TERASOL - Our Artisans

Meet our artisans

I have had the priviledge to be joined by a remarkable group of local artisans. Take a minute to meet them. (Interested in joining Terasol? Please fill out the form on our Contact Us page to inquire about our current openings!)

KAREN BEARMAN

Enticed by a potter on a kickwheel at a country fair, Karen began pottery lessons in the early 70s, apprenticing, then teaching at Jill Hinckley’s Washington, DC pottery studio. She has worked full time as a studio potter, participating in workshops, craft shows and fairs, and as a ceramics teacher, instructing children and adults in independent schools and private studios. She has exhibited her work at shows and galleries on the Eastern Shore and in the DC area. In addition to pottery, she has worked in stone and watercolor while studying at the Corcoran College of Art.

Enticed again, this time by marriage to a lifelong friend and a move to the Eastern Shore, Karen now lives in Cambridge, MD and works out of her basement studio. Karen teaches one day each week at the Hinckley Pottery Studio in Washington, DC, and at the Dorchester Art Center in Cambridge. During the academic year, Karen teaches Ceramics at Salisbury University and Exploration of the Visual Arts at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore. Karen is a member of Cambridge’s Wednesday Morning Artists and the Clay Guild of the Eastern Shore.

Karen creates wheel-thrown, functional pieces in stoneware and porcelain using two very different firing methods: cone 10 reduction and low-fire raku. Achieving a pleasing form and surface is the motivation for her work. Karen finds special pleasure in the act of sharing her love of this responsive medium with her students and in the notion that she is creating pieces which people will use in their daily lives.

SHARON BRAVEMAN

I began taking pottery classes at the University of Newfoundland, Canada where my husband was a professor. I continued to study pottery interrupted only by the arrival of my son & daughter. I became a student helper in the pottery lab and after 7 years started my own studio at home. After we moved south to Rochester, New York and then to Rockville, Maryland, I took a long break from pottery while raising family, having a career in computer science, and folk dancing. I resumed making stoneware pots at Hinckley Pottery once a week about 1996 while my daughter was taking a class. I have two grandchildren and am still working part time in computer science while continuing to make stoneware bowls, cups, teapots, vases, and casseroles at Hinckley’s.

LAURIE ERDMAN

Laurie Erdman came to pottery in search of a creative outlet from the daily grind of attorney life. She quickly fell in love with the messy and tactical nature of this ancient craft. Laurie was a student at the Art League in Alexandria after first getting dirty at the Arlington County Community Center. Always wanting to improve her skills and expand her artistic approach, Laurie has traveled as far as Italy to study ceramics from some of her favorite potters.

Laurie teaches ceramics at the Art League in Alexandria, where she is also

an associate artist. Her work has been published in national publications

and has been exhibited in national and regional juried exhibitions.

She thinks of her work as artfully utilitarian. Artful in the sense that

her work creates a landscape - whether on your dining room table or in

your kitchen cabinets - that mimics the lines and colors she finds in the

California of her youth, her Arlington garden or her Mediterranean

travels. Utilitarian because it is fired at high temperatures with either

gas or wood and made to withstand the rigors of every day use.

STEVE GAMMICCHIA

Steve moved here from Grosse Pointe Michigan eight years ago. He received his BFA from Wayne State University in Detroit. Before moving to this area, he taught throwing classes for adults in Michigan. He has worked with clay for over 30 years.

In addition to working primarily in clay, he is active in several other mediums, including glass, encaustic, metals and drawing. He works in finance during the day and creates out of his home studio in Lake Barcroft, VA during the evenings and weekends. His current work in clay is typically functional and wheel thrown, although he does make and install handmade tile as well. His encaustic works are usually inspired by personal family history.

AMY GOLDSTEIN

Amy Goldstein is a longtime reporter at The Washington Post who has a semi-secret life as a potter. She admired and collected ceramics before finally deciding more than a decade ago to learn to make her own pots. On weekend mornings, she can been found at Hinckley Pottery in Adams Morgan, where she throws functional forms -- bowls, pitchers, mugs, plates, colanders, teapots, casseroles. It's a nice balance to writing news stories on deadline. She lives in Glover Park.

SUSAN KAY

As a lawyer, my right brain was constantly battling its left side counterpart. For many years, I worked as a public defender in New York City and then as an election lawyer in Washington D.C., while always pursuing artistic projects. Finally, my left brain won! No longer practicing law, I am able to devote my time to creative endeavors. A variety of media appeal to me; however, I recently fell in love with fused glass. I began fusing at the ArtGlass Center at Glen Echo where I learned the varied techniques for working with kiln-formed glass. I subsequently set up my own studio at home where I can continue to create my own pieces, and teach others interested in exploring the world of glass!

JONATHAN KIRKENDALL

I have been studying the craft and art of pottery for 22 years. My wheel thrown, functional pottery takes its aesthetic cues from the art and culture of countries I have lived and studied in: Lebanon, Iran, India, Bangladesh, France, Italy and the United States. My motivation to throw pots stems from my belief that the presence of a simple clay pot can call upon the elemental magic of earth, water, fire and air to enrich our everyday life.

C.MARIE MAUS

My journey in the arts began with music and along the way I’ve dabbled in needlework, drawing, and community theater. Although my day job is working in the health and disability field, I remain a musician and healer using cross-cultural music, chant, and hand-made Tibetan singing bowls in the work. In addition to music, however, I have found a special creative outlet in the design and crafting of beaded jewelry. I love the colors, textures, and sparkle of the beads, stones, and crystals that I incorporate into each of my one-of-a-kind pieces. I hope that those who choose my pieces enjoy wearing them as much as I enjoyed creating them!

SABRINA OUSMAAL

Born and raised in France, Sabrina came to Washington, DC in 1987. A graduate of the American University, she first worked on international issues for non-profit groups. Now an executive in the trade publishing business, she remains active in the local and international communities.

Sabrina is a Chevy Chase DC resident and has been a local potter at Hinckley Pottery for nearly a decade. Her husband is a realtor with Long and Foster's Chevy Chase office and her daughter attends the French International School where Sabrina has taught pottery workshops to 5th and 6th graders. She has created Magnets for Hope -- a fundraising outreach effort benefiting St Jude Hospital. Sabrina is the owner and creator of Terasol.

WILLIAM PEIRCE

William Peirce has been a self-taught woodworker for over 30 years. Most of his pieces, especially his bandsaw bowls, are built from laminations of a variety of wood species. He has exhibited locally at Strathmore Hall, Circle Gallery in Annapolis and Creative Partners in Bethesda, Sugarloaf Craft Fairs, and in many shows sponsored by the Washington Woodworkers Guild. Recently retired from teaching literature and writing courses at Prince Georges Community College, he will now devote more time to woodwork and sculpture.

SHIHO RICE

Shiho K. Rice was born and raised in Kanagawa, Japan. From a very young
age she has been interested in observations and creating stories.
She moved to Canada by herself when she was 15. Looking at her family and
country from the outside, she got to see their importance. At the same time, North American culture gave her the opportunity to express herself and her passions more directly. Starting in Canada, she began to paint and give life to her imagination.
Shiho moved to New York City in 2002, working as a student, a set designer,
a dancer, a framer, and an artist, and currently resides in Washington D.C. She has exhibited her work in New York City and Tokyo, Japan.
She likes adventure both in her imagination and in real life. Like a magician
who surprises and entertains, she enjoys creating, sharing her imagination with
others. At the heart of her life and work there is an abiding love of surprise and the mystery of creating. She creates art to bring these powerful forces to life.

SHARLENE SAMUEL

Native of Trinidad and Tobago, Sharlene first experienced the feel of clay through her fingers while playing in the rain on a mountainside with layers of red earth and clay. Years later after moving to New York, she received a BBA in International Business with a minor in French. In 1990, she attended the International Center for Photography to pursue her interest in the visual arts. Having moved to the Washington, DC area, she now works with a Wealth Management Company. Always finding a way to express herself creatively through writing, drawing and photography, she continued to remember thefeel of clay in her fingers. One day in the Spring of 2006 she decided to stop walking past the local pottery studio in her neighborhood, Hinckley Pottery, and to walk in. The connection was instant, and when being a student wasn’t enough, she joined the work-study program at Hinckley’s to learn more about being a potter. In 2009 she worked as a teacher’s assistant in their Sunday Kid’s class. She now dedicates most of her spare time exploring this art form by creating functional pieces fused with her own creative expressions.

SHERRY SELEVAN

Sherry G. Selevan has been a craftsperson all her life, working in a variety of media and techniques including quilting, photography, wire and bead jewelry, screen printing, cabinet making and stained glass. She started fusing glass in 2006 after a career as a health scientist for the federal government. Her first class was a retirement present! Since then she has studied a variety of techniques. Her work has been exhibited in invitational and juried shows and is available at galleries in the Greater Washington DC area. Recently, one of her sculptures was awarded first place in Glass at the Creative Crafts Council show at Strathmore Mansion (2011). She is Vice-President of the National Capital Art Glass Guild (NCAGG) and a member of the Glass Art Society.

"Exploration, experimentation, transformation . . . these have been themes of my life, both as a scientist and an artist. Working in glass puts it all together for me. Color, form and shape from architecture, the natural world, and textiles inspire my work in glass. Each project teaches me more about the infinite possibilities in glass work, starting with the optical effects of changing colors and going through the myriad of different techniques. The element of surprise each time the kiln is opened keeps me fascinated."

DEB SOROMENHO

I am a jewelry artist and metalsmith, owner of A.W.E. Handcrafted Jewelry. I chose the name A.W.E. for 3 words that are meaningful to me: Artsy, Worldly, Earthy and because I'm awed and inspired by shapes, textures, and cultures of the world.

I love working with silver and copper and am always amazed at the variety of shape and form that can be created from a sheet of metal and a few tools. I am able incorporate my passion for travel and culture and my love of texture and detail into my design like no other medium allows.

I have a small studio in my home in Bethesda, MD where I work everyday making unique, high quality jewelry.

AMY VOSS

Born and raised in Texas, I worked in the entertainment industry after college which catered to my passion of music & sports. After moving to the DC area, a friend of mine worked in mosaics, and I came upon an acoustic guitar she had done to which I fell in love with the whole concept. As I begin learning the art, I loved that it is very therapeutic for me, but I also loved its ability to channel my passion of music and morph it into something beautiful, creative, and usable. I began mosaics with acoustic guitars, and then branched out into frames & furniture – finding new ways to incorporate various embellishments to make each piece of art unique and one-of-a-kind. Now a stay-at-home mom of a 1 year old, I’m enjoying the fact that I can create art from home and in between nap time!

JEFF WATSON

I learned how to throw pots in the late 1970s at the Undertaking Artists Cooperative in Occoquan, VA. I became a member of the cooperative in the early 1980s and had a studio where I taught classes and made pots. I sold my work at the Cooperative gallery, at craft fairs, and through craft and museum shops on the east coast. I left working with clay to go back to school to work on an advanced degree. I started working with clay again in the mid 1990s.

I now have a studio in my home in Washington, DC. I sell my work at craft shows in Sussex County Delaware, the Rehoboth Art League, and the Stepping Stone, in Lewes Delaware.

The pots I make are functional, usually thrown on the wheel and sometimes altered, and are of stoneware or porcelain. Forming the pot is the part of the process that I most enjoy -- actually feeling the wet clay slide through my hands, the pot taking shape from the pressure and gestures of my hands. I tend to like simple glazes and fire pots in a gas-fired kiln to about 2400

degrees. Over the past several years, I’ve been firing pots in a salt kiln. Salt firing dates back to 15th-century Germany, when potters discovered that throwing quantities of common salt in the kiln when it reached high temperatures caused a chemical reaction with the clay, forming an

attractive natural glaze.