OUr 2025 Theme: Elevating PAtterns, Prints and Motifs

"Patterns, Prints, and Motifs"-  Discovering narratives, developing surface design, and sharing innovative techniques for shaping and transforming ceramics. Students, professionals, and pottery enthusiasts looking to elevate their art mustn't miss the NC Pottery Conference 2025! Join us as we explore these phenomena with some wonderful artists.

This year’s conference will primarily continue in the same format of past conferences centering around two days of demonstrating artists in addition to multiple speakers. Three demonstrators will work side-by-side, encouraging questions, and conversing with the audience and each other. Interspersed in the program are speakers who will share their input and insights on the conference’s theme.

2025 Presenters

Demonstrating Artists

Laurie Caffery (Asheville, NC)

Laurie Caffery is a ceramic artist and illustrator. She grew up in Boone, North Carolina, a small town surrounded by the peaks and valleys of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Encouraged by creative parents, she spent her childhood enthusiastically exploring different mediums, primarily painting and drawing.

Laurie received her Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in Studio Art with an emphasis in ceramics from Appalachian State University in 2014. Since then, she has continued to embrace every opportunity to progress her craft.

Her artwork is exhibited and collected nationally and internationally. Laurie creates her narrative-driven, decorative ceramics from her studio in Asheville, North Carolina. When she isn’t making art, she’s probably spending time outside with her husband, son, and dogs.

Website: Laurie Caffery Clay
Social Media: Facebook, Instagram (@lauriecaffery), TikTok (@lauriecaffery), YouTube (@LaurieCaffery)

Jessica putnam-phillips (South Londonderry, VT)

Jessica Putnam-Phillips is a ceramic artist, USAF veteran, and educator. She received her MFA from the Art Institute of Boston and her BA from UNC-Wilmington. She was a resident artist at the Saratoga Clay Art Center and at AIR Vallauris, France. She actively promotes ceramic art and education and is the founder of ClayShare, an online school for ceramic learning. Jessica’s work has been in national and international exhibitions, most notably at the Museum of Craft and Design, the Craft and Folk-Art Museum, the American Museum of Ceramic Art, and the Veterans’ Art Museum. She is a past winner of the Zanesville Prize and was named a potter to watch by C-File. She has been a presenter at NCECA, ClayCon West, and the Veterans Triennale Art Summit. When not traveling for workshops, presentations, and residencies Jessica can be found in her Vermont studio developing and filming classes for ClayShare and creating new ceramic work. 

Website: Jessica Putnam-Phillips
Social Media: Facebook, Instagram (@jessputnamphillips), YouTube (@JessicaPutnamPhillips)

Lydia johnson (Bolton, CT)

Lydia Gasper is a ceramic artist based in Bolton, Connecticut. Her colorful and meticulous work, constructed with thin, printed clay slabs, is inspired by her love of visual pattern and color found in the summer garden as well as home textiles and decor. Her work has found homes in collections across the globe. Over the past 10 years, she has exhibited nationally and internationally and has taught workshops at renowned craft schools. Most recently, she launched her first fabric collection with Maywood Studios using patterns from her ceramic works. When she is not in the studio, you can find her working in her garden, cooking up something delicious, or spending time with her family.

Website: Lydia Johnson Ceramics
Social Media: Facebook, Instagram (@lydiajohnso)

Speakers

KAte Waltman (Seagrove, NC)

Kate Waltman graduated from Alfred University in 2010 and has been making pots in Seagrove ever since. Kate’s pots are made using local materials, boldly carved with organic patterns inspired by Art Deco design, and fired in a variety of atmospheric kilns. She owns and co-founded The Triangle Studio, which houses several artists’ studios and a collective gallery. Kate shows her pots internationally and has lectured and taught throughout the USA.

Website: The Triangle Studio
Social Media: Facebook, Instagram (@kayewaltman)

NAWAL motawi (ann arbor, Mi)

Nawal Motawi founded Motawi Tileworks after graduating from the University of Michigan’s School of Art and working a few years at Detroit’s historic Pewabic Pottery. She began creating her own historically inspired tile in her garage and selling it at the local farmer’s market in 1992. Motawi initially made tile projects for homes and later designed a wholesale art tile line for individual sale. Motawi now sells its art tiles to more than 300 retailers and Motawi tile installations grace homes and public spaces nationwide. Motawi Tileworks was named to the Forbes Magazine- List of 25 Best Small Businesses in 2017. Motawi is revered for its product and customer service and is known for its implementation of Toyota Business Practices.

Website: Motawi Tileworks
Social Media: Facebook, Instagram (@motawi_tileworks)

Heidi Tarver (Berkeley, CA)

Heidi Tarver is a ceramic artist and designer based in California. Born and raised in Washington D.C., she earned her BA in Education from U.C. Santa Cruz in 1976, and her Ph.D. from U.C. Berkeley in 1997. 

Heidi creates intricate, colorful vessels and objects characterized by unique forms and vibrant geometric patterns. Her work has most recently been exhibited at Blue Spiral 1 Gallery in Ashville, NC, the Culture Object Gallery in New York, and at the Homo Faber 2024 Biennale in Venice. 

In a time when mass production and digital replicas dominate, Heidi’s handcrafted pieces invite a renewed appreciation for the art of handcraftsmanship and the power of the singular object.

Website: Heidi Tarver
Social Media: Facebook, Instagram (@heiditarver)