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Stoneware for the collector & for everyday use.
Also, classes, studio space, clay. Since 1998
About the gallery
The gallery shows the work of Theo Helmstadter (that’s me), studio potter since 1998. The work is stoneware, with an emphasis on everyday use - plates and bowls, teapots, platters, vases. Shipping is available. Custom orders too ($300 & up).
Stoneware is a rugged, durable, kind of 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.
About the studio
Moving to Lena Street in Santa Fe from our quiet beginnings in Chimayo, New Mexico, the studio began offering one-time classes for travelers, then weekly classes, workshops, internships, and now we have two workspaces - one for cone six, one for cone 10.
Our classes are easygoing, conversational, methodical with, somehow, room for spontaneity too. Everyone learns a little differently & together we all hope to learn a bit about the elusive & important creative process itself.
About the potter
Born in Upstate New York, I graduated from Oberlin College having studied philosophy & French. Before that, in high school, I spent a lot of time in a metal shop, learning to forge, weld, & make tools.
After college, working as a bike messenger, river guide, outdoor educator, and classroom English teacher, I started pursuing apprenticeships to working potters. More or less self-taught, I’ve been full-time in the studio for the last twenty-eight years.
Our beloved cat Mica, faithful administrator of the gallery from 2009 - 2019, the years I also lived at the studio.
These days I live just north of Santa Fe. The gallery is Monday - Saturday from about 10am - 5pm. Sometimes the gallery is closed when it should be open, and I apologize for this.
If you’d like to text, call, or email, with just a bit of advance notice, we can be sure to coordinate for your visit.
Theo
Interested in a purchase, a visit, or a class? Please let us know!
Here is a video I made about collecting & processing the clay I use
Trimming. Here is also a video of making a strap handle for a teapot
Photography credit: J Mahay @bluesagegardens