Board of Directors

The 2008 Board of Directors for ClayHouston are;

1. Loes Berendschot
Loes has been involved in clay/ceramics for the last 25 years as an artist and a teacher. Her current work is low fire clay, sculptural and often multi media, it can be seen at 2 galleries in Houston. Loes has been actively involved in ClayHouston, assisting with a variety of functions.

2. Kathy Blossom
Kathy Blossom has been working in clay for about 15 years, receiving my BFA from Sam Houston State Univ. in 2002. She lives in Montgomery, TX and have a studio at home. Her current work is stoneware, wheel thrown with some hand building and fired in a reduction gas kiln. Kathy has been the school liaison and helped coordinate volunteers for several years. She has also been very active in Empty Bowls.

3. Karen Cruce
Karen has been working in clay for approximate 15 years. As owner of Potters' Place, Inc., a clay supply store and teaching facility she teaches classes along with three other instructors. Her work has been exhibited nationally and can be found in galleries in Galveston, New Braunfels and Houston. Karen Cruce organized the children's table at our first ClayHouston festival and for the last year has overseen membership.

4. Cecilia Dykes
Cecilia is a development director for a nonprofit organization advocating clean air for the Houston region. She has spent over 3 years at Glassell studying ceramics and continues to work in the medium and attend workshops. Her work focuses on figurative sculpture, left bare or at times, completed with non-glaze finishes. Cecilia is new to the ClayHouston board.

5. Betsy Evans
Betsy Evans has been working in clay for six years. Primarily self taught, she works out of a studio at Winter Street Studios. During her first year with ClayHouston, she organized the ClayHouston Festival and the Hanson Galleries exhibition.

6. Roy Hanscom
Roy is the Ceramic Professor at North Harris College and has held the position for the past 18 years. His work has been exhibited both regionally and nationally. Roy is new to the ClayHouston board.

7. Michele Marsel
Michele rediscovered her love for clay 9 years ago. She has also been involved with non-profit groups in both Board and non-Board roles for the past 15 years including National Council of Jewish Women and Houston Gem and Mineral Society. Michele has overseen the daunting task of cashiering our first two ClayHouston festivals.

8. Michelle Matthews
Michelle has worked in clay for 10 years and is in the process of evolving from hand thrown pieces to sculpture. Her background in book keeping will be a valuable asset as ClayHouston continues to grow.

9. Daryl McCracken
Daryl has been working in clay for over 15 years as a studio artist and college instructor, currently at Houston Community College and at the Glassell School of Art. Since ClayHouston's inception he has served in the roles of communications, festival co-coordinator and most recently as president.

10. Katy McKinin
Katy has been working in clay for about 18 years, 12 years seriously. Her work focuses primarily hand-built, sculptural vessels. Katy's studio is actually located about 80 miles outside Houston, near Chappell Hill, Texas where she has a wood-fired kiln. Her 'day job' at Rice University has been providing ClayHouston with much needed web design skills.

11. Lawrence C. Murz (Larry) –
Larry's first clay class was in the 1980s. Since then he has studied in the Dubai, Egypt, Maryland and Houston with teachers including Bill van Gilder. His current work concentrates on hand building using press molded pieces and then assembling them into much larger structures. Larry is new to the ClayHouston board.

12. Jim Shea
Jim Shea has been a potter for over 18 years and has taught non-credit courses at Binghamton University and the Roberson Museum and Science Center. He has been active with ClayHouston for several years in a variety of roles.