Stoneware for the collector & for everyday use

Private pottery Classes

We have been teaching one-time studio sessions for travelers & Santa Fe visitors, wedding parties & reunions & corporate groups, for many years.

The studio can accommodate about 10 at a time.

Weekly pottery classes

We have ongoing weekly classes on the potter’s wheel, handbuilding, & in our glaze room. Often there is a waitlist to join.

Studio use

We offer studio access for ‘graduates’ of our classes & to others who have clay experience. Plan your independent work sessions on the worktime signup calendar - working at midrange in our ‘A3’ studio adjacent to Iconik Coffee.

Our studio is small. Our emphasis is on teaching and learning, rather than production. If you already have an established clay practice & are looking for just space & equipment, one of the other studios here in town may be a better fit.

Gallery

Located at the Lena Street Lofts, about ten minutes from the Plaza in Santa Fe. Since 1998 the gallery has featured work by Theo Helmstadter - that’s me.

Stoneware is a rugged, durable, clay. The pots are fired to a high temperature (2350 Fahrenheit) in the kiln and during the long, intense, ‘reduction’ process the clay and glazes are transformed – darkened and given depth. I love how this process, especially since I start from a local clay I dig in nearby Abiquiu, New Mexico, is not quite predictable or controllable.

A lot of the ceramics that inspire me are old, and seem to form, as clay so easily does, a connection to the distant past. Many great pots were made by potters long ago who worked rapidly, simply, prolifically, meeting the needs of daily living.

I'm fascinated by this paradox of clay, its age and durability, together with its faithfulness to the fleeting, passing, present. Time is an important element in my work – my goal is to evoke the feeling of time, and the sense of passage from one time to another.

The pots are designed for use. They are food-safe, microwave, oven, & dishwasher-safe. I get a lot of inspiration from the vast empty Northern New Mexico landscape – the restrained warm color, the bigness of form, the presence of the distant past.

The potter

Born in Upstate New York, I graduated from Oberlin College having studied philosophy & French. Working as a river guide, outdoor educator, & classroom English teacher, I pursued apprenticeships to working potters. Now for the last twenty-five years I've been in the studio. I teach a lot. The studio offers classes, internships, studio space, & occasional gallery openings & studio sales.