Red Lodge Clay Center – Short-Term Resident 2025
Whitney Simpkins makes functional pottery in Baltimore, Maryland as Personal Best Ceramics. Her love of all things clay related began as a child, learning to throw on the wheel at 13 years old, giving away finished pieces to family and friends. That love continued through high school at Douglas Anderson School of the Arts in Jacksonville, Florida. After graduating, she moved to Baltimore, Maryland to attend the Maryland Institute College of Art where she completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Painting.
Many years later, Whitney has built a small but steady presence in the functional ceramics community. She became a full time studio potter in 2020 and since then her work has caught the attention of major retailers, with pieces featured in West Elm, Urban Outfitters, and Food52, as well as carefully curated boutiques from San Francisco to Philadelphia, and reaching as far as Sendai, Japan. Her work has been featured in Architectural Digest, New York Magazine, and BmoreArt Magazine, among others.
My ceramic work is grounded in a reverence for the handmade and a curiosity about how form, surface, and process can tell stories. For over a decade, I’ve worked primarily with functional ware—vessels meant to be held, used, and lived with. In these pieces I explore tangible aspects such as glaze chemistry and application, as well as the emotional weight of objects that exist in the rhythm of daily life.
As my practice evolves, I find myself increasingly drawn to sculptural forms and painterly surfaces. With a background in painting, I approach the ceramic surface as a place for mark-making and visual layering. I use slips, underglazes, and custom glazes much like a painter would use brush and pigment—treating each form not only as a vessel, but as a canvas. This intersection allows me to engage both structure and intuition.
My work is driven by a desire to connect: with materials, with stories, and with the people who bring these objects into their lives. Through this practice, I aim to create pieces that are honest, expressive, and grounded—objects that invite pause, presence, and a deeper appreciation for the everyday.