MEGHAN SAMSON
Owner, Artist and Educator
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Meghan has been an artist for as long as she can remember. She fell in love with clay in high school art class, and has been hooked ever since. She received her BFA in Ceramics and Sculpture from the University of New Hampshire and her MFA in Sculpture from Boston University. She has been teaching clay and art to all ages since 2005 and has imagined a space like MudCity for many years; a space where clay is accessible to all ages and skill sets, where community can come together and make art without fear, judgement and with the freedom of play. To find out more about Meghan click to visit her website here.
Jackie Driscoll Carlstedt
Operations Manager
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Jacqueline wears many hats! They are a Mom, artist, intern, partner, education advocate, and hospitality professional. Jacqueline has only been messing with mud for about a year now consistently, though they have explored creativity through other mediums over the years. Printmaking, photography, and mixed media have been some of their other passions. They are thrilled to be a member and intern of Mudcity, as they get to engage with other makers and learn through practice.
Clara Hodges
Studio Manager, Instructor
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Clara has owned a ceramic business since 2022 with her friend Leigh Cronin called Off Menu Pots. She has worked with clay off and on since middle school, and has been working very consistently for the past four years. Clara primarily throws on the wheel but has an ever-growing appreciation for hand-built work. She has dreams of throwing huge multi-piece works, as well as aspirations to make tons of perfect tiny vases. She is continually thankful to be able to work in clay so much of the day. On top of their dedication to their own learning and art, Clara also teaches Wheel Throwing ClayPlay classes and some 8-week sessions.
SARAH CLAWSON
Wheel Instructor
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Sarah first found clay in high school where she quickly fell in love and proceeded to take all the available classes, and then independent studies to prolong her time in the ceramics studio. There was no doubt she was hooked on getting her hands muddy. Sarah graduated in 2014, and knowing she couldn't go without, she bought her own wheel and made a small studio space at her house. Sarah advanced her art by working at a local art studio in Portsmouth, where she fired her work and taught wheel classes to various age ranges. She also sold her mugs to various local shops in the Seacoast area. Since then her work has progressed, but the same themes remain the same- work inspired by the natural world with a concentration in mushroom foraging and pollinators. Creating functional work you can use in everyday life is a rewarding and gratifying experience, and a trade that will always be pertinent. Sarah is very excited to start her wheel teaching journey at MudCity Clay after being a member for almost 2 years!
EMILY WERNIG
Wheel Instructor
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Emily’s love for clay started in high school and intensified during her studies at the University of New Hampshire. Wernig graduated Summa Cum Laude from UNH in May 2018 with a BFA in ceramics and drawing. Emily has had her work exhibited at the Portsmouth Music and Art Center, Bedrock Gardens, UNH Museum of Art, Sotheby’s, and Buoy Gallery. Post-grad, Emily taught at The Bascom Center for the Visual Arts in Highlands, North Carolina as the Ceramic Teaching Resident. She worked in the Dave Drake Studio Barn, under the direction of Frank Vickery, teaching classes and assisting with general studio upkeep. She taught ceramics at UNH as an adjunct professor from 2020-2024. Emily resides in the NH seacoast, making and selling her pottery, as well as teaching ceramics at Mudcity Clay in addition to her own studio, Clay Culture Studios.
PAISLEY HANSON
Handbuilding and Kids Classes Instructor
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Paisley Hanson is a multifaceted artist with a lifelong passion for creative expression. Holding a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Southern Maine, she has honed her skills in ceramics, photography, and digital art. With a primary focus on ceramics, Paisley's artistic process is deeply personal and rooted in her connection with nature and spirituality. Whether she's making functional or non-functional pieces, Paisley's pots include textures and rhythms of the natural world, inviting viewers to connect with the beauty and essence of the earth. As a dedicated educator, Paisley has been teaching community ceramic classes in southern Maine since 2020 and has established a thriving studio in Kennebunk, Maine, where she serves as a full-time ceramic artist. Her studio is a community for creative expression, where she teaches, creates, and sells her work. For more information about Paisley and her artistic practice, please visit www.thecellarco.com.
Jen Pratt
MudRoom Intern, Kids Clay Instructor
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Jen has loved playing with clay since she was a child. Her curiosity to craft and create drew her to explore painting, drawing, sculpture and ceramics as a student of Fine Arts at the University of New Hampshire. She has taught children in early education and shared her passion of arts in after school elementary enrichment programming. As a member of Mud City Clay since its opening in 2019, she enjoys time as a studio intern and loves expanding her skills and knowledge within a working studio. Her clay works, hand built and often inspired by nature, are a practice in play, curiosity and presence. She teaches several kids clay classes in Mud City’s new clay classroom, The MudRoom, and hopes to continue sharing her joy of clay with a growing community of students and artists alike.
Maddie Sawyer
Kids Clay Instructor
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Maddie has been working with clay at the college level for the last few years, experimenting with many different techniques. She has taken multiple ceramics classes at UNH and completed each with genuine love for the medium. She graduated from UNH with a bachelor's degree in art education in May 2024 and is currently pursuing her masters degree in education to become a K-12 art teacher. She has worked with kids for years, most recently as a teaching assistant at a daycare on UNH campus, ages 6 weeks to 5 years. She has been a substitute art teacher for both k-12 and was a teaching assistant at the college level.
Nikki Santiago-Richardson
Clayplay Instructor, Intern
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Nikki has been working with clay since 2020 when she came to a clay play night at MudCity and hasn’t stopped since! Nikki enjoys exploring all that clay has to offer but is particularly passionate about hand-building. Nikki has started to instruct Hand-building ClayPlay, inspiring others to fall in love with clay as she has!
Piper Smith
Surface Design Instructor
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Piper Smith is a multidisciplinary artist from Kittery, Maine, with the main focus in ceramics. Piper studied ceramics at Maine College of Art and graduated with a BFA in May of 2020. Plants frequent the surface of Piper’s ceramics and mainly makes functional pottery for everyday as well as special occasions. Piper now works out of a small home studio and sells her pottery online, at local markets and a few small businesses.
KAT LEGIER
Intern
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Kat has been working with clay for more than three years. She started at UNH where she minored in fine arts and hasn’t stopped since! She enjoys creating both functional and sculptural work. When she can, she is always thrilled to participate in woodfirings with the New Hampshire Potters Guild. As an intern with MudCity, she’s excited to practice outside of an academic environment and learn from other potters in the community.
Erin Gaumond
Intern
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Erin has been with MudCity Clay since Fall 2023, where they work as an intern and are taking classes.
They attended Plymouth State University from 2018-2022, where they graduated with their BFA with a focus on multimedia works and a minor in art history. During their time at PSU, they worked with clay intermittently and worked in the Ceramic and Sculpture Studios as a work-study student.
After graduating Erin began working in IT full-time and pursued their art during their free time. Since leaving school their art has shifted to mostly Ceramics works, feeling most drawn to it as a medium.
Erin is excited to be a part of MudCity Clay, and thankful for how much they have already learned from the other members, staff, and teachers.
Jamie Landry
Intern
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Jamie recently graduated from UNH with a bachelor’s degree in studio art. Her work often combines her two loves, drawing and ceramics in both functional and decorative pieces. Her favorite things to make in the studio are unwieldy, hand-built vessels of various shapes, sizes, and textures. Jamie has been working with clay since high school where she instantly fell in love with the school’s tiny, but charming pottery classroom. She spent every minute she could pinching and coiling to her heart’s content in that studio. The UNH ceramics studio was however an upgrade, and she got to work as an intern there for a year during her education. Jamie is honored to be a part of the MudCity team and looks forward to getting to know all her fellow clay-lovers!
Celeste Cashmore
Intern
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Celeste Graduated with a BFA in Ceramics from the Maine College of Art & Design in 2023. Her work is texturally complex and influenced by nature and the body. It incorporates textures and colors similar to bacteria, fungi, coral, and skin. She achieves these surfaces using materials such as ceramic, glaze, latex, and expanding polyurethane foam. Her work straddles the between intrigue and repulsion, which is pushed further through glaze and material exploration.
Molly Raffensberger
Intern
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Although a conservation major, Molly took Meghan’s Intro to Ceramics class at UNH and fell back in love with clay. They would spend all of their free time within the UNH studio. From there they knew they wanted to learn as much as they could about clay and applied for the internship here at Mudcity Clay. They have always had a love for the arts, but wanted to keep it more as a hobby to escape from their normal schedule. They felt as though the internship was a great step back into the arts.