Visiting Artists
November 2026-
Floyd Potter’s Market
Since 2006, 16 Hands has had the honor of presenting the work of fine craftsmen
from around the country in our biannual studio tour.
Brett McDonough
Brett has been working with clay since he was fourteen, after signing up for a “Studio Crafts” class with Mr. Whit at Watauga High School. Brett was so inspired by Mr. Whit’s humor and skill that he decided to pursue ceramics while attending Guilford College. At Guilford, Charlie Teft introduced him to many different ceramic techniques and encouraged Brett to incorporate his love of animation, illustration and sculpture with more traditional functional ceramic methods. Throughout college, he also worked at Doe Ridge Pottery in Boone, under Bob Meier as a production assistant.
Chris Pate
Chris Pate was born in central Louisiana, and graduated from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette in 2009 with a Bachelors of Science in Psychology and Anthropology, as well as an introduction to the ceramic arts. In 2010 he relocated to Portland, Oregon and continued his investigations into clay, firing techniques, and kiln design. In 2012, Pate began wood-firing his work, and has since been the main mode of finishing his ceramic art. After working with many various clay communities and firing dozens of wood fired kilns around the country he moved back to Louisiana summer of 2021. Currently, Pate is working as the Technical Director of Byrdies’ Pottery in the Marigny neighborhood of New Orleans, has designed and built a large Anagama style wood-fired kiln with a strong, budding firing community in Husser, La, and has been working to build community in New Orleans and regionally by sharing his knowledge and experience with atmospheric fired ceramics.
Lisa Zolandz
Lisa Zolandz is a full-time studio potter based in Manassas, VA. Prior to ceramics, Lisa was a forensic biologist and secondary level science teacher. She began taking wheel throwing classes when her children were quite young and naturally found her passion in glaze chemistry. For the past decade she has been working with crystalline glazes and more recently with iridescent in-glaze lusters. She exhibits at fine art festivals throughout the country and spends countless hours testing and developing glazes.