June 3 – 29, 2025
Sales Gallery & Online
Brian Geier, Sarah Haven, Ellen Kleckner, Kimberly LaVonne, Matt Watterson
Brian Geier, Sarah Haven, Ellen Kleckner, Kimberly LaVonne, Matt Watterson
About the Artists
Brian Geier
Lakewood, CO
Brian Geier is a studio potter working out of Lakewood, CO. He focuses on making decorative and functional ceramic pieces using porcelain and crystalline glazes. Geier’s background in geography is the main source of inspiration for his crystalline glazes, specifically the mineral, ocean jasper, which is part of the quartz family. His beautiful surfaces and the process behind achieving such wonderful surface variation is what interests Geier most—no two crystalline pieces are ever the same. Geier received his AA from Waubonsee Community College (Sugar Grove, IL) and his BS in geography from Northern Illinois University (DeKalb).
Sarah Haven
Ellensburg, WA
A theatre major in undergrad, Sarah Haven took a ceramics class for fun, and over 20 years later, clay remains a staple of her life. In 2003, she relocated to Washington from Ohio for graduate school and decided to stay, enthralled with the Pacific Northwest. During the day, Haven works at a local nonprofit arts center, and at night she can be found pinching pots in her basement studio.
Ellen Kleckner
Cedar Rapids, IA
Ellen Kleckner is an artist and educator whose practice weaves together community engagement, material investigation, and collaboration. Kleckner utilizes the visual and mechanical vocabulary of makers and craftspeople to create forms that provoke ideas of utility while questioning recognizability. She studied ceramics at the Appalachian Center for Craft (DeKalb County, TN) where she received her BFA. She went on to study at the University of Nebraska (Lincoln) and Ohio University (Athens) where she received her MFA. Kleckner’s engaging work has also earned her a number of awards and grants in addition to exhibitions around the country. She has been a recipient of a Windgate Foundation Scholarship, the NCECA Graduate Student Research Fellowship, the Studio Potter Graduate Merit Award, Women of Achievement Award, an Artist Catalyst Grant from the Iowa Arts Council, and an Emerging Artist Fellowship from NCECA. In addition to these awards, Kleckner has shown her work in galleries both nationally and internationally.
Kimberly LaVonne
Detroit, MI
Kimberly LaVonne is a ceramic artist who handbuilds forms adorned with graphic illustrations depicting parts of her Panamanian heritage, family, connection, and remembrance. She received her MFA from Indiana University (Bloomington) and her BFA from the University of Central Missouri (Warrensburg). Her works have been on exhibit both nationally and internationally. Some of these venues include Oliva Gallery (Chicago); the San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts (TX); Kiosk Gallery (Kansas City, MO); Stamp Gallery (University of Maryland—College Park); and the Kápolna Galéria (Hungary). She has completed two artist residencies at the International Ceramics Studio in Kecskemét, Hungary, as well as a residency with the Charlotte Street Studio Foundation in Kansas City, Missouri. In 2016 she presented her work and research at the Death, Art, and Anatomy conference at the University of Winchester, UK. Ceramics Monthly awarded her as one of the Emerging Artists of 2020. In 2021, she was awarded as one of the recipients of the American Craft Council Emerging Artist Cohort program.
Matt Watterson
Jingdezhen, China
As a ceramic artist, Matt Watterson finds a certain level of nostalgia and affinity in the cup. He believes the cup is one of the most intimate objects we interact with on a daily basis. It welcomes generously; it asks to be held and brought to our lips. Watterson’s cups are made with a translucent porcelain and are fired three to four times each. They are all hand painted, contain real gold, and are unique in their own way. As a foreign artist living in Jingdezhen, China, Watterson is drawn to the history imbedded in the city itself. His work uses traditional techniques but explores Western ideologies and thinking. They meld together East and West with floral and architectural motifs, each dripping and pooling as the city does. The surfaces are rendered slightly out of focus, like looking through a window on a rainy day. Watterson’s work is included in galleries, private collections, and kitchen cabinets internationally.