Our Team
Emma began her ceramics journey in 2017 when she moved to San Diego. Since childhood, she has pursued various art forms, including music, acting, photography, and ceramics. Emma has always been drawn to working and creating with her hands, and when she started ceramics, she fell in love with it. She finds true presence and happiness when she's on the wheel throwing, trimming, or glazing.
Emma studied pottery for 5 years under Kouta Shimazaki, a Japanese Master Potter in San Diego. In 2021, she became an instructor at Clay + Craft, and in 2022, she was presented with the opportunity to start her own studio, The Mudd House. Teaching is one of Emma's greatest passions, and she loves being part of the learning process for others, watching them flourish in their own way.
Emma Storm Sabo
Reilly Cornwall
Reilly took her first ceramic class as a college student, after using her mom’s handmade bowls her whole life. She immediately fell in love with wheel thrown pottery and spent every free moment she had in her school’s studio.
She’s always been attracted to the unique permanence of clay after it has been fired. From mud vessel to stone, the moment of its making is forever captured. With her background in photography, this is what truly made her love the medium of ceramics. Every fingerprint, every trimming, every line, every shape is imprinted permanently in stone just like a photograph.
Reilly earned her Bachelor's degree in Fine Arts and Art History from George Washington University in 2022. After graduating, she started as an instructor for the Clay & Craft team, helped the studio transition ownership to The Mudd House and has since become The Mudd House’s Studio Manager. Reilly loves having the opportunity to share her passion for clay
Casey Richardson
Born and raised in the sunny town of Leucadia, Casey's vibrant personality is perfectly reflected in each piece she creates. When it comes to making art, Casey embraces her inner child, infusing each piece with a playful spirit and a splash of vibrant colors.
A lover of the outdoors, Casey can often be found hiking, on her surfboard, hanging out with her dog Mars, or dancing to the rhythm of life.
Casey has an adventurous approach to traditional forms, always striving to push the boundaries and add a unique touch to functional pieces. Through her artwork, Casey aims to bring joy and inspiration to everyday life.
Chandler Puritty
Chandler Puritty has never written a non academic bio before. After finishing her doctorate in biology and a few years of being an environmental professor, she found her way to Ceramics and never looked back.
Largely community taught (if you’re bad enough of the wheel, people will offer lots of advice), Chandler loves to throw big and tall inspired by plants, nature, bright colors, and patterns. Chandler continues her passion for teaching as a ceramics instructor at The Mudd House.
Annie Kaiser
In starting ceramics, Annie took a non-traditional approach of sitting at a wheel completely uninstructed for hours until she picked up on the basics, cutting each piece in half to assess the progress made. After booking lessons and gaining an apprenticeship at The Mudd House, she eventually graduated to full time staff and instructor and now balances studio work, instructing, and marketing as our team’s Media & Marketing Manager.
In her approach, Annie thinks it’s important to just have fun - her work is ever evolving between functional and aesthetic pieces, but she leaves a touch of her personal style on everything.
When Annie isn’t in the studio (rare) she can likely be found near the ocean, designing, or practicing another craft.
Caz Drennen
Caz was raised right here in Encinitas next to friends and family and has only ever fallen more in love with the community and the culture of the local creators and their pieces. Caz started working with ceramics with their mom when they were very young at a local woman’s home who held summer camps and workshops out of her garage. She had a kiln in her backyard with a trampoline, plum trees, and a pool, which is the setting of many early memories and creations for Caz, surrounded by the smell of plums, clay dust, and chlorine. Over a decade passed with barely any ceramic interaction after losing touch with this magical place, until finding The Mudd House (formerly Clay + Craft). All the old movements came right back to Caz and creation ensued again with so many shapes, colors, textures, and more to play with.
Nowadays, Caz balances high school with a job at The Mud House and a local musical career, while often rock climbing in their spare time. In ceramics, they specifically enjoy the blending of shapes and forms that can be made with a combination of wheel work and handbuilding on one piece, showing multiple mediums and truly getting a unique creation each time. The flow and centering feeling of working on the wheel is truly amazing to them and inspires many natural shapes.
Working at the Mud House has reminded Caz that creating art is very much meant to be fun and rewarding. And while it is work, it is a work they are happy to do and to contribute to with an amazing team, community, and space.
Kelsey grew up in the Bay area and Orange County before moving to San Diego about three years ago. She currently studies psychology at university and makes art on the side. She has always enjoyed drawing most but now has a multitude of artistic interests that include ceramics, tattoo design, jewelry making, and more. Her favorite art classes that she has taken include film photography and figure drawing. Right now, Kelsey is interested in intricate glazing techniques and adding hand built elements to wheel-thrown pieces. Kelseys art style is feminine and whimsical. Say “Hi” to Kelsey next time you see her at the Mudd House!