Meet Your Instructors
Megan Adams Irving
Clay Studio Manager and Instructor
Megan has been part of the Smithy Clay Studio community since 2014. She regularly teaches here and became our administrator, overseeing the programming and day-to-day operations in 2024. She received her degree in Studio Art from Bard College where she focused on painting. Megan's work, both ceramic sculpture and painting, has been exhibited regionally and nationally. To her, clay is a painterly medium with endless creative possibilities. She loves to share skills with other makers and see how they apply them to their work.
www.meganirving.com
Ann Geiger
Clay Studio Manager and Instructor
Ann has been an artist her entire life, beginning art classes at Carnegie Mellon when she was in second grade. Ann attended St. Lawrence and graduated from Elmira College with a BA in Studio Art. She produces hand-built ceramic pieces and teaches classes and workshops in hand building. The work she does allows her to combine her love of ceramics, drawing and painting.
Karla Andela
Clay Studio Instructor
Karla Andela is a local potter and teacher, having grown up in Richfield Springs, NY. She has her Bachelors Degree from Calvin College in Art Education with an emphasis in Ceramics and a minor in Music. Karla worked in the Calvin Ceramics Department as the Studio Assistant and honed her throwing skills on the pottery wheel.
www.tinyacresstudios.com
Jasmine Crowe
Clay Studio Instructor
Jasmine has been working professionally in clay for over 20 years. She has a degree in Art, a dual focus in ceramics and glassblowing, from Hartwick College in Oneonta, NY. She met her future husband there, and after graduation, they traveled a bit before he decided he wanted to work on his family farm in central New York. Once they were back in the area, and before having children, Jasmine was taking and then teaching classes at the Smithy in After doing production pottery work for several years which she reports was exciting and humbling, and ultimately an experiment in what her little home studio could handle, she is now working on designing pieces that she wants to use in her daily life with family and friends.
Adam Jennett
Clay Studio Instructor
Originally from Upstate New York, Adam received his BFA in ceramics from The School for American Crafts at R.I.T. and his MFA in ceramics from Ohio University. His current work explores our emotional connection to objects through functional pottery.
www.adamjennett.com
Jeanne Knowles
Clay Studio Instructor
Jeanne Knowles is a local Potter and Art Educator who has been playing in clay since her college days. Early on, she taught art in several local schools eventually settling down at Milford Central School, where she taught Elementary, Middle School, and High School Art. Now retired, Jeanne happily spends her days in her home pottery studio on Crumhorn Mountain creating wheel thrown pieces of her own. She loves the studio but misses the classroom and looks forward to spending time creating with the kids!
www.jeanneknowlespottery.com
Mairi Meehan
Clay Studio Instructor
Mairi is an environmental scientist and potter from Cherry Valley, who has honed her craft across the globe, teaching and creating pottery in Italy, Canada, Africa, and throughout the USA. While she calls herself a "hobby potter," her creative practice was instrumental in completing her PhD. Mairi brings her unique blend of scientific insight and artistic passion to her classes, fostering a relaxed, enjoyable environment where students can explore the art of pottery in a fun and approachable way.
Laura Parker
Clay Studio Instructor
Laura has been working in ceramics since 2014, making both pottery and sculpture. She loves teaching folks new ways of thinking about ceramics, and helping their imaginations take form. She works on her pieces from her small home shop as well as the Smithy, but loves the communal energy of our studio!