Beth Ryan started making pottery in high school. Like many artists, she took a hiatus from clay to get married and raise a family.

In 1996, Beth returned to clay with a focus on sharing her love of pottery with others through her gallery and the Annual Rustic Road Pottery Sale (the 3rd weekend in September) at her historic homestead in Hudson, WI. Teaching Clay Dates is just one more way for her to share the joy of pottery with others.

Derek Gladen completed a BFA in printmaking at Bemidji State University in 2000. His first exposure to wheel thrown ceramics would come through classes taken at the University of Minnesota in 2006
while pursuing a degree in computer animation. After completing his degree in animation and working as a character animator for a few years, he found his way to Fired Up Studio where he was allowed to further explore his love of wheel thrown ceramics. Through the coarse of a year, this hobby turned into a career. He now spends his time
working at Fired Up as a studio technician and class instructor as well as creating and selling his own pottery.

Ernest Miller earned a B.A. in Three-Dimensional Studio Art from Eastern Illinois University, Carleston, IL. A ceramicist and sculptor, he has extensive experience teaching adults and children in Minnesota and Illinois. An exhibitor and award winner in many juried shows, his work is widely collected.

Judy Anderson began making pottery in 1977. She attended the University of Minnesota where she received her B.A., with an emphasis on Studio Arts in 2006. She has been a member of Fired Up Studios since 1998. She began teaching at Fired Up Studios in August, 2008.

Ralph Nuara began making pottery while attending Rhode Island School of Design where he received a BFA in Textiles in 2003. He continued his pottery practice while working in NYC as a designer and buyer in the textiles and home furnishings industry. After three years of designing full time he decided to dedicate more time to hands-on making in the studio. Before relocating to Minneapolis in 2008 he has moved about studying and making pottery at studios in RI, NY, and IL. He is continually exploring the relationships between function, form, and surface to keep his pieces fresh and his time in the studio challenging. He draws inspiration from a wide variety of sources ranging from traditional Japanese folk pottery and textiles to Abstract Expressionist painting. He makes pieces with the intention that they be used regularly and strongly feels that a broken pot has fulfilled its role better than one which has never been used.

Sue joined Fired Up Studios nearly 10 years ago and before that worked on her pottery in Florida. For several years, she spearheaded a collaborative fundraising effort with Fired Up Studio and Canterbury Park, benefiting Children’s Surgery International, which provides free, life changing surgery to children all over the world. The artists of Fired Up threw hundreds of bowls which were sold and ‘filled’ at Canterbury Park on a summer Sunday, dedicated to CSI. Consequently, Sue is pretty proficient at making bowls! When she gets time to work on her own projects, she enjoys carving, in both stoneware and porcelain.