“I have made the choice to make art my living, creating my own work and teaching art. My students are my true inspiration, they nourish my creativity.”

Polly the Potter lives and works at Polly on the Avenue, her bright purple studio/showroom/home in Atlanta’s Inman Park neighborhood. Polly studied art at the Kansas City Art Institute. She says “The minute I threw my first piece of clay in high school, I knew I was a potter. I’ve always had a studio of my own, in one form or another, and I’ve always made my own way as a potter.”

Polly feels a strong connection with the more than ten thousand years of pottery history. She says, “When I sit at the wheel, I sometimes remember that the potter’s wheel is nearly five thousand years.”

Polly’s wheel-thrown creations are practical and functional, yet the whimsical, colorful painting shows Polly’s playful personality. Every piece is inscribed on the bottom with “Polly made me”.

Polly has been teaching children and adults how to make pots for over twenty years. In Atlanta she has taught over five thousand kids to throw pots. She calls children “her true inspiration”. Her secret? “I treat the kids like they’re forty, and I act like I’m six.”  Polly teaches classes at Polly on the Avenue.

You can find Polly’s work in numerous local businesses, including Stone Soup Kitchen, Ria’s Bluebird, and Candler Park’s Flying Biscuit, where her colorful creamers and sugar bowls grace every table.