Bill Abright

Bill Abright has been investigating and teaching innovative forming and decorating techniques with clay for the last 32 years. Stretching pre-textured slabs of clay into human figures, fish, insects and large-scale masks is at the core of his art. He is known for his post fired constructed sculptures and his use of a variety of adhesives and cold finishes to connect forms and mimic glazes to conclude his artworks. In addition to his work in clay he produces and exhibits large format graphite drawings developed from rubbings. Bill has exhibited and demonstrated his techniques throughout the U.S. and teaches Art at the College of Marin in Kentfield.

Clayton Bailey

Since 1976 when Bailey created his first robot, ON/OFF the Wonder Robot, dozens of other robots have been raised from the active gray matter of Bailey's mind. "If it doesn't have humor, it's deficient," he says. As ceramics professor for twenty -eight years at California State University at Hayward, Bailey has exhibited his work nationwide. His work has been shown at the John Natsoulas Gallery for the past seventeen years.

Sylvia Hyman

Tennessee potter known for surprisingly realistic of paper, leather, canvas, rope and other non-ceramic materials in clay. Sylvia Hyman was in her forties when she first began working in clay, quickly gaining international recognition. Five decades later she continues to re-invent herself as an artist as she pushes the boundaries of her medium.

Michael Lucero

Born in Tracy, California, he earned a BA degree from Humboldt State University in 1975. In 1978, he earned an MFA at the University of Washington in Seattle. Lucero's interest in the Native American Pueblo dates back to his childhood travels from California to relatives in New Mexico. Here he would come into contact with American Natives and their culture. Native American rugs, jewelry, sculpture and ceramics would come to influence Lucero in his later life. The Californian and New Mexican environment also supplied the artist with a rich abundance of animal life, especially reptiles and amphibians that he loved as a child and employed in his imagery later in life.

Louis Marak

"Both paradox and dichotomy are the fundamental aspects of my artwork. My subject matter deals primarily with containers and containment. Things inconsistent with common experience or having contradictory qualities fascinate me. Images and objects that juztaposed in an unusual or unexpected manner intrique me." Louis Marak was born in 1942 in Shawnee, OK. He has been an Emeritus Professor of Art at Humboldt State since his retirement in 2006.

Justin Novak

Following a multi-cultural upbringing in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Yugoslavia, and Rome, Italy, Justin Novak pursued a ten-year career as a freelance illustrator and graphic designer in New York City. Clients included The New York Times, The New York Daily News, Macmillan Publishing, Harper & Row, and Book-of the-Month Club. A second career as a ceramics artist and educator followed. His work has been exhibited widely, and he has lectured nationally and internationally, including the Kunstindustrimuseet (Museum of Decorative Arts and Design) and the Royal Academy of Art in Copenhagen and Brighton University in the UK. His work probes the cultural role of "figurines" and the intersection of contemporary art practice and product design.

Kevin Nierman

Kevin is an internationally know ceramic artist, ceramic teacher, and the founder of the Kids 'N' Clay Pottery Studio in Berkeley, California. He is best known and recognized for his cracked, reassembled raku vessels. His work has been shown in art galleries throughout the country and featured in many national publications.