Contact Rochelle Prunty at: rochelle@sover.net

My pottery training began at South Bear Pottery School in 1977 and 1978 with Dean Swartz and John Nellermoe in Decorah, Iowa.  In 1978 I was awarded an art scholarship by the University of Iowa School of Art and Art History which took me to Iowa City where I studied art between 1978 and 1982.  Over the following 20 years life took me in a different direction and I made very few pots.

In 2003 I started doing pots on a regular basis again as a student of Alan Steinberg at Brattleboro Clayworks.  I am now an associate member of Brattleboro Clayworks.

I’ve always been interested in ancient traditional pottery from around the world. I’m inspired by how iconography and form were so skillfully integrated by the ancient potters whether they are from the Americas, Europe, Asia, Africa or Australia.  Those old pots were clearly intended for a purpose that extended beyond function. They’ve endured through time with a sense of spirit.  They bring stories from the past that are at once mysterious and familiar.

My early training in pottery was thrown functional ware with slip painted and incised designs with a focus on integrating the surface design with the form.  I still strive to integrate form and function with my iconography because I like the idea that pots can be used everyday.

Animals frequently come through in the imagery of my work, both as the subject and as symbols of the subject.  My current focus has been figurative stoneware pots including loons, bears, toads, and goats. These pieces are inspired in part by ancient effigy pottery.  I alter wheel-thrown or pinched pots with modeled additions. I utilize colored slips, colored clays, and stains in addition to glazes with these gas-fired stoneware pieces.
Regardless of the technique, my goal is to create pots that have stories to tell.