Residents

Founder and Operator
Jesselyn Gordon is a ceramic artist and educator based in San Antonio, Texas. In 2024, she founded Thrown Studio, a community-driven residency program that provides affordable workspace for local working artists. After starting in a shed in her parents’ backyard, she built her current studio from the ground up, creating a space where artists can work, teach, collaborate and grow together. Rooted in the belief that creativity brings community together, she is driven to foster accessibility, and collaboration in the arts.
Her work is a dialogue between form and the human experience, each piece reflects her evolving exploration of architectural possibilities and vulnerability. Her vessels celebrate and hold the quiet beauty of existence and the profound experiences that make us who we are, ultimately aiming to connect and create opportunity in connection.

Kiln operator and studio assistant
Elda’s passion for art ignited during her college years, she discovered the captivating world of ceramics while pursuing her associates at Northwest Vista College. Despite navigating the business landscape with a Bachelor's in Business Administration, her heart always gravitated towards the tactile beauty of clay. Now, she’s diving back into ceramics, infusing floral designs with a nod to her Mexican heritage with her brand Xóchitl Ceramics.

Instructor and Monitor
Chloe Pargas was born and raised in San Antonio, Texas and often goes by the alias CHISPA when presenting their work. Although, they began their education at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York they are currently a BFA student at the University of Texas San Antonio. Chloe is a printmaker at heart; their love of intricate designs and working with their hands is their driving force. It's because of this love that Chloe truly enjoys any medium that lets them get their hands dirty. Their artwork tends to revolve around nature and how it can reflect the cyclical battles one can have with themselves and how we can try to heal from these conflicts.

Monitor
Braylee Christie is a 2-D and ceramic artist living in San Antonio, Texas. Christie takes inspiration from nature and mundane objects to bring a feeling of simple-living and familiarity to the viewer. Christie utilizes her technical skills from drawing/painting in her ceramics by illustrating and painting with underglazes on functional ceramic ware. She has received a BFA from the University of San Antonio. Christie’s future plans are to continue developing a body of work representing her unique interests that can connect with a variety of communities.

Sarah Rangel is a ceramicist residing in San Antonio, Texas. She holds a BA in Art from St. Edward’s University in Austin, Texas and works primarily on a small scale with an emphasis on bright and bold colors, which make Sarah’s work easily identifiable. Sarah creates colorful and fun abstract statement pieces, and has recently branched out of solely decorative art and into products that serve functional roles. The core idea of her work rests in the artful manipulation of clay -she is able to arrange the material in both traditional and abstract ways. The vessels she creates are defined by these aesthetic values, giving the work meaning that in turn brings about conversation.

Ari is a ceramic artist whose work blends curiosity, nostalgia, and self discovery. Using clay’s physical and transformative nature, she creates whimsical wheel thrown and hand built vessels that balance introspection with play.Her ceramics draw inspiration from vintage anime, retro manga, and old school video games, mixing earthy tones with vibrant pops of color. As a beginner, Ari embraces the learning process, viewing mistakes as opportunities to grow and trusting her intuition along the way.Through her small business “Hello Universe”, Ari sells her ceramics and shares her creative journey, building a community around the joy of making.

Shara began exploring art from a young age through drawing and oil painting while growing up in San Antonio. She was able to make art a career in 2015 when she began tattooing in Erbil, Iraq. Relocating from America from 2013 to 2020, she takes inspiration from the beautiful cultures and landscapes she came to cherish while living in Thailand, Iraq and Lebanon.
Back in her hometown, Shara opened Bottlefly Studio in March 2023, known for being a calm and welcoming space for tattoo, art and design. In addition to custom tattoos, Shara enjoys creating one-of-a-kind pieces ranging from wood paintings to etched mirrors, showcasing the whimsical, the weird, and the worldly.
She recently began her journey with clay, using her burgeoning relationship with the craft to explore in abstract, three-dimensional forms an expression of her deepest notions of life as art. Unconstrained by the perfection necessary to creating a tattoo for a client, Shara is inspired by the near-limitless possibilities of clay's movement, and desires her pieces to express raw, deconstructed and delicate beauty, and to inspire appreciation for the unique nature of the imperfect.

Lisa’s inquisitive nature and drive to create has fueled a life of exploration, experimentation, learning, and doing. She’s unable to recall a time when she wasn’t making something. Experienced in charcoal/graphite, watercolor, textiles and fibers, she is now focused on ceramics. Lisa finds inspiration in forests, gardens, seemingly ordinary moments, random people, and the night sky. She’s fascinated by sharing her meaning and interpretation through sculptural forms and beautiful yet useful pieces. A native of Missoula, Montana, Lisa moved to San Antonio in 2019.

Steph Ward is a pottery artist in San Antonio, Texas. She has been exploring clay for 3 years and enjoys creating functional pieces that are organic, raw, and have unexpected elements to them. Steph mainly focuses on small batch thrown and hand-built bowls, plates, cups, and vases, and the occasional original, conceptual piece. Her goal is to create enduring clay pieces that can tell the stories of those who use them through the generations. Currently, Steph is a resident artist with Thrown Studio. You can see her work on Instagram @mondaymorningpottery.

I started my ceramics journey with just a one-time class that turned into a passion I never expected! Now, I’m diving deep into this creative world, exploring my artistic side and healing through my work. My latest piece, “Restored: Fragments of a Forgotten Self,” is all about reconnecting with my inner child and embracing the joy of creating. Every day is an opportunity to learn something new and enjoy the beauty of working with clay. I love connecting with other artists and enthusiasts, sharing ideas, and creating a welcoming space where creativity can truly flourish. My art is a reflection of my journey, and I’m excited to be part of this inspiring community!

Interested in Residency?

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Cheyenne Amaya

Dani Becknell

Sarah Bordeaux

Cassandra Cutter

Arlett Franco

Danielle Salazar