Colleen McCall

I have always loved painting, and I especially like the grit and rigor of clay. I studied both in college and earned an MFA from Alfred University in 1998. My first hand-painted pots were crafted purely to delight my son and daughter, their cheerful whimsies being pink elephants, dancing bears and dinosaurs. Nothing at all like the life-size figure sculpture I had once made.

In 2009, a few years after settling in Elmira, NY and setting up a studio in my home, I joined Handwork, Ithaca’s Artisan Cooperative, where my colorful patterned pottery has since flourished. Today, I stock a handful of regional shops, offer an occasional workshop, participate in gallery shows, pottery invitationals and indoor arts festival as a full-time studio artist.