Favorite American potter?

[rockm]

Figures , I was just in Wilmington not too long ago. If anyone has any Usmc family stationed in lejuene you coild convince them take a break from getting drunk in Wilmington and stop in(locals never liked us anyhow)
Opinion question though- with only a few finished trees and too many to count in training should
You need to have a tree worthy of a pot to purchase it? I find myself building a nice collection but really not much need for most of them for a few years out. (I just custom ordered a purple rectangle for a maple that has years of development ahead of it)

I buy pots simply because I like them. I buy on the larger side.

Look at it this way--pots don't die. They break, but only if you're a klutz. Buy a decent maker and they can appreciate in value--not a lot, but some. In any case, money spent on a pot isn't like money spent on a tree. I'm still using pots I bought 20 years ago. Can't say the same for some of the first trees I had...

 

[TomB]

I also like the older British pots. Have a few from Bryan Albright, who sadly isn't making pots anymore.

He’s still making a very small number of nanban style pots, being sold through Walsall Ceramics. I picked up one I think is pretty special a few weeks back.

 

[mRNG]

Dean’s work is high quality and he just got into this. Wood fried containers are not easy to make and drastically undervalued.

I think Dean is selling at the Winter Silhouette show. He's killing it.

 

[Owen Reich]

Dean may feature a few containers in my booth. But I brought about 150 pots so there isn’t a ton of space. @Leo in N E Illinois , I have a handful of Roy’s pots if you’d like photos. He custom makes pots at pretty reasonable rates. I get my custom monster coffee mugs tomorrow!!!

One part of the booth during set-up. There are pots there from almost everyone I mentioned.

 

[Shinjuku]

I’m surprised that no one has mentioned Shawn Bokeno yet. I found him because several posts here on Bonsai Nut mentioned his work over the past couple of years (Search for “Bokeno”). I just received this pot from him, and I’m very happy with it. He has good quality pots at reasonable prices.

His Instagram is here, and he sells his pots on Etsy.
https://www.instagram.com/bokenobonsaipots/

 

[JerryMcconnel]

My friend that got me interested in starting bonsai that I used to work with makes now pots for bonsai. He just started doing them recently and was telling me the other day about how has sent off some of his pots to be in some show in Japan.
He is an amazing artist and did the murals for the bar I work at.

 

[thumblessprimate1]

Haven't purchased any but I like looking at some John Cannon's work. I like his glazes.

 

[butlern]

I just received two pieces from Shawn Bokeno... exquisite! His inventory is on the smaller side, though. Hoping to eventually commission a larger pot. Brilliant work. Very thin, delicate, outstanding glazes. Really very pleased.

Also waiting on a pot from Randy Doughty... can't wait to see it in person. His work looks top-notch, too.

Excited for having "discovered" these two craftsmen... didn't know these guys were out there until I started searching deeper.

Noah

 

[Wilson]

Haven't purchased any but I like looking at some John Cannon's work. I like his glazes.

I found a couple photos of his pots from the auctions, really nice!

 

[thams]

I've gotten some good names from this thread to include on my website. It hasn't been updated in a while because life has gotten in the way. If any of you know local potters (or new potters to the scene), shoot me some names and contact info so I can reach out to them. My aim is to make americanbonsaiceramics.com the most comprehensive American bonsai potter website for folks to browse the great work being produced here domestically.

I'm convinced that Steve Ziebarth is one of the best potters here in the US. His forms are solid and his carving work is outstanding. I absolutely cherish the basket/crab carved rectangle I picked up a while back at auction.

Roy Minarai's glazes are sublime. His forms have gotten really tight in the past year and he's constantly experimenting with new glazes. My favorite pot of his from my collection is a crawling glazed metallic gold pot. Really technically difficult to produce. Although his glazes aren't to everyone's taste, they're undeniably fantastic. Both Steve and Roy are the nicest individuals you could ever hope to meet.

 

[butlern]

I just received two pieces from Shawn Bokeno... exquisite! His inventory is on the smaller side, though. Hoping to eventually commission a larger pot. Brilliant work. Very thin, delicate, outstanding glazes. Really very pleased.

Also waiting on a pot from Randy Doughty... can't wait to see it in person. His work looks top-notch, too.

Excited for having "discovered" these two craftsmen... didn't know these guys were out there until I started searching deeper.

Noah

Received my pot from Randy today. Outstanding!!! Thanks, Randy (if you check in here).

And Shawn Bokeno, too!

Hoping I can commission some pots in the years to come from one or both of them!

 

[coh]

Received my pot from Randy today. Outstanding!!! Thanks, Randy (if you check in here).

And Shawn Bokeno, too!

Hoping I can commission some pots in the years to come from one or both of them!

Can you post some photos for those of us unfamiliar with their work?

 

[coh]

Haven't purchased any but I like looking at some John Cannon's work. I like his glazes.

John's pots are beautiful (I have 2) but they're almost all rounds (at least based on what I see on the facebook auction sites). Which I guess is great if you need round pots but I'd like to see some other options from him.

 

[butlern]

my pictures would not do them justice.

but check their some of their current/past offerings here:

http://americanbonsaiceramics.com/2017/01/07/randy-doughty/

and here:

https://www.etsy.com/shop/BokenoBonsaiPots

and if you search Randy's name on this forum, you'll see a few threads on about specific trees that also indirectly highlight his pots (less sure about Shawn... have not done such a search). I heard about Shawn in this thread... ordered a pot... blown away by the glaze, precision, and delicacy...

I am a fan of these two, at least.

 

[coh]

my pictures would not do them justice.

but check their some of their current/past offerings here:

http://americanbonsaiceramics.com/2017/01/07/randy-doughty/

and here:

https://www.etsy.com/shop/BokenoBonsaiPots

and if you search Randy's name on this forum, you'll see a few threads on about specific trees that also indirectly highlight his pots (less sure about Shawn... have not done such a search). I heard about Shawn in this thread... ordered a pot... blown away by the glaze, precision, and delicacy...

I am a fan of these two, at least.

Thanks. Turns out I already have a Doughty pot but had forgotten that little fact.

 

[Vin]

John Cannon has produced some outstanding examples of round pots and I have some of his ovals as well.



Sonny Boggs is steady as a rock.



and no one still has the balls to use stainless like Adam Holden can.





My favorite American Potter? I can't really say for sure and I think I'll keep it that way.

 

[JudyB]

I'm convinced that Steve Ziebarth is one of the best potters here in the US. His forms are solid and his carving work is outstanding

A bit plus 1 on this, I wish to have a piece of his someday. Glad to know that Randy Doughty is still in the game, I lost track of him a couple years back. I have a new pot from Brian Soldano that has an awesome glaze and wonderful construction. I'll post a photo as soon as I can get to it.( @Soldano666 a member here.)

 

[JudyB]

@Soldano666

As promised, here is pot with Yaupon. Also a photo of the pot itself as this is not a great image of it.
And a picture of a Beau Vienne pot with dwarf apple, that I thought I'd also share, he is American as well.

 

[Carol 83]

@Soldano666

As promised, here is pot with Yaupon. Also a photo of the pot itself as this is not a great image of it.
And a picture of a Beau Vienne pot with dwarf apple, that I thought I'd also share, he is American as well.
View attachment 219964
View attachment 219963View attachment 219965

Love the Soldano pot, he has some great glazes.

 

[Soldano666]

@Soldano666

As promised, here is pot with Yaupon. Also a photo of the pot itself as this is not a great image of it.
And a picture of a Beau Vienne pot with dwarf apple, that I thought I'd also share, he is American as well.
View attachment 219964
View attachment 219963View attachment 219965

@JudyB that's going to look awesome. I love it