EXPLORE THE 2025 tour
Use this interactive map to plan your visit to our Whatcom County studios this year. Each marker includes an address, a list of artists at each studio, and their websites or instagram handles.
Meet the artists
Stop #1
2614 Aldergrove Rd. Ferndale, WA
Jennifer A. Yates is an artist and educator living in Ferndale, Washington. She currently creates pottery, metal fine art, manages Yates Fine Arts, and is a certified Washington State Teacher that instructs locally. Yates is published in 500 Bowls , The Best of 500 Ceramics, and shows her organic soda fired pottery, and precious metal forms in galleries around the country. She received her BFA in Studio Arts and BS in Art Education from the University of Wisconsin-Stout where she was an artist in residence.
My starter of pottery experience is in1993 at PNW. After taking a class for three years, I kept working as a studio potter for a couple more years. Then I took three years of advanced pottery class in Kirkland Art Center. I have been working in my own studio since moved to Bellingham.
Sam Lebitz-Braden is a multimedia artist and Potter based in Ferndale, Washington. He is interested in the importance of handmade objects in the modern age, and is a student at Fairhaven College of Interdisciplinary Studies at Western Washington University. Sam works primarily with a kick wheel and hand building, and is inspired by various folk craft traditions around the world.
Stop #2
5849 Laurel Ridge Way Bellingham, WA
Rob Beishline teaches and makes art in Whatcom County. He is a professor at Whatcom Community College, where he strives to create a learning space where students can discover creative outlets and embrace their diverse identities. His artwork focuses on storytelling through sculpture, pottery, and drawing.
Stop #3
2521 Vallette St.Bellingham, WA
Jeremy Noet grew up in Alaska and has been making pots in Bellingham since 1997. He makes thrown functional work and loves building and firing kilns.
Erica Davidson is a ceramic artist in Bellingham, Washington. She creates handmade ceramic vessels and focuses on surface design that is inspired by the cycles of the natural world, folk tales, block printing, and botany; and enjoys the physicality of translating her inner life into functional vessels.
Local to Bellingham, I was born and raised in Whatcom county and after lots of life shenanigans I found myself back here again, raising my own family. I have long been a maker of things but I began my journey with ceramics in 2020. I am a community and self-taught ceramicist that focuses on hand thrown, functional pottery with an emphasis on surface design. I typically throw my forms on a pottery wheel and then finish them with hand painting, carving, and inlay. My work conveys imagery of nature in my own backyard through the lens of my imagination. I have been known to carve the poppies with eyeballs, paint smoking frogs and render rabbits with more expression than nature bestows them.
Stop #4
1322 Grant St. Bellingham, WA
Damian Di Nitto is an artist and educator based in Bellingham, WA. He has worked in multiple media and is now focused on ceramics. He attended the Art Institute of Pittsburgh and completed his bachelor's degree in art education and master's degree in special education at the University of Montana. He recently constructed his own studio, transforming a dilapidated shed into a tiny artistic sanctuary.
Stop #5
120 Prospect St. Suite 4, Bellingham, WA
120 Prospect St. Ste.4, Starflower Studios, Bellingham, WA 98225
Functional and sculptural ceramics made to please both the eye and the hand, to become part of your daily life.
I share Starflower Studios with Ann Marie Cooper, Dylan Atteberry, Carol Yoon, and Kaylee Lyons and will be at that stop.
Kaylee is a studio potter based in Bellingham at Starflower Studios, a private shared artists’ studio space. She was first introduced to ceramics in high school, and has been hooked ever since. She earned her BA in Studio Art from WWU in 2024. Kaylee primarily focuses on creating wheel-thrown, functional pots intended for everyday use. She decorates her pots with a technique called sgraffito, where she carves her designs on her pots to reveal a contrasting color underneath.
Carol is a devotee of porcelain, for its buttery feel while thrown and glassy smoothness when fired, but most of all for the bright whiteness that can serve as a palette for drawing and painting. She produces collaborative work frequently mostly with her eldest, Emiko May. Carol really likes to draw animals, especially cats.
Amy Simons is an artist based in Bellingham, WA. She holds a BFA in ceramics from the University of Washington and an MFA in printmaking from Arizona State University. Amy’s foundational training in ceramics and textiles have shaped her approach to constructing work through form and surface. She loves printmaking for qualities of surprise, reversal, and the medium’s ability to open up new pathways or habits of thought. Most recently she has been making giant, illuminated woodcut collages that use pattern, scale, light and shadow to investigate how we navigate our roles as both individuals and parts of collectives.
Will Abraham is a potter and woodcarver with a background in librarianship and teaching. He lives and works in Bellingham, WA, where he is an artist at Good Earth Pottery and Starflower Studios and a participant in the Cohorts.Art mentorship program. Using subtractive handbuilding techniques, Will makes softly geological abstract sculptural and functional ceramics inspired by close observation of the geology of the Pacific Northwest and by archaeological objects from around the world.
Pippin Christiansen is a Bellingham-based artist whose work encompasses ceramics, textiles, and painting, all infused with a deep appreciation for nature and mindfulness. Her creations celebrate the beauty of the natural world, inviting viewers to pause and reflect on the everyday moments that often go unnoticed. Pippin has shown work at the Lynden Library, Jansen Gallery, The Frye Art Museum, Emerge Gallery, Circa Gallery, Schack Art Center, Good Earth Pottery and Museum of Northwest Art. Pippin currently lives in Bellingham, Washington with her husband and two daughters. She works as an art Teacher at Options High School and as a practicing artist in stolen moments.
Stop #6
112 Ohio St Suite 111, Bellingham, WA
112 Ohio Street, Suite 111, Bellingham, WA 98225
Ayla Mullen has a BA in Environmental Political Theory and Ceramics from Marlboro College. She furthered her ceramic education by attending courses at the Penland School of Crafts and completing an apprenticeship with studio potter Ellen Shankin, in Floyd VA. She currently lives and works in Bellingham, WA, and teaches classes and workshops around the PNW.
I've always found peace in nature. I grew up next to a nature preserve in Colorado where I wandered the hills, making friends with foxes, identifying flowers and watching birds as they soared across the sky. I raised my three children on Lummi Island, where we spent countless hours exploring the island, from the tide pools to the woods. I am fascinated by the spontaneity of nature, from the way birds flit to clouds shifting across the sky. I try to capture this spontaneity in my artwork.
I started working with clay in 2022 and have been hooked since. There is so much possibility in clay - layering choices like techniques, glazes, and firing environments. I find inspiration in exploring the process itself and learning how those choices result in a piece feeling the way it does.
Hello! My name is Lauren Ode-Giles, and I've been getting my hands muddy since 2022. My inspiration comes from a love of the natural world and a spirit of play! I enjoy the challenge of taking a joyfully absurd idea and bringing it to life in functional forms. This pushes me to keep learning, and keeps me laughing and looking forward to the next project.
Ellora Duncan is an artist and vegetable farmer living on Coast Salish land in Bellingham, WA. Ellora grew up in Western Montana in a household of artists and moved to the Pacific Northwest in 2018. Ellora identifies as a thoroughly multidisciplinary person and sees her work– whether it is farming, ceramics, painting or writing– all as an expression of her creative force. Her goal is for her work to inspire connection with the abundant and sensual nature of our lived experience.
RJKU Ceramics
Ceramic artist working out of his full studio and showroom in Alger since 2020, and has been working with clay since 1989. He received his BA in Ceramics and Printmaking from Western Washington University in 1995.
Focusing on environmental practices in the ceramic studio.
This work is an approach to find visual balance and interest using subtle colors and elements, while also allowing the character of the wheel thrown process to show through in the final pieces.
Stop #7
4058 Hammer Dr. Suites 102 & 105, Bellingham, WA
Deb McCunn sculpts a range of emotive animals from wall masks to garden sculptures.
For the past ten years, I have immersed myself in the art of crafting handmade tiles, a journey that intersects my love of design, architecture, and ceramics. My love of clay pushes me to constantly try new techniques and hone my skills. When I am not in my studio, I am taking care of my two wonderful girls, or digging in the garden. I love drawing inspiration from my travels, both near and far. Beyond my own art, I also enjoy sharing my passion by teaching diverse hand building ceramic techniques, inviting others to embark on their own creative journey.
Jesse Rasmussen’s sculpture and functional work explore the intricate details of natural phenomena and how they correspond with the human experience. His work provides visual dialogues derived from personal experiences and observations of the natural world resulting in sculptural objects reflective of this experience. Original artworks produced by Rasmussen reveal an intimate knowledge of growth patterns and symbiotic relationships of the natural world and how everything is related. The sculptures generate abstract microcosmic representations of the world as a connected and interrelated source of knowledge, creativity, and personal insight as it relates to the human experience.
By revealing the subtleties of the natural world in texture, pattern and form; the artist’s insight into the natural world on a physical and mental level suggests the need for a greater awareness and understanding of the environment. It is the hope of the artist that this will eventually lead to a perspective of how humans are related to the natural ecosystem and how we can interact with the environment in a positive and symbiotic manner.
Rasmussen received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in ceramics/sculpture at the University of Minnesota in the United States and achieved a Master of Visual Arts degree in ceramic sculpture at the University of Sydney in 2010.
Growing up along the green belt in Bellingham, Washington, Brecken spent childhood afternoons roaming the woods—hiding in ferns, climbing trees, and swimming in creeks and glacial lakes. That landscape continues to fuel Brecken’s curiosity and gratitude. Yet, as ecosystems face ongoing threats of extinction, Brecken’s art seeks to capture their fragile beauty, offering a lens into the natural world that once gave hope as a child and continues to inspire today.
Working primarily in functional pottery adorned with black and white sgraffito, Brecken deepened their craft after high school as a studio assistant at Baker Creek Ceramics in Bellingham. The community there nurtured Brecken’s creativity, leading to teaching opportunities and, eventually, the role of studio manager. At just 21, Brecken purchased Baker Creek Ceramics from founder Deb McCunn, beginning a new chapter of stewardship and growth.
The world of clay remains boundless. Each day brings new lessons and new ways for Brecken to express a personal voice through art.
Stop #8
321 Front Street Lynden, WA
As the Ceramics Director at the Jansen Art Center in Lynden, WA, I have the privilege of teaching traditional wheel throwing and sharing my passion for ceramics. My work is guided by instinct and creativity yet firmly anchored in the principles of art and design. I remain committed to what inspires me in the moment, allowing each piece to evolve organically. The process of creating, feeling the clay take shape, refining it, and watching it transform, matters to me just as much as the final piece. It’s that balance of hands-on work and seeing the outcome that keeps me passionate about pottery.
Katrina (Kat) Fekkes is an Adjunct Professor of Art and Design at Whatcom Community College. She received her MFA with an emphasis in Ceramics and 3D Sculpture from The University of Idaho in 2021. She holds a BA with emphases in Studio Art from Eastern Washington University. She is the recipient of several outstanding awards including the Young-Fell Memorial Grant and the Marie Haasch Whitesel Award . She exhibits locally and nationally. Her art combines interests in ceramics, sculpture, metal, woodworking, and textiles while exploring themes of generational poverty, addiction, institutionalization, and the inner workings of the human psyche.
Stop #9
2985 Goshen Rd, Bellingham, WA
My pieces have been described as modern in their profile and primitive in their surfaces. Some have said they are monumental at any scale, ancient as if dug up from the sea. Most of my forms are vessels. They have an interior and an exterior, the visible form and the more hidden space inside is an anthropomorphic relationship I enjoy exploring.