Meet Your Instructors
Janet
Janet (she/her) is a local Alameda artist and ceramics instructor. After 25+ years in tech, she’s turned to pottery as a way to make something real, tangible, and lasting. Her current work explores “happy accidents” — leaning into what seems like mistakes, and turning them into something beautiful.
Samantha
Samantha (she/her) has worked with clay for over 13 years and has been teaching for over 4 years in various Bay Area schools and studios. She has a fine arts degree from Cal State East Bay.
Making mainly functional pottery out of a studio in Berkeley, Samantha has a passion for ceramics and teaching others the craft. Her work explores colorful palettes as well as earth tones drawing inspiration from outdoor landscapes.
She loves watching students blossom into artists and say yes to the hidden treasures within them.
Lizette
Lizette (she/her) is a multidisciplinary artist and Bay Area native. Her dedication to community and craft has made a lasting impact on youth and adults throughout the East Bay. She is thrilled to bring her love of handbuilding to the Bay Haven studio.
Lizette’s ceramic sculptures have appeared in several San Francisco galleries, her hands-on demonstrations have drawn crowds at the county fair, and she continues to run robust programming as Co Head of Ceramics at The Crucible Industrial Arts.
Raven
Raven (they/them) is a mild-mannered statistician by day. Evenings and weekends, they are an unhinged pottery studio gremlin who loves making large forms and bringing whimsy to classic shapes.
Raven found a love of ceramics in high school and college and finally returned to the studio after 20+ years away. As an instructor, they love guiding people through the sticky, hard parts of learning and watching people make new skills their own.
Ryan
Ryan (he/him) has worked in the world of ceramics for almost two decades. He started in production pottery as his second job out of high school which led to a continued educational exploration in college. Halfway in his career he learned that his true passion is sharing his knowledge of various ceramic techniques through vocational and recreational education. Ryan’s personal work has been a direct comment on the rampant consumerism and throw away culture of U.S. society embraces and how it has changed the natural world.
In memoriam
Chip Garner, 1951 – 2026
Chip Garner (he/him) started as a potter and became an engineer, working on fusion energy, space instruments, and artificial intelligence. He built a kiln fired with direct sunlight in 1980.
Chip was a true Renaissance man who enjoyed biking in the Oakland hills, swimming in San Francisco Bay, and exploring handmade glazes and wild clay. He won multiple awards as a glider pilot. And he was known for his kindness, wit, and painstaking attention to detail.
It was always his dream to open a pottery studio and teach students. Bay Haven Ceramics is here because of his vision and his joy.
Thank you, Chip. We miss you.
