience with potter’s wheels and kilns and isn’t afraid to dive in and get her hands dirty to solve big problems.

She encourages her students to be free and explore their own creativity and guides them through learning proper form and technique. But most importantly… she is addicted to all things clay!

Instructor & Ceramic Artist

Volker is one of the founders of Baltimore Clayworks. He currently teaches at Baltimore School for the Arts as well as Baltimore Clayworks. He holds a bachelor’s degree in art education from Towson University. He participates in numerous craft fairs and competitions every year. His artwork can be found in various collections throughout the country including the Sonny and Gloria Kamm Teapot Foundation as well as the Port Discovery Children’s Museum.

Volker teaches our only hand-building class. There is no end to the interesting and amazing things that can be made with clay without the aid of a potter’s wheel, imagination is truly the only limit. Volker’s passion is to teach students all of the freedom and potential that can be found in free-forming clay.

Instructor & Ceramic Artist

Tez runs at a steady 97.6 degrees. She has been playing in the mud for over 30 years and is an accomplished sailor and a scuba diver. She has sailed around the Bahamas and scuba-dived on the Great Barrier Reef. She discovered her interest in clay after collecting pottery as souvenirs during her travels. She is self-taught and believes that the constant practice she has done throughout the years has broadened her as an artist, as well as YouTube, which has been her most consistent teacher. She isn’t afraid to try new things – in pottery or life.

Tez brings her life experiences, decades of practice, and sense of adventure into the classroom to offer a unique and fun experience for students who want to try out the potter’s wheel. She can help anyone curious about the potter’s wheel to tap into their potential.

Instructor & Ceramic Artist

Stephanie recently received a Bachelor’s degree in Fine Art from Salisbury University with a concentration in ceramics. While at university she excelled at her craft, placing first in her senior exhibition. She enjoys creating expressive sculptural work that explores the sub conscious mind, using androgynous characters that unravel their stories to the viewer through unique, relatable personal narrative.

Stephanie strives to create a fun and safe classroom environment for students of all ages to feel comfortable expressing themselves and their innermost creativity through the highly-versatile medium of clay.

Instructor & Ceramic Artist

Annmarie originally joined New Phoenix Pottery as a student. She became quick friends with all of our staff and began teaching our try it potter’s wheel classes. These classes introduce anyone who is curious to the potter’s wheel, starting at the very beginning of the process. She applies the finishing touches to the try it student’s work and assists with workshops and special events such as helping Scouts earn their pottery badges. Annmarie enjoys making ergonomic, functional pottery with a focus on each piece’s intended specific use and purpose.

Manager & Ceramic Artist

Deirdre earned a Bachelor of Science in Art and Design from Towson University in 2010, she followed this up with a Master’s Degree or MFA in Ceramic Art from Hood College in 2016. Her thesis on the East-Asian wedged coiling technique was published in Hood College’s permanent collection and her work has been featured in Ceramics Monthly Magazine. Deirdre enjoys making vases/vessels that are influenced by the natural world, especially plants and flowers. She likes to make vessels that feel as if they are alive and growing, ignoring the “flowers in a vase” notion, and creating flora-like vessels whose beauty will never wither or die. Her work plays with the notions of permanence and impermanence, as well as the ephemeral quality of life.

She can answer any of your questions, and help you find a class/instructor that is right for you.

Please send us an email:

newphoenixpottery@gmail.com