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My name is Mary (Maud) Smyer and I am an art potter and psychotherapist living in Oakland California. On my studio days I wake up like a kid at the start of summer, wide open and thoroughly excited. I hope you will pick up on the vibe of playfulness and pleasure when you interact with my work.  

 

I create functional and sculptural work in mid and high fire stoneware. I fell in love with clay in my first year at RISD during the winter session, but ultimately, at my parents urging, declared graphic design as my major. As it turned out, my training in design informed  all of my later work including ceramics. 

 

After graduating I worked briefly in design, but after a couple of years returned to ceramics and a multitude of other art forms including book making, printmaking, painting and illustration, first as a Core Student at Penland School and later as a Resident at Anderson Ranch Art Center. When I had my children I had no ceramics studio but I continued my art practice in the form of collage, drawing, printing, bookmaking, sewing  and, always, incessant doodling. 

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Ten years ago with an established psychotherapy career and  my kids  grown and on their own,  I was called back into my love 0f clay and have been in its thrall ever since.  It thrills me to open a bag of unformed earth and make from it objects of beauty and use. Each piece is one of a kind and essentially a form of involved doodling and experimentation. I delight in the collaborative process of working with this amazing material, and the endless possibilities of mark making.