On view: March 3 – 29, 2026
Sales Gallery & Online
Willem Gebben, Jan McKeachie Johnston, David Swenson, Betsy Williams
March Featured Artists: Willem Gebben, Jan McKeachie Johnston, David Swenson, Betsy Williams
About the Artists
Willem Gebben
Colfax, Wisconsin
Willem Gebben was born in Delft, the Netherlands. He received his BA from Grand Valley State University (Allendale, MI), and in 1976 apprenticed with master potter David Eeles at Shepherds Well Pottery (Mosterton, Dorset, England). Currently, Gebben is a full-time studio potter in Colfax (WI). He creates a wide variety of wood-fired functional pottery out of both stoneware and porcelain clays and glazes, all of which he mixes and processes himself. His sure sense of form and expert handling of surface, texture and detailing make each piece a true work of art. Gebben’s work is included in collections throughout the U.S., Europe, the Middle East, Japan, and Australia.
Jan McKeachie Johnston
River Falls, Wisconsin
Jan McKeachie Johnston studied at the University of Minnesota (Minneapolis), Southern Illinois University (Carbondale), and received her BFA from the University of Wisconsin–River Falls. Since 1979 she has been very active in teaching workshops and demonstrations, working in her Wisconsin studio, and has recently served as an adjunct professor of ceramics at UWRF. For the past 25 years, she has participated in significant exhibitions throughout the United States. She is represented in many private and public collections, including the Chrysler Museum in Norfolk (VA); the Weisman Art Museum at the University of Minnesota; and the Minneapolis Institute of Art. Additionally, her work has been featured in Clay Times and Ceramics Monthly.
David Swenson
Clearwater, Minnesota
David Swenson is a Clearwater and Minneapolis, Minnesota-based ceramist and instructor. Since moving to Minnesota in 2009, he has lived and worked in the Twin Cities area teaching ceramics in community education and many after-school programs. His hand-painted work is embellished with historical motifs and techniques, while maintaining an eclectic and modern aesthetic.
Betsy Williams
Dixon, New Mexico
Betsy Williams and her husband, stone sculptor Mark Saxe, own Rift Gallery (Rinconada, NM). Williams earned a liberal arts degree at St. John’s College—the “Great Books” school (Santa Fe, NM) —then went on to become a money market trader at a Japanese bank in Manhattan. She ultimately left that job for a pottery apprenticeship in Karatsu, Japan, under Yutaka Ohashi (1994 –1999), and has been a potter since. Williams says “Individual pieces, modest in scale, are at the heart of my work. I concentrate on unobtrusively conveying a sense of quiet attention and mystery. To my mind, the best pots are both understated and forthright, and can seem both new and familiar at the same time. They make themselves useful.”