Trista Depp Chapman, Potter

Trista Depp Chapman, Potter, creates whimsical, functional, colorful, earthenware out of her studio in Fredericksburg, Virginia.  Platters, bowls, pots, beverage ware and more are thrown and altered, hand-built and extruded.

The fanciful decoration is done with painted underglaze and energized with sgraffito lines to reveal the clay body underneath. All work is dishwasher safe and food-safe.

Trista Depp Chapman

My career as a potter began in 1987, taking classes at the Hand Workshop Art Center in Richmond, Virginia. I next apprenticed with potters Robin Cage and Lee Hazelgrove at the 43rd Street Studios in Richmond.

Currently, I work out of my ceramics studio at Sophia Street Studios in Fredericksburg, Virginia. I produce a line of whimsical, functional, colorful, earthenware that I sell at my studio and at art fairs up and down the East Coast.

The work is both thrown and altered, hand-built and extruded. The fanciful decoration is done with underglaze that I paint on and energize with sgraffito lines to reveal the clay body underneath the glazes. All work is dishwasher safe and food-safe.

Currently I am working primarily with low-fire and a good degree of mold work. This includes press molding with slabs and casting. Much of my work is assembled by stacking parts and adding feet as well as playful knobs and handles.
My work has evolved from a simple approach to a more layered and complicated process involving sgraffito and painting, both free form and deliberate. I have a whimsical approach to both form and surface treatments, yet my work still remains primarily functional.