LAURIE STEINBACH
Pushing the Boundaries of Clay and Hand-Built Ceramics
Laurie Steinbach is a southern Alberta, primarily self-taught potter and ceramicist.
After taking a couple of hand-building and throwing workshops about fifteen years ago while ranching and teaching school in Saskatchewan, Laurie began working on her hand-building skills on weekends.
Laurie began to practice in clay part-time nine years ago, when the Steinbachs moved back to Alberta.
Now with a home studio installed in her garage, clay is easily accessible, and there is certainly no shortage of inspiration, between the garden, prairie landscapes and critters running about.
Presently, Laurie works mostly in medium fire clay, underglazes, oxides and some cold finishes for her decorative pieces.
In the past year, Laurie has drawn her ideas in a sketchbook and painted them with watercolour to help with her planning.
In the building process, she uses coil building, pinching, and sculptural methods for her creations. It is pushing clay to its architectural limits that really interests her.
She often writes stories to give context and dimension to her sculptures.
SMILING COW STUDIO
Making small-batch pottery.
Adrienne Gradauer and Zach Quin are Smiling Cow Studio.
They met in 1993 at what was then the Alberta College of Art and Design. More than thirty years later they have traveled together, moved to a small town, and married. Driven by their passion for their craft, they built a studio where they teach, constructed a wood-fired salt kiln, and raised two daughters — all while continuing to make pots.
Their small-batch studio pottery is varied and functional. Both throw by hand on the wheel. Adrienne works primarily in stoneware, making tea ware and tableware. Zach works in porcelain and stoneware, producing tableware, tea ware, and coffee ware that he decorates using image-transfer techniques and finely detailed carving.
DAKOTA HILL
Salty Pots
Dakota Hill is a ceramic artist working under the name Salty Pots. Her practice centers on wheel-thrown pottery, with occasional sculptural work that moves between function and quiet decoration.
She is drawn to classical vessel forms, subtly altered by hand, allowing gentle distortion and surface to guide the final piece.
Dakota began pursuing art more intentionally eight years ago through photography, a foundation that continues to shape the way she observes light, texture, and atmosphere.
Seeking a more tactile way of making, she began working with clay two years ago and quickly found her medium. Her surfaces are layered and painterly, and often rely on atmospheric firing, resulting in earthy, weathered finishes that feel worn, calm, and lived-in.
After moving to the prairies four years ago, Dakota fell in love with the landscape’s grounded, expansive presence. The clay-rich earth and muted tones of the region strongly influence her work.
Alongside her studio practice, she is a stay-at-home mother to three children, approaching her craft with dedication, curiosity, and quiet commitment.
RUTH ADAMS
Dedicated educator and artist
Ruth is a multidisciplinary artist whose creative practice is rooted in her early life in the southwest of England. Growing up, she developed a lasting appreciation for the Cornish landscape, particularly the vivid colours of the rugged coastline and the lush green fields. These early impressions continue to shape her artistic voice today. For Ruth, art serves as both a personal sanctuary and a means of communication. Her work becomes a space where emotion, curiosity, and lived experience converge, allowing her to explore ideas with creativity and intention. The bold, vibrant palette that defines her ceramics and paintings reflects not only her aesthetic sensibilities but also her desire to capture the energy and joy she finds in the world around her.
A dedicated educator and artist, Ruth has spent more than two decades teaching pottery, painting, and a variety of other artistic disciplines to students of all ages. She values the way teaching challenges her to articulate her process, refine her techniques, and remain open to continual growth.
Guiding others in their creative journeys has strengthened her own practice, reinforcing her belief that art-making is both a personal and communal experience. Ruth’s formal training began at the Plymouth College of Art and Design, where she earned a diploma in Graphics and Printing. She later completed an Honours degree in Art and Design at Exeter University, further expanding her technical skills and conceptual foundation.
In 2004, she relocated to Ontario, Canada, settling on the serene North Otter Lake. The surrounding forests and abundant wildlife offered endless inspiration, and during this period she worked as a production potter, wheel-throwing pottery and teaching evening classes for beginner and intermediate students.
Her time in Ontario also included several years of participating in craft fairs and exhibitions, where she shared her work with a local audience.
In 2018, Ruth and her family moved to Medicine Hat, Alberta, where she was immediately drawn to the region’s dramatic contrasts, from expansive prairie skies to the sculptural formations of the Badlands and the Rocky Mountains. She now works full-time as an artist, dividing her efforts between teaching at The Esplanade Arts and Heritage Centre, creating and teaching in her home studio, and offering classes through organizations such as The Hat Art Club. Outside the classroom, Ruth continues to produce both functional and sculptural ceramics, as well as expressive paintings, sharing her work through online platforms, private commissions, and select craft fairs.
ANGIE MACFARLANE
Transforming everyday materials into meaningful objects
I was first introduced to clay in high school, where I had access to pottery classes in grades 10 through 12. I eagerly enrolled in every class available and spent any extra time I could in the pottery studio, completely absorbed in the process. Working with clay brought me a deep sense of joy and belonging.
After high school, life took me in other directions, and I stepped away from clay for many years. Following a health scare that reminded me of the importance of caring for myself, I decided to return to clay and found I could study with David Barnes, whose studio became a place of learning and rediscovery. There, I spent countless hours developing skills in wheel throwing, hand building, and sculpting, while deepening my understanding of glazes and firing processes.
During the COVID pandemic, I established a home studio and continued to learn and experiment, discovering just how much more there was to explore. At my core, I am a functional potter, creating pieces meant to be used and enjoyed in everyday life.
I am inspired by gardening—plants, flowers, and trees—and by the quiet magic of transforming raw materials into meaningful objects.
Recently, I have begun exploring the intersection of fibre arts and ceramics, drawing on my love of knitting, crochet, quilting, and sewing to weave textile ideas and textures into clay. I am most fulfilled when a piece pushes both my abilities and the limits of the material.
If my work can bring comfort, connection, and a moment of happiness to someone’s daily routine, that is the greatest reward.
JORDAN BOUCHARD
RUSTBOTS- Recycled metal and found object sculptures
Hi, I am Jordan!
I am chronically normal in almost every aspect except one. I was gifted with an oversized imagination that will not behave or be quiet. To soothe this imagination, I’ve created hundreds of recycled metal found object sculptures that bring me limitless joy.
I create one of a kind sculpture inspired by the materials itself. In my experience, very little in life is more satisfying to an artist than offering something personal and honest to a viewer. The pieces I create are meant to entertain me and if you love them half as much as I do, we have something in common.
These characters are born slowly in my studio from old abandoned pieces of our collective experience. My only objective is to show you what makes me smile and hope it makes you smile too.
I’ve been lucky enough to send joyful sculptures from coast to coast in Canada and internationally. I’ve named these “RUSTBOTS “ and they have changed my life for the better.
DONNA VANDERLIP
An organic fluid approach to clay.
Donna Vanderlip moved from BC to Medicine Hat a few years ago and has been enjoying all that southern Alberta has to offer.
She is a retired educator and play therapist with a long career working with children and their families. Visual arts have been an integral aspect of her work in education and of her artistic expression across various media. She lived in Asia with her family for several years, where she participated in pottery workshops in Macau, China and Bangkok, Thailand. Upon returning to Canada, she and her family moved onto a family farm where she built a studio in the woods.
Donna then had the opportunity to refine her artistic skills and deepen her relationship with clay. Donna’s work tends towards an organic fluid approach. Her work explores themes related to nature, the sculptural flow of vessels and the human figure. Although Donna’s primary medium is clay she finds opportunities for creative expression in watercolour, collage, stitching and bookmarking.
While in BC, Donna held tow solo exhibits and participated in several group exhibitions where she exhibited her sculptural figures along with her sculptural vessels and bowls.
Recently, Donna participated in workshops and Medalta Potteries, and joined the Medicine Hat Potters Association. Her piece “What Earth Allows” was recently part of a juried exhibit called Rooted at the Leighton Gallery in Calgary.
She is thrilled to join the inspiring artists at Art Room on 2nd
LISA HEAD HARBIDGE
Glass artist
Lisa Head Harbidge (nee Head) was born in Red Deer, Alberta and after several household moves has been settled in Rocky Mountain House since 1992 where she developed Spirit Rider Studio, a diverse media studio. A passion for the creative process, lead Lisa to enroll in the Alberta College of Art and Design (now U of the Arts) following high school. The programming requirements suited her perfectly, as she experimented with different materials in the various art departments. Lisa graduated with a major in sculpture where she was able to combine the freedom of creative process with the various mediums.
While attending ACAD she began working with a prominent art glass studio in Calgary. The owner was keen on the developing edge of new techniques for the very traditional art form, which which presented new challenges. Lisa apprenticed by learning the various methods such as copper foil construction, leading, fusing, etching etc.
From commissioning, designing and construction in to lighting, restoration and installation, she developed a diverse working knowledge of what was involved to produce quality works that will stand the test of time.
Lisa now balances studio time with teaching glass art, producing work for galleries, her passion for Golden Retrievers and Baskir Curly horses.
A gallery on the farm showcases her artworks and farm products while she creates works in various mediums, from glass, to ceramics, painting, chainsaw carving etc.