Our Team
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Jessica Kirke - Owner & Director
Jess has worked within pottery studios for over a decade, establishing The Craft Pottery (TCP) herself in 2014. She has a BA in Public Relations and a MEd in Children's Literature, and her artistic passion - besides pottery of course! - lies in interior decoration. She's constantly on the look-out for new trends to bring to The Craft Pottery Studio as well as its sister studio TCP which offers pottery painting. Jess typically spends more time in the office than working with pots these days though. Her key focus? Ensuring the studio runs without a hitch and the staff continue to flourish!
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Nadia Jones (She/Her)- Studio Manager & Senior Wheel Tutor
Nadia is our Studio Manager and resident wheel course tutor here at The Craft, and has been with us since 2019. She's helped the studio grow so that we are able to accommodate budding, young potters. She found pottery in 2014 whilst studying Fine Art BA at GSA and has been making her own work since, which is influenced by minimalism and traditional techniques. Her interest in teaching sparked whilst helping newcomers that joined the community studio - being able to see their confidence and skills grow with just a few good tips. If there's anyone who will convince you to drop your day job for a pottery shed in your garden, it's Nadia!
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Stephanie McGowan - Assistant Manager & Senior Hand-Building Tutor
Stephanie is our resident hand-building tutor. She started working with clay whilst studying at art school and her passion for teaching was ignited when working as a ceramics tutor with Camp America. Her playful and contemporary ceramics style is influenced by traditional hand-building techniques including pinching, slab construction and coiling. She finds the processes involved with making ceramics deeply satisfying and feels so lucky to be working with her hands, using age-old techniques, in this technologically advanced world. It's what keeps her sane!
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Brandon Peña - Senior Wheel Tutor & Glaze Supervisor
Originally from Utah, USA Brandon Peña is a functional potter with over 15 years of experience working with clay. He first discovered his passion for pottery after taking a ceramics class in high school where he fell in love with working on the potter's wheel. Brandon later continued his studies in ceramics at university level, receiving a BFA from Utah State University in 2016. Since then he has continued to work with clay both as a maker and an educator. Prior to moving to Scotland, Brandon worked full time as a high school ceramics teacher. Brandon’s work is inspired by textures and surfaces found in urban environments. When he is not in the studio teaching and making pots, he can often be found skateboarding around Glasgow.
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Jenni Wilson - Junior Wheel Tutor & Kiln Supervisor
Jenni joined the studio in November 2021 as a studio assistant and has recently began teaching taster wheel sessions. Her love of pottery began 2 years ago when she attended a taster session and became immediately obsessed with it. She loves the satisfaction of taking a clump of clay and making something beautiful with it. Jenni is a big people person who loves connecting with customers and sharing her love of pottery with them.
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Rosie Farara - Studio Assistant & Junior Hand-Building Tutor
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Giulia Carro (She/They) - Studio Assistant
Giulia is one of our studio assistants and has been with us for a year now! In the studio she diligently looks after your pots and the practical side of things, so you’ll often find her covered in clay running around.
G has wanted to move into the creative industry for a while and they found a perfect spot within our team. Though their journey with clay has just started they have a solid background picking up new creative skills and love getting their hands dirty!
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Yasmine Gibson (She/Her)- Sessional Wheel Tutor
Yasmine is one of our sessional wheel throwing tutors. Her journey into pottery began 2 years ago, starting out as a relaxing hobby to a passion she quickly fell in love with, choosing to pursue a career in ceramics.
Through a mixture of wheel throwing and hand building techniques, she loves creating colourful, playful ceramics that will uplift your mood.
She believes pottery can be beneficial to everyone and her interest in teaching was sparked through her documenting and sharing her pottery process on social media platforms. Always keen to inspire more people to start up pottery, she's excited to help others use pottery as a creative escape to switch off from the outside world.
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Megan Devlin - Sessional Wheel Tutor
Megan is one of our sessional wheel throwing tutors. She is a maker/artist based in Glasgow. She focusses on the processes involved in art making and enjoys the creative, intuitive engagements that clay offers.
She first found clay during her architectural studies at GSA. During which, she attended her first wheel throwing course at the Craft Pottery! She has since used clay for creating models, making vessels and sculptural artworks. She enjoys hosting workshops and collaborating with other artists/friends to create art. Her influences come from the people in her life and the intimate relationships that she shares with them. She uses interactions with clay as a way to learn and engage with the world.
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Kerry Boyd - Sessional Hand-Building Tutor
Kerry is an Irish artist and got into ceramics through our own courses here at the Craft! They fell in love with the medium and are now a sessional hand-building tutor with us. They’re having a lot of fun exploring the limitations and possibilities of using clay as a sculptural material, through hand building processes and on the wheel. They also do bespoke machine embroidery and love the versatility between clean fabric decoration and getting their hands dirty in the clay!
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Ivy Deacon - Sessional Hand-Building Tutor
Ivy is a sessional hand building tutor at The Craft. They are an artist and ceramicist based in Glasgow. They got into ceramics nearly 10 years ago when working at a ceramics studio similar to The Craft in Brighton, and have since explored clay at GSA and on exchanges in France and Sicily.
They love the tactility of clay, making physical their obsessions and ideas. Ivy is currently interested in combining sound and water with their ceramics.
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Murphy Scoular (They/Them) - Studio Assistant
Murphy is our studio intern. They are a Glaswegian interdisciplinary artist who graduated with a BFA from DJCAD in 2021. They unearthed their passion for pottery during a residency in Bulgaria and developed their skills in hand-building and throwing as a member at Maryhill Open Art Space. When they're not assisting at The Craft Pottery Studio – they're working away on their own ceramic and wooden sculptures or escaping the city foraging in the forest.