Five Avenues To Mentor | Amber Faktor | Episode 1207

Tracie Griffith Tso works in her studio at the Torpedo Factory Art Center in Alexandria, Virginia. Featured works include a hand-built koi pitcher with maple and bamboo painting on rice paper; a stoneware bamboo pomegranate platter with birds symbolizing longevity, resilience, and abundance, cone 6, electric-fired; and a brown stoneware giant panda teapot with bamboo blossom and sculpted detail, cone 6, electric-fired. https://ThePottersCast.com/1208

Amber Faktor is the sensitive-souled ceramicist behind Sunfish Studio.  Over a decade ago Amber traded city life for clay, coastlines, and the grounding rhythms of island life.  When Amber is not making pots, teaching workshops, or mentoring fellow tender-hearted makers, she's likely puttering on her little homestead beside the sea. https://ThePottersCast.com/1207  

Diamando Koutsellis is an Australian artist with a 30-year career in public art, exhibition practice, and community collaboration. Working nationally and internationally with diverse and marginalised communities, she creates inclusive, site-responsive artworks. Diamando now leads The Australian Ceramics Association, producing The Journal of Australian Ceramics. The organisation supports over 1,500 members by connecting, elevating, and promoting Australian ceramics, while Diamando continues her own active arts practice. https://ThePottersCast.com/1206

Albany, Western Australia artist Janelle Peterson creates whimsical, sometimes melancholy doll like sculptures of animals, robots, figurative lamps, and budgerigars. Rooted in childhood imagination, her characters wander gentle storybook worlds where little birds guide the lost, affirming self worth, protection, and the freedom to be uniquely oneself.  https://ThePottersCast.com/1205

Nicholai Busch is a potter and the founder of BuschKraft in San Diego, California. Stoneware and porcelain pieces balance function with modern design and are often finished with carving, slip, or illustration inspired by ceramic art traditions from around the world. Beyond ceramics, BuschKraft designs and produces high-quality pottery tools. https://ThePottersCast.com/1204

James Stanley Watson is a Belfast-based ceramic artist known for his playful, characterful creations and his appearance on The Great Pottery Throw Down. A former cake maker turned full-time potter, James finds joy in storytelling through clay, exploring themes of place, memory, and transformation. https://ThePottersCast.com/1203

Daniele Perillo is an Italian potter and the creative force behind Fango, a studio dedicated to contemporary ceramics located in Spain. Daniele's work blends traditional craftsmanship with modern forms, emphasizing texture, earth tones, and functional design. Through handmade collections and workshops, Daniele celebrates clay's expressive potential and slow, intentional making in every piece. https://ThePottersCast.com/1202

Dan Mack started working with clay in high school, where he was immediately captivated—maybe from a family history of artists, or from being introduced to clay at a young age by his uncle. That early spark took hold, and Dan spent his school lunches in the pottery studio, teaching himself the craft by watching old videos of Hsin-Chuen Lin, carefully deciphering throwing techniques purely through observation. Dan now works out of his studio in San Francisco, California, using stoneware and reduction firing techniques. Surfaces are often left raw or minimally glazed to highlight the natural character of the clay. This keeps the focus where it began: with an obsession for form and technique, seen in the tension in the walls, the precision of trimming, and the timelessness of his shapes. https://ThePottersCast.com/1201

The Potters Cast | Episode 1200 The Potters Cast is 1200 episode old! Today people "called in" on SpeakPipe and shared their thoughts of the podcast. And as a special treat, Shoji Satake swapped places with me and took on the role of the host and interviewed me. https://ThePottersCast.com/1200

Kaneez Zehra Hassan (Zia) is a Pakistani-American ceramic artist based in Utah. Zia hand-builds vessels that explore identity, memory, and cultural inheritance. Influenced by archaeology, Sufi philosophy, and wabi-sabi aesthetics, Zia creates forms that honor endurance and the quiet histories held within everyday objects. https://ThePottersCast.com/1199