Mariana Vasquez-Crede embraced ceramics during the particularly lonely winter of 2021. Still in the depths of the pandemic, and working as a nurse, she missed the days of being outdoors, working in the dirt on farms or in gardens. Remembering the joy of ceramics classes she took as a child, and wishing to be in a community of artists, Mariana decided to take an introductory wheel-throwing course. She was hooked! Mariana continued to learn about making pots in community studios, including Kingston Ceramics Studio, Fall Kill Creative Works, The Lavender Door, and Berkshire Art Center.
Entering her fourth year of making ceramics, Mariana has focused predominately on making functional, wheel thrown pots. She deeply appreciates simple, comfortable, tender functional pieces and aspires to incorporate such qualities into her own work. Mariana enjoys the surfaces created by wood-firing, and also loves that wood-firing brings people together in a joyous and ancient way. She recently participated in a workshop with Sam Taylor and Mark Shapiro that centered around the construction and firing of a catenary arch wood kiln.
Having been accepted to the Clay Cohorts program, Mariana will be working with Liz Lurie and a small cohort of peers throughout 2024 to examine and improve her work. She is excited to be teaching at Berkshire Art Center and looks forward to collaborating with students to achieve satisfying functional work while not taking ourselves too seriously.