Instructors

Kate Hamilton has worked with ceramics on and off throughout her life, fully committing to the medium in 2020. Influenced by fantasy, mythology, and otherworldly creatures, her work merges imagined forms while remaining rooted in the human body. Her intuitive process embraces silliness and play, allowing forms to emerge organically. As an educator, her goal is for students to leave her class feeling empowered to find their own style, weave levity into their creative process, and feel a strong sense of pride in their ability to create. Follow @kate.makesthings

Harris Wright is from Pennsylvania and moved to the Gorge in 2021. Harris was introduced to clay and ceramics at a young age and has had the privilege to access to a kiln since high school. She has a multi disciniplinary BFA in drawing/painting, photography, and ceramics from Westminster College in Salt Lake City where she worked as an assistant in the ceramic studio. She has worked on and off at the Clay Commons as a studio assistant and now as an instructor. Though she is not bound to any one art making medium, she primarily uses ceramic arts to explore her personal work. Harris is a handbuilder at heart and loves to explore color, illustration, and story telling on her pieces. The sillier the piece, the more in love with it Harris will fall. Follow @workofharris

Dyana Fiediga earned her BFA from Ohio University, specializing in Art History, 3D design, and ceramics. In 2007, she discovered wheel throwing through Trudy Irwin of Right Place Pottery on Orcas Island, WA, and later apprenticed with Jeremy Noet of @bluewaterpottery in Bellingham, WA. She taught in Bellingham at Baker Creek Studio before moving to Hood River in 2018. Dyana founded Clay Commons that year, creating a welcoming classroom and studio space where she offers wheel throwing and handbuilding classes to the community and small groups. She is passionate about providing a safe, supportive environment for others to explore the creative possibilities of working with clay.

 Benn Stover is a multidisciplinary artist based in Hood River, OR. He earned a BFA in Industrial Design from the University of Kansas, with a focus on ceramics and a minor in visual arts. Benn is drawn to clay for its tactile nature and the balance it offers between intention and intuition. While ceramics are central to his practice, he also works in sculpture and abstract painting, with large-scale steel sculptures placed in outdoor public art programs.

In the studio, Benn works primarily on the wheel and enjoys exploring surface, texture, and form. As an instructor, he values strong fundamentals, curiosity, and a relaxed, supportive learning environment, and enjoys working with students at all levels. Follow  @studio_stover

Elizabeth Bowers has enjoyed the great privilege of working with young children for more than 35 years. After completing graduate work in Human Development/Early Childhood Education, she founded and operated Sunflower School, serving families in Portland and Hood River. In 2024, Elizabeth found her way to the friendly studio environment at The Clay Commons. Here, she discovered the quiet, calm delight of getting her hands in clay, and began teaching children's classes in 2025. Her aim is to offer up encouraging, playful opportunities for children’s exploration of clay, along with the chance to have practice, fun and patience with their own unique creative processes.

Coming soon...

Hannah Martinson

Cierra Cegielski