Keira Peterson, artist
On Saturday, July 27, from 3–8 p.m., join a consortium of artists in West Asheville for demonstrations, light refreshments and a new product launch. After Hurricane Helene, Kelsey Schissel, owner of Plays in Mud Pottery, invited three displaced potters to share her space until they found new studios. Diana Hoover of Knook Ceramics, Keira Peterson of Keira Marie Designs and Lori Theriault of Crazy Green Studios joined Schissel, sharing not only workspace and tools but stories of loss, news about opportunities and the inspiration to create again.
(From left) Keira Peterson, Kelsey Schissel with Jasper, Lori Theriault and Diana Hoover
“Being invited into the consortium that Kelsey created meant the world to me,” says Theriault, a founding member of The Village Potters Clay Center (TVPCC) who lost two studios at Riverview Station. “I don’t think I would be this far along in creating a new body of work and rebuilding my business if I hadn’t been given this opportunity, and she has created such a welcoming and safe space for me to do this work.”
After the hurricane, Theriault had to make the difficult decision to focus on rebuilding her own business and not rejoin TVPCC. “Parts of my wholesale work that I am still creating are fired in mid-range electric kilns, so I decided to embrace the opportunity in this rebuild to create all new work,” she says. This new work includes a line of small plates and bowls with original embossed designs that are part of her new wholesale line.
Meanwhile, she hopes to find a new space in which to reopen Crazy Green Studios. “I see an opportunity to help create a true ‘Asheville Arts District’ and want to work with other small businesses throughout West Asheville to promote an arts corridor that connects to the River Arts and downtown gallery districts,” she says.
Peterson also lost a studio at Riverview Station. “Although my studio was on the second floor, it still experienced four feet of flooding,” she says, “submerging my two wheels and many of my supplies.”
Before the storm, her main focus was wheel-thrown pieces. She references the joke about potters who aren’t centered failing to create centered work. “While ‘recentering’ myself in the winter months,” she says, “I found great solace and respite by creating new work from slabs, including several new dinnerware lines. This recharged my creativity and led to new design styles: Confetti and Sunburst.”
The consortium helped in many ways, she says. “We told each other about grant opportunities, looked for tools for each other at tool donation events and just genuinely supported one another when things felt too difficult. We truly were, and still are, all in it together.”
Hoover shared space at Plays in Mud during November and December, and, in January, was able to move into her own space in the Mill at Riverside. Her new work is a continuation of the functional and semi-sculptural work she was creating before the hurricane. “I enjoy experimenting with color and form,” she says. “I conceptualize each piece both as a vessel and a canvas, and using the technique of hard-edge painting, I paint bold lines and patterns on each form with underglaze.”
For the three potters, being together again after the devastation was invaluable. “Together we processed the loss of our community at The Village Potters,” Hoover says, “and, ultimately, started making work again.”
Learn more about the event and Kelsey Schissel’s work at PlaysInMud.com, and find Diana Hoover, Keira Peterson and Lori Theriault, respectively, at KnookCeramics.com, KeiraMarieDesigns.com and CrazyGreenStudios.com.
