About Us

Sierra Terra Cotta is the pottery production studio of Stan Cheren, designer/craftsman, with roots in the North Carolina pottery tradition since the 1960's. After completing my undergraduate degree at Florida State University as Painting major and Art History minor, I was introduced to pottery with a summer ceramics workshop with Cynthia Bringle at the Penland School near Spruce Pine, NC.

From there it was on to a variety of teaching positions in public and private schools in Florida, graduate studies at East Tennessee State University, additional classes at Penland, a summer apprenticeship with Ron Burke, master potter in N.Y., teaching at a private art college in Detroit and then the creation of a crafts studio near Burnsville in the Western North Carolina mountains.

I work alone in my Chapel Hill studio (occasionally with my cat Rosie who does some paw decoration), handling all aspects of a production shop from throwing through sculpting, sweeping, decorating, glazing, firing, marketing and promotion. My work is all terra cotta based. I work with a combination of handbuilding, casting original-design slip and press molds and throwing with a regional terra cotta body that is fired to ^04-06 oxidation.

As you can see, my work is a marriage of form and function – influenced by Cynthia, Marguerite Wildenhain, Byron Temple, Karen Karnes and Bernard Leach. I very much enjoy creating designs that are a pleasure to use and a joy to view.

Glazing is centered mostly on a white majolica base used in combination with a variety of overglazes worked directly on top of the white majolica base. Usually I do a bisque and then glaze fire. Although in the case of many of my decorative plates and bowls, I’ll fire three and four times to get the glaze richness I’m looking for. Great results, but higher mortality. Lately, my training as a painter is taking center stage using the ceramic surfaces as my canvas.

The glazes are all food and dishwasher safe. Hand washing is recommended for the larger platters and bowls. My outdoor pieces like the bird feeders and planters have been tested through sub-freezing temperatures, snow and ice and do very well.

Thanks for stopping by and visiting with us. Bring some of your friends along next time. Send us your email address so we can let you know about our private studio sales and shows.

Stan Cheren
Designer/Craftsman

Sierra Terra Cotta
8601 Little Creek Farm Road
Chapel Hill, NC 27516
stan@SierraTerraCotta.com
919 942-7667