Vanessa Steele

Please tell us about yourself and your studio – what’s your background, why did you open your own PYOP studio, and how have you ended up where you are today? 

I left the food and beverage world 14 years ago to open an ART studio and offer a business that would include my children. I am so fortunate to have a job that I love and that my kids have grown up in. So many customers have been with me from day one and comment on how fun it was to see them as little kids in the studio and now young adults. I have loved seeing their children grow, share birthday celebrations year after year and have those same kids attend summer camp throughout their school years.

In addition to Pottery Painting, what other types of classes and services do you offer? 

My studio offers Clay building, pottery wheels, clay memberships, fused glass, blown glass, stained glass classes and silversmithing classes. I also offer parties, camps and workshops for all ages.

Besides owning a PYOP studio, you’re also an artist yourself. Where do you draw your inspiration from and what are your favorite types of pieces to create? 

I’m super sentimental and love to make art that captures moments in a child or person’s life, to be remembered for years to come. I love making heirloom pieces of art that I know will be passed on from each generation. Pottery is such a great medium for this! 

What is the significance of the handprint bowls that you create? 

I started making handprint bowls 12 years ago. I met a mom that had a very sick child and he was believed to be terminal. She asked what I could create for her, to remember him. She had already made many PYOP projects with his handprints and foot prints. I asked her if she would let me trace his hand and come up with a clay project that would memorialize his sweet hand size. I came up with a bowl that was made from his hand tracings and stamped with his name and year. She loved it so much, she ordered two more for the grandmothers.  I thought other families would also love these sweet bowls and I started offering them in my studio. That same mother still brings her now 14 year old boy to my studio each year, so I can celebrate in his recovery and his now healthy life.

What are you and your customer’s favorite Mayco products to use? How do these products show off work? 

I wanted my bowls to be completely encased in glaze, not a bare bottom that mid-range glaze would need. I felt that the only way I could achieve this was by using lowfire glazes and stilling the bowls during the firing. I chose Mayco Elements™ because they have such a variety of hues with each glaze color and gives you that midfire look at a lowfire temperature.

Elements™ glazes offer a nice variety that can be matched to most people’s homes and decor. I also offer my bowls in Stroke and Coat® colors as some folks like brighter colors for their decor. I do occasionally make midfire handprint bowls for people who are either potters or understand the pottery process. I love Mayco Stoneware glazes for their ease and most of all consistency of quality.  

What is the most rewarding aspect of the work that you do? 

Over the years I’ve made 6400 bowls to date. Most are milestone bowls that represent one or two children at a certain age. I also make family bowls, generation bowls and teacher or coach bowls. The most special bowls are those made for loved ones who are terminally ill or have already passed. I’ve made bowls for sweet babies that never made it to term and those that left this earth soon after birth. Those bowls in particular will serve as a reminder, perhaps forever, that the person was wanted, loved and missed.