The Throw Clay LA Team
John Prescott
Owner/Studio Manager
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Founder of pottery studio Throw Clay LA, John has created his vision of a relaxed and fun clay community in the heart of DTLA. Born in California and raised in Portland, OR, John has been working creatively with clay for over 12 years, and teaching for 10. His passion is teaching wheel to beginners. His creative style engenders textures on large cylinder forms.
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Danny Bruckbauer
Instructor/Studio Mentor
Danny hails from Fargo, North Dakota where a relative potter sparked his interest in throwing early in high school. He continued his education at St. John's University in Minnesota. His artistic focus encompasses both wheel and handbuilding techniques. Also singer, he finds all creative endeavors appealing. His style in his pottery forms have strong lines and abrupt changes in direction. Wood firing is his favorite firing technique.
Marlon Marinero
Instructor, Studio Mentor
Born and raised in Los Angeles, Marlon took a class in college and fell in love with the process and chemistry of ceramics. Teaching wheel and handbuilding for the past seven years, Marlon is also a studio technician and production potter. His art deals with movement and shapes. Pushing the clay with his fingers, he manipulates forms into sculptures. Currently he is developing a series focused on textured glazes.
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Arabella Vida
Studio Mentor, Instructor
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From Los Angeles, Bella has created sculptures since her childhood. After taking wheel throwing classes both locally and in Greece, and sculpture in college, she continued to develop sculpting techniques throughout special effects makeup school where she learned to design prosthetics for film. Arabella’s artistic focus blends various mediums into single pieces. With main passions of painting and sculpting, she also enjoys implementing fabrication techniques such as life casting and mold making in my work. With works heavily inspired by art historical references, Arabella believes that it is just as important to continue learning art history as it is to create art itself. Her art explores themes that continue to bring awareness to social topics such as feminism and mental health advocacy.
Ambar Arias
Instructor/Studio Mentor
Native to Koreatown in Los Angeles, Ambar found a small local studio where she learned the basics and developed her interest in wheel throwing by practicing nonstop. Five months into it, she began teaching and changed the direction of her life into one that is focused on artistic expression. She creates functional pottery that express political and social messages – commentaries on police misconduct, racism and feminism. Looking to spark conversation while creating community among like-minded people who also believe in justice, changing structures that abuse their power, and ending state-sanctioned violence, Ambar is passionate about sharing her pottery knowledge. Her style is thoughtful, thorough, and easy to understand in a diverse city where English is a second language for many.
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Daisy Clennon
Instructor/Studio Mentor
A native Angeleno, Daisy began studying ceramics on the east coast as a student at Bennington College. Firing the college’s wood kiln at the end of her first class cemented a passion for ceramics based in community and communal work. Her artistic focus is primarily functional - she is interested in tableware as a vehicle for social ritual. Prior to teaching, Daisy worked in the ceramics field as a production potter. She enjoys developing the sense of excitement and discovery found as beginners discover a new creative art form through pottery.
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Natalie Veenstra
Instructor, Studio Mentor
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Natalie was born and raised in the LA area and is a recent graduate from CSULB with a BFA in Ceramics. During her study she focused on abstract sculpture inspired by themes in nature. She is now interested in expanding her knowledge of glaze chemistry. She is currently living and making work in Long Beach, CA.
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Bailey Walters
Instructor, Studio Mentor
(she/they)
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From Camarillo, California, Bailey has been working with clay for over 9 years. She came to appreciate ceramics and its community after witnessing how lively the annual Holiday Sale at Moorpark Community College was. After spending a couple years at Moorpark learning wheelthrown and handbuilt techniques, they transferred to Cal State Long Beach, receiving their BFA in Ceramics in 2020. Bailey's artistic focus is on sculptures or handbuilt works that recreate images or scenes of the home.
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