MEET THE ARTISTS

Paseo Pottery was founded in 1991 as an artists’ co-op of sorts by three of Santa Fe’s most renowned ceramic artists: Janet Williams, Mike Walsh, and Ginny Zipperer. Below are our current teachers along with their work.

 ANGELA SMITH-KIRKMAN

Angela is the owner of Paseo Pottery, Tumbleroot Brewery & Distillery, and Tumbleroot Pottery Pub. Angela is a ceramic artist and photographer with over thirty years of experience specializing in rustic dinnerware influenced by years of travel. She recently returned from a two-year journey around the world with her family during which they hiked the Inca Trail, snuck into a communist headquarters in Bulgaria, rode camelback through the Sahara, caught the swine flu in Istanbul, were chased out of the Grand Mosque of Uqba, lived on a vineyard in Portugal, taught at a tribal school in Rajasthan, biked floating markets of Thailand, and communed with snow monkeys in Japan. Angela is excited to be back home in Santa Fe harnessing her love for pottery and libations. 

 MIKE WALSH

It was while earning a B.S. in art education that Mike got his first taste of working in clay. Graduation was soon followed by an apprenticeship which led to working as a full-time potter.

 CAROLYN LIVESEY

Carolyn has a bachelor’s degree in art and has worked as a production potter for three different artists in North Carolina, one in Virginia and one in California. While working for these potters over the years she has acquired a variety of advanced skills and has carried the best with her from each of these experiences.

Aside from production, she enjoys creating one of a kind thrown pieces by adding found objects and some handbuilding accessories to embellish the ordinary and make it extraordinary. Additionally, her years as a jeweler inspired her down the path of the destruction/reconstruction of pottery.

 JOAN HENDERSON

 IZZIE KIRKMAN

Growing up immersed in the world of clay, Izzie’s connection to Paseo Pottery runs deep. With a mother who was a volunteer at the studio's inception, Izzie spent countless hours exploring the art of pottery from a young age. This early exposure sparked a passion that blossomed over the years. In 2019, she began to delve more seriously into pottery, taking and teaching classes at Paseo Pottery. Her dedication and enthusiasm for the craft led to a significant milestone in December 2023, when Izzie was appointed as one of the studio managers. In this role, she not only oversees studio operations but also leads as the kids' class teacher, as well as teaching hand-building and wheel experiences.

 EJ SERBIAK

Emma Jo is based out of Santa Fe, NM and started her work with ceramics during college in Flagstaff, AZ. After taking a class on a whim, she quickly fell in love with clay because it made her feel like she could make anything she could possibly dream of. She had an amazing professor who inspired her and made her feel like she would have a career in ceramics, even though she was already two years into a science degree. After taking a gap semester (during which she took another ceramics class at a local community college), she decided to continue on with her degree in science and, as a compromise, take every single ceramics class she could possibly squeeze in. After graduating, Ej quickly found a clay community in Los Alamos and got involved in teaching, glaze making, and firing her own work for the first time. She is now a studio manager at Paseo Pottery and enjoys teaching and being involved in all aspects of the clay process. Ej hopes to have her own small studio one day where she can teach the thing she loves most. 

 GEORGINA GIBSON

Georgina Gibson, with a background in marine sciences, has explored various art mediums over the years, including painting, drawing, and quilting. However, her introduction to ceramics a few years ago proved to be transformative. Joining the Paseo community in 2022, she initially immersed herself in wheel-throwing classes before transitioning to a role as a studio volunteer. By 2023, she had ventured into teaching. Georgina's artistic journey is marked by her penchant for experimentation, evident in her exploration of a wide range of ceramic techniques. Currently, she finds particular delight in delving into hand-building with colored clay (Nerikomi) and wheel-throwing with wild-harvested clay.

MICHAEL “MITCH” STANTON

 CLARA MIKOVEC

Clara graduated from Iowa State University in 2022 with a BFA in German and Integrated Studio Arts. She works full time at a stable where she assists with training and caring for dressage horses. She has her own big orange horse named Poe.
At Iowa State Clara interned with her professor for three semesters, a tutelage which began with mixing dozens of glaze tests. She has continued to build on that education, and is still endlessly fascinated by the chemistry of ceramic glazes.
Clara moved to New Mexico in the fall of 2022 and quickly found Paseo Pottery to be an incredible way to connect with Santa Fe. She has learned so much more about clay as well as community since volunteering, and she loves to share that with new students. In her classes she guides her students through the fundamentals of working with clay with the intention of helping them access the confidence needed to experiment on their own.
Clara's personal practice involves making utilitarian pottery meant for rough-and-tumble everyday use. She crafts her pieces in order to be used, enjoyed, and inevitably broken - thus completing a small work of art.

 SHANNON MCQUILKIN

Shannon has dabbled in pottery her entire life, mainly learning from her Grandmother Billie who was an artist and ceramicist. She took a long pause from pottery while running two restaurant/bars in Portland Oregon and it wasn't until moving to Santa Fe and taking the time to do a "deep dive" that her love of playing with earth came back to her. She now is a full time ceramicist who teaches experiences here at Paseo and works out of her home studio.

 SUSAN MCDUFFIE

Susan McDuffie has been making pottery off and on since she was eight years old. After a year at Alfred she was a founding member of the Genesee Coop Pottery in Rochester, NY, until her move to Santa Fe in 1982.  She worked with Polly Whitcomb and other artists at the Canyon Road Pottery, and spent twenty-five years as an OT with the SFPS. After a break from clay, Susan is delighted to be back potting and loves the community she’s found at the Paseo Potttery! Influences and inspirations include thrown Japanese folk pottery as well as early Neolithic vessels.

ALCYONE GREENLING

Alcyone (Casey) Greenling, born in Northern New Mexico, has had a deep passion for the arts from a young age, particularly in sculpting with clay and drawing. He earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree with honors and a studio emphasis from the University of New Mexico. During his time in college, he also founded and managed the Yale Art Center for over two years. With more than two decades of experience working with ceramics, Casey is deeply passionate about all aspects of clay, from wheel-throwing to hand-building, and enjoys experimenting with various techniques to alter and transform forms.

In addition to ceramics, Alcyone is a visionary painter, working primarily in acrylics and oils, with a strong focus on figurative subjects. When he's not creating art, Alcyone has spent over 17 years building off-grid, driven by his passion for craftsmanship. He also explores the culinary and alchemical arts, always eager to create with his hands.