Debra and Larry Nelson

ChehalemMtnPottery

206 Sales 5 out of 5 stars

Hillsboro, OR

22

30 Following 22 Followers

Debra got ‘hooked’ on clay while in high school and continued her ceramic studies 
later when she attended Portland State University. She continued working in clay 
for about 10 years, eventually building a 24 cubic foot downdraft gas kiln. 
Firing it by herself for the first time was probably one of the scariest things 
she'd ever done, almost on par with sky diving.

 As life went on Debra eventually stopped working in clay until Larry 
suggested taking a ceramics class together. The saying “it’s like riding a 
bike” is really apropos. It seemed like Debra's hands just knew what to do while Larry worked to figure it out from the beginning. Now, 
we have a new home built with a ceramics studio in mind. We both enjoy 
working in the studio together, although we don’t collaborate much as our 
styles are wildly different although we do get great suggestions and ideas from each 
other.

We are looking forward to future growth in ceramics, expanding our firing 
techniques to include wood and soda firing. There always seems to be 
something new to try and endless inspiration providing fodder for new 
ideas for years to come.