October Pottery Classes Available To Book!
Welcome to Mountain Pottery in Beautiful Idyllwild!
54240 Pine Crest Ave. "B" Idyllwild, CA
Mountain Pottery is now located next to Art Dept and the Art Garden across from the Idyllwild Fire Station. Come check out our new space!
Shop & Studio - OPEN!
Business Hours:
Monday: 11-5
Tues/Wed: closed
Thursday: 11-5
Friday: 11-5
Saturday: 11-5
Sunday: 11-5
We have shelves full of beautiful handcrafted pottery and ceramics by 10 local Idyllwild artists.
Perfect for holiday and gift shopping.
Classes & Workshops
- Pottery wheel, clay handbuilding & scgraffito.
- Small class size...beginners welcome.
- Book online or contact us for special requests
Events
Free Pottery Demonstrations Second Sunday of the month at 1:00 Weather permitting the demonstrations will be in the Art Garden otherwise join us in the Mountain Pottery Studio.
Check our calendar and follow us on instagram and facebook for special events
Homeschool Classes
- We are Mission Vista & Pacific Coast Academy vendors
- We offer pottery and science and STEM classes
About Mountain Pottery
Helen Hixon owner
It all started with a birthday party at Mountain Pottery in 2017. Helen, a science and STEAM teacher prior to moving to Idyllwild with her husband Jeff, had so much fun creating with clay she became a Mountain Pottery member. Through self-exploration and pottery wheel and hand building ceramics classes and lessons, she improved her skills with clay and began teaching some of the classes herself. When the previous owner moved and the studio was going to close, Helen bought the business. Helen is realizing the dream of making Mountain Pottery bigger and better through expanded offerings and opportunities.
Mountain Pottery
Mountain Pottery is a ceramics studio and gallery in beautiful Idyllwild, California. We offer an array of classes, workshops and special events for artists of all skill levels in a relaxed, creative environment. The Mountain Pottery studio is also available for private events, other art classes and homeschool classes. We offer services for potters on the Hill such as pick up of ceramics supplies from Laguna Clay and Aardvarks.
Arthur Tobias - Potter in Residence
Arthur Tobias, Ed.D.
Arthur Tobias is a native of Illinois. He graduated from SIU-Carbondale with a bachelors in drawing and ceramics in 1971. Art immediately set about building a clay studio outside his hometown of Paris, constructing his own kiln and potter's wheel. For the next 15 years Art made and sold decorative and functional pottery. At the same time he began studying human and animal anatomy and added sculptural forms to his repertoire. In 1986 Art moved to Los Angeles and added glass and metals to his skill set. After retiring from a long career as an educator, Dr. T moved to Idyllwild where he became the master potter in residence for Mountain Pottery.
Art was initially influenced by traditional American crockery practices and forms, the F.L. Wright-inspired furniture, the architecture of his grandfather and the sweeping forms of interstate highway systems designed by his father. Other early influences were the English potters Bernard Leach and Michael Cardew, and the Bauhaus trained Marguerite Wildenhain.
From Wright and the others Art absorbed the mantras of "truth to materials" and "form follows function." These basic ideas have continued to inform Art's approach to the ceramic arts. An example is Art's favorite pottery form, the coffee mug. The initial inspiration was the sturdy mug found in every roadside diner and urban coffee shop in America. The form is straightforward, unadorned and pleasingly functional...a comfort to the hand. Sparked by that essential coffee mug Art has made tens of thousands of them, with variations, but always featuring the pulled handle which Art believes is the most comfortable grip a coffee drinker can experience, a true wedding of form and function.
Art continues to study and refine his forms, lately exploring surface treatments with greater intensity, taking cues from American decorative and folk pottery, classical Roman forms and medieval French and German vessels.
Potter in Residence
The lovely thing about being a ceramist is that the history of humanity is one long involvement with clay and its possibilities. The landscape is limitless.
Artist on Art:
Join Dr. Tobias at Mountain Pottery for a video and discussion of influential potters in history. See special events or the calendar for more information.
Second Sunday at 1:00, Pottery demonstrations, free & open to the public.
Mountain Pottery
Mountain Pottery Studio & Shop
We are located next door to Art Dept and the Art Garden and across the street from the Idyllwild Fire Department.
Sunset at Mountain Pottery
We experience some pretty awesome sunsets here!
Our Studio
Classroom Area
Classroom Area
Classroom Area
coming soon
Members
Classroom Area
Classroom Area
coming soon
Pottery Wheels
Classroom Area
Pottery Wheels
Wheel classes are by social or family pod. Small class size with hands-on instruction = great experience and better chance of success!
Design Center
Design Center
Pottery Wheels
coming soon
Kilns
Design Center
Kilns
Hot Mama is our Skutt KM-1227 production kiln and she sure is hot! We fire to cone 5 but she can fire to 2350 degrees Fahrenheit cone 10!
Shop
Design Center
Kilns
With locally handcrafted ceramics from about a dozen local potters we've got something for everyone. Most items are food safe, dishwasher & microwave safe.