Shawn Felts has an incredible and diverse background in the field of ceramics spanning over 20 years.

After graduating with a degree in ceramics from the University of Kentucky he went on to teach and tech at Queen City Clay, one of the largest studios in size in the United States. There he taught intro to advanced ceramics, taught workshops on specialty atmospheric firing techniques, loaded and fired gas and electric kilns, mixed glazes, made clay and more.

Shawn then took a position teaching high school ceramics in Ohio. He learned a great deal about technical ceramics, troubleshooting, and problem solving. There is a great deal of ceramic issues and defects in the high school ceramics world  :)

After moving to San Francisco Shawn began working at Clay Planet, a ceramic supply shop in San Jose. Shawn worked retail, was a full time delivery driver and equipment repair person and worked his way up to general manager, running day to day operations. Shawn was the primary kiln and equipment repair man in the bay area for those ~13 years. Shawn has repaired thousands of ceramic kilns and other equipment. Thats a lot of kilns and equipment! 

During his ~13 years at Clay Planet he assisted clients with all clay/glaze, equipment related issues and technical problems. His reputation as the friendly and knowledgable clay guy earned him the nickname “ The Clay Guru”.  

In 2016 Shawn accepted a position as studio director and manager of Clay By The Bay Pottery Studio in San Francisco. He was hired to run their expansion and new location. In his time as studio director the studio experienced its largest growth. By January of 2018 the studio was offering over 35 classes per session which equates to ~400 students per 6-week session, and had grown to over 200 members. At the time it was the largest studio in the united states in terms of students/members.

Shawn also still kept his teaching passion alive by teaching at pottery studios like Higher Fire Studio, Palo Alto Art Center, Clay By the Bay, and others for those same years. Shawn teaches workshops across the U.S. in pit firing, barrel firing, raku, alcohol reduction, soda firing, screen printing on clay, and drinking vessels as well as flame-ware clay formulation and cookware.  

Shawn is a working production potter that makes handmade production level plate-ware for fine dining establishments like AMA sushi on the American Riviera. AMA Sushi was recently recommended in the 2022 edition of the Michelin Guide.

This diverse background in many ceramic fields has kept his passion for ceramics sky high.