About Muddy Creek Pottery & Heather Stearns 
I started Muddy Creek Pottery in 1994 while living in Southern York County, Pennsylvania, along the banks of Muddy Creek in the old Laurel train station. My love of clay had begun at Juniata College- by accident. I had to take an arts class and my friend Becky recommended ceramics.....I didn’t even know what it was! I remember exactly where I was sitting the first time I saw Jack Troy throw a pot. His throwing was so efficient, graceful, and downright functional. I had never before had such a feeling of “I have to know how to do that!” That night I created a pile of flopped bowls and a few “very solid” bowls. I also hatched a determination to be able to make good pots to spice up the everyday lives of the people I loved. I’m still very happy to be working on that!
I now live in North Wolcott, Vermont (very northern Vermont). I built my studio in 2000, and have been making functional pottery and teaching clay classes for all ages ever since. ,In 2010 I moved the studio into a fabulous big building on our property and even made the leap to running water!
I use a dark brown stoneware clay fired to cone 6 in an electric kiln. My work is decorated with strong carving and batik-style wax-resist designs. I am inspired by patterns in my everyday world.... from beaver-chewed twigs, to the veins in a fallen leaf, to the color and lines of my tabby cat’s fur.
