Contemporary ceramic antiquities
- Colleen’s ceramic pieces incorporate found objects and unusual textures
- Her vessels are inspired by classical Greek and Roman forms as well as Roseville pottery
- She is a passionate arts educator, with more than two decades of teaching experience
Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Colleen Zufelt made a living as an artist, creating functional pieces, and large, hand thrown vases for craft shows and galleries. In her second career, she discovered a passion for sharing the joys of art, teaching across museums, public and private schools. Colleen’s third act has brought her back to making, fusing a passion for ceramics with a growing interest in welding and jewellery. Her experimental pieces incorporate unexpected materials and processes, such as pressing a rusty bike chain into clay to explore the textures it produces. Colleen is inspired by the classical forms of ancient Greek and Roman pottery, as well as the ornate exuberance of Baroque and Rococo aesthetics. “I seek to create new antiquities with wheel thrown porcelain, metallic glazes and occasional recycled and found objects,” she says.
INTERVIEW
In college, my focus was on drawing and painting, but when I passed the clay room for the first time, my heart started pounding. While I played around with slip casting and hand building, I discovered early on that I loved throwing the most.
My grandmother owned a piece of Roseville pottery. To this day, I am inspired by the organic quality of those vases and have several in my personal collection.
I took a wood and salt-firing class in 2025 that awoke another part of my creative brain. Every firing in the noborigama kiln is different, with the flame leaving its own mark on the materials.
I am drawn to the versatility of clay and the endless possibilities that arise each time I throw. At this point in my career, it is a genuine joy to feel as though I am 20 again, rediscovering my craft with curiosity and excitement.
