Sophie Lever is a ceramic artist who creates both functional and sculptural work. Growing up, she moved around a lot, and spent time in many different states on the east coast and midwest. This (along with other factors) created a desire for order and structure in the work that she makes. Fascinated with pattern, geometry, and organization, both her functional and sculptural work contain these elements, whether that be through surface decoration or form.

While her functional work is wheel-thrown, most of her sculptural work is built with hard slabs. She is interested in paradoxes and contradictions in her sense of self and how these ideas can visually play out in a single work. Sophie is currently an artist in residence at Access Arts in Columbia, MO where she teaches adult and youth classes and works to maintain a functioning studio. Prior to Access Arts, she was a resident artist at Brockway Center for Arts and Technology in Brockway, PA. Over the past two years, her work has been exhibited in juried shows across the country, including 64Arts, Atlanta Print Biennial, and In Hand II. She received her BA in Studio Arts from the University of Rochester in 2023. For two summers, she was an apprentice at Bella Joy Pottery in Plainwell, MI.

https://www.sophie-lever.com/

Tom O'Malley began studying ceramics in high school and received his BFA from the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University in 1985. He received his MFA, with honors, from the Rhode Island School of Design in 1994. O'Malley has exhibited nationally and internationally, winning numerous awards. He received an LCC Grant in 1998 and his pottery was the recipient of the People's Choice Award at the 2002 Strictly Functional Pottery National.

His work has appeared in a number of publications, including Lark Books 500 Tiles, and is slated to appear in the forthcoming publication 21st Century Ceramics. He has taught at RISD, Rhode Island College, Becker College, Worcester State University and the Worcester Center for Crafts, and has presented a variety of workshops and lectures throughout New England. He has been a board member of The Studio Potter since 2005 and currently is the Studio Liaison and Program Director of the Worcester Center for Crafts.

View Tom's Latest Work and Profile: Tom O'Malley Ceramics