being a potter in an urban area has its challenges. every so often, i envy my friends who are ceramic artists in far flung, beautiful places like the mountains of North Carolina or the plains of Montana and Nebraska. i love the beauty of where they live and most of all, the abundance of space. but i grew up in rural Pennsylvania, so by age 18 i had had enough of the country life. i have lived in Philly for almost 12 years and i think i am a permanent condition in this fair city. besides, i would miss the vibrant urban environment and the amazing community of makers that Philadelphia has to offer.
when i was looking to buy a house a year and a half ago, i told my realtor that my number one need was a work space. because Philly’s housing stock in almost entirely rowhomes, i knew my studio would be in the basement. so i needed a large, open, airy, high ceilinged basement, which was a challenge, especially in older homes. my house is almost a hundred years old, but it has an ideal basement. so this has been my studio home since then.
when i started making pots under Stanley Chester & Albert about two and a half years ago, i had almost 15 years working as a ceramic artist under my belt, including a BFA and an MFA in ceramic sculpture. i started SC&A with a very simple premise: to produce well made vessels that would be accessible to a diverse audience and appeal to a population of people who normally didn’t buy handmade pots. with that in mind, i decided to stick to simple forms like bowls and cups – things that could be used in a variety of ways and be at home in any domestic environment.
i’ve always been in love with vintage imagery, pop culture and snark, and the unexpected ways they can be combined. as for putting them on pots, it all started about seven years ago when i was still in grad school. i made a vase for a friend’s birthday: on one side was a dead flower, and the other said “BITCH PLS”. no one around me really got why it was funny, but i thought it was hilarious at the time (and still do). ceramics sometimes has a tendency to be overly formal and serious, so i love to disrupt that expectation.
most everything i make starts on the potters’ wheel, thrown by yours truly. i favor simple, elemental forms. everything is thrown generously and has a solid weight and heft to it. i want these pieces to stand up to daily use in your home, not put on a shelf only to be admired.
after the pots are trimmed and dried, they are bisque fired to 1860 degrees, and then glazed and fired again to 2232 degrees. almost everything i make is dipped in a clear glaze to allow the clay body (which is a really delicious speckled while stoneware) to shine through. i try to keep glazing very simple, mostly because i really hate glazing, but also because i’m more interested in using the vessel as a blank canvas for the images i apply.
i was introduced to the waterslide decal process by my colleague and friend, Sharon Bartmann. i immediately saw the possibility of decals and ended up running with it like mad. i source my images from copyright free and vintage websites and books, in particular the Dover series of illustration books, which compiles a huge variety of images in one place. after scanning or downloading, i play with the images in Photoshop a bit, adjusting contrast, brightness, proportion and orientation. because of the way the printer works, high contrast images without a lot of shades of gray work best.
once i have the image the way i want it in Photoshop, i print it out using a special printer and special decal paper. from there, i cut out the image, put it in water, and then affix the cellophane image to the vessel. it’s fired once more to permanently bond the image to the glaze. although the images are printed with black ink, once they are fired they turn a lovely reddish brown sepia color. with that aesthetic in mind, i gravitated toward imagery from the Victorian and Edwardian eras. i love anatomy and so skulls, hearts, bones and brains frequently find their way onto my work.
looking forward to the first Craft Bazaar at Asbury Park. come find me, i will be sure to have some Fucking Coffee in my hand.
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Bethany Rusen is the creative force behind Stanley Chester & Albert. when she is not making pots, she is the Ceramics Technician at Main Line Art Center in Haverford, PA. she teaches kids, teens and adults at MLAC and Delaware Art Museum in Wilmington. she likes to go through other people’s trash, is obsessed with Richard Nixon and is dogmom to her two greyhounds, Calvin and Pearl. follow SC&A on Instagram (@stanleychesteralbert) and for more info, check out stanleychesteralbert.com
Photo credit: Bethany Rusen and Ananda Connolly
My process reflects how I try to live my life, figuring it out as I go and making decisions that look and feel right in the moment. I find amazing things happen when I let go of a plan and allow the moment to inspire me. It is this reason my designs are constantly changing and morphing into something new and current. It keeps me interested and excited about my work.
I love what I do and I hold that intention as I create, and in turn I believe my work retains those positive vibes.
I am constantly influenced, motivated and challenged by all the amazing makers and artists out there. Appreciating other people’s work and building relationships with those on a similar path really helps to keep me going. I am also continually moved by the support and feedback I receive from family, friends and fans. I truly love the opportunity to meet new, interested people when I am out at a show.
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My studio is in a giant live/work industrial loft at Western Avenue Studios & Lofts in Lowell, MA, a complex of historic mill buildings that are home to over 300 artists. Lowell was the birthplace of the American Industrial Revolution and there are dozens, maybe hundreds, of old mill buildings that have been transformed into studios, condos, schools, restaurants, and small businesses.
A lot of artists and craft hobbyists talk about their tendencies to hoard fabrics, beads, paint, pretty much any kind of supply they can get their hands on. Here at Loomination, it’s all about the yarn. I usually have about 250-300 pounds of yarn on hand, and I use it up really fast!
Every product I create is made using fabric that I have woven myself. I start with the yarn (of course!) and thread it on to my vintage handloom, a huge wooden machine that is operated by hand. It can take up to 8 hours for me to prepare the loom before the actual weaving can begin. After the fabric is woven, the next step is to wash and shrink it before sewing into the final product. The fabric shrinks A LOT, usually 15-25% for most pieces, although it depends on the fibers I’m using. Calculating shrinkage is a big part of the process.
My newest collection of tableware – tea towels, placemats, and table runners – is what I’ve mostly been working on lately. I just started making placemats a few months ago and I’m a bit obsessed with them – there are so many different color combinations that I’ve been dying to try. Most of my home textiles are inspired by vintage feed sacks and ticking fabrics, everyday designs that are timeless and classic.
I’m really excited to participate in the 
sPACYcLOUd was born in DC, from the mind of designer Tatiana Kolina (AKA Tati) with a focus towards the sui generis spirit that lives in all of us. The ethical core of sPACYcLOUd is built on self expression, love, and positivity. Its visual aesthetic breathes from the world of break dancers, hip hop artists, street artists, skaters, and motorcycle riders. Those whose wardrobe exists in a state of counter-culture, carving through life to the rhythm of their own choosing. sPACYcLOUd reflects political and social currents though clothing, artwork, and attitude.
I am so happy to introduce Desarc, and myself to the Art Star Craft Bazaar this year. I’ll be offering jewelry, accent lights, and decorative mirrors for sale. My objective as a designer-maker is to produce useful objects that are attractive, meaningful, and well-made.
I earned my BFA from the Tyler School of Art in 2010, with a concentration in jewelry and metals. The variety of ways I learned to work metal gave me the flexibility to explore object design and craft in many directions. Making functional objects like jewelry gives me a sense of purpose when making creative decisions. I love how jewelry intrinsically deals with concepts of identity. My current line, Resist, is an expression of personal introspection. The balance between the bold and the delicate elements in the collection celebrates feminine strength in an industrial aesthetic.
In addition to jewelry, I have fallen in love with making objects for living spaces. I created the Echoes line of light fixtures (and now mirrors!) years after a summer trip to England where I saw Stonehenge and many other ancient artifacts in London’s museums. Being close to the large monuments, watching the shadow play in and off the slabs of rock, and knowing our ancestors were so compelled to respond to their world, made me feel connected with humanity and craftsmanship in a new way. The Echoes collection is my homage to mankind’s commitment to shape our world like a river though rock.