Our Instructors

Darlene Aspinwall's passion for art has taken her from award winning quilts and fiber art, to her laser focus on ceramic arts for more than eighteen years. She has studied under a wide variety of renowned ceramic artists such as Jessica Putnam Phillips, Lisa Nape, Paula McCoy, Bill van Gilder, Sunshine Cobbs and Tim See. Darlene specializes in hand-building with clay and is also very comfortable with the pottery wheel. She teaches both in Cortland and now in Dryden. Her fun personality and attention to her students makes her a class favorite. Her free time is spent on continued learning, sewing, reading and gardening.

Annette is a retired art teacher of 28 years and lives in Homer. She exercises her creativity in several mediums. Ceramic arts has been a natural fit in her retirement. She has enjoyed, and continues to teach classes at Pottery Works for the past three years.

Alaina Hall is a ceramic artist based in Syracuse, NY. She received her BFA from SUNY Oswego. In addition to her classes at Pottery Works, Alaina also teaches at Clayscapes in Syracuse. 

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In her own work Alaina is interested in thrown and altered forms, surface design, and combining architectural and floral shapes into unique patterns.

Deb began her journey in art during college. She graduated with a BA in Art Education/K-12. Her journey in ceramics began in 2016 when she reached out to the Ceramics Department Chair at SUNY Cortland, Jeremiah Donovan, legendary potter, and was approved to audit the Ceramics Class which she continued until Covid. Deb owns her own wheel and kiln, and loves making pottery.

Bio Coming Soon

John Vorstadt is a ceramic artist and illustrator from Dryden, New York. His ceramic work is focused on creating functional forms displaying process and materiality. In 2015 he graduated from Alfred University with a BA in Interdisciplinary Art and is the recipient of the Kiki Smith Fellowship. Following, John completed a post baccalaureate from the University of Florida and has been teaching and displaying work nationally for the past 8 years. John has taught classes at the University of FL, Gainesville, Flamingo Clay Studio, Lake Worth Florida and Open Arts Studio in Tacoma Washington. In his free time John likes to hike, swim, and listen to live music.