Beale Pottery

Edition Four Feature
Words by: Milissa and Eric Beale 
Location: Chesterton, Indiana, USA 
Photo Credit: ©Joseph Gonzalez @_blkbean 

I am Milissa Beale, my husband is Eric, and we are ceramic artists. Our story starts nearly 20 years ago, when we met over a potter’s wheel in a dusty basement studio in downtown Valparaiso, Indiana, USA. Our creative energies intertwined right away. In the blink of an eye, we found ourselves renovating an old brick building down the street and operating an art academy and gallery with a team of artists. 

Being involved with that group of makers was an inspiring experience that we continue to carry with us today. Our backgrounds spanned ceramics, jewellery casting, figure drawing, oil painting, sculpting, glass-blowing and more. We taught all the pottery classes and cherished every minute of it. Eric and I were married just a few short years later and left the collective to continue our family.

We moved north to my hometown, which happens to be the gateway to the Indiana Dunes National Park at the southernmost tip of Lake Michigan. It’s also home to the steel mill where Eric works his day job as a union carpenter. Many diverse ecosystems are found in the area. We’ve spent a lot of time exploring and identifying plant life, especially native wildflowers, in the industrial and natural landscapes here. This particular area and our travels to other preserved wild places have greatly influenced our artistic journey. 

Subscribe to Audience to read the rest.