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How it began
I touched clay for the first time in a college elective I almost did not take
I was pre-med. My parents expected a doctor. I expected it of myself. But the moment I sat at the wheel and felt the clay respond to my hands, something shifted. It was the first time in my life I had been fully present, no thoughts of grades, no future planning, just the material and the motion.
I switched my major the next semester. My parents were confused. I was terrified. But I knew, with the certainty that comes from the body rather than the mind, that this was the work I was meant to do.
I went to RISD for ceramics, then spent two years apprenticing with Warren MacKenzie in Minnesota, one of the last students of Bernard Leach. Warren taught me that pottery is not art for art's sake. It is art for life's sake. Make things people use. Make them well. Make them beautiful. That philosophy has guided every piece I have made since.
Meet Elena
Elena Vasquez
Ceramicist & Studio Potter
I work from a small studio in the hills outside Portland, Oregon. The space is nothing fancy, a kick wheel, an electric kiln, shelves of drying work, bags of clay stacked against the wall, and a wood stove for winter mornings.
My work is rooted in function. I make things to be used: bowls that feel right in your hands, mugs that keep your coffee warm, plates that make a simple meal feel considered. I believe objects we use daily should be beautiful, and beauty should be accessible.
Every piece I make carries the marks of its making, subtle variations in form, the trace of my fingers in the clay, glazes that break and pool in unexpected ways. These are not flaws. They are evidence of the human hand.
Credentials & Experience
BFA Ceramics, RISD • Apprenticed with Warren MacKenzie • Work in private collections across North America • Featured in Ceramics Monthly, American Craft
The path to here
Fifteen years of learning, unlearning, and making
2008
First touch
An elective ceramics class at university changes everything. I switch from pre-med to studio art and never look back.
2009–2013
RISD
Four years of intensive study at the Rhode Island School of Design. I learn the technical foundations, clay bodies, glaze chemistry, kiln building, and find my voice in functional stoneware.
2013–2015
Apprenticeship
Two years studying under Warren MacKenzie in Stillwater, Minnesota. Warren teaches me that the highest purpose of pottery is daily use. I throw hundreds of pots a week.
2016
Portland studio
I build my own studio from scratch, converting an old barn in the West Hills. The first kiln firing is a disaster. The second is magic. I sell my first pieces at the Portland Saturday Market.
2018
Restaurant work
A local chef commissions plates for her new restaurant. Word spreads. Soon I am making dinnerware for restaurants across the Pacific Northwest.
2020
Recognition
Featured in Ceramics Monthly and American Craft magazine. Work enters private collections. I teach my first workshop at Haystack Mountain School.
Present
Today
A full-time studio practice making functional stoneware, custom commissions, and wholesale work for restaurants and retailers. Still at the same wheel. Still learning.
What I believe
The principles that shape every piece
Function first
A beautiful pot that does not work is just a sculpture. Every piece I make is designed to be used, held, eaten from, drunk from, daily.
Beauty in imperfection
The Japanese concept of wabi-sabi guides my aesthetic. The wobble in a rim, the variation in a glaze, these are not mistakes. They are life.
Material honesty
Clay should look like clay. I do not disguise my material. The finished piece should honor where it came from, the earth.
Slow work
I will not rush a piece to meet a deadline. Clay has its own timeline. The work is done when the work is done.
Zero waste
Every scrap of clay is reclaimed. Broken bisqueware becomes grog. Shards become drainage for plants. Nothing leaves the studio as trash.
Accessible craft
Handmade should not mean unaffordable. I price my work to be collected by real people, not just galleries.
Inside the studio
Where the work happens
The best pots are the ones you forget are handmade, until the moment you notice how perfectly they fit your hand, how the light catches the glaze, how they make a Tuesday morning feel like something worth savoring.
What collectors say
★★★★★
Elena's work has a quiet confidence. Each piece feels inevitable, like it could not have been made any other way. Our restaurant guests always ask about the plates.
★★★★★
I bought one mug six years ago. Now my entire kitchen is Elena's work. Each piece has a story, a weight, a presence. They have made me care about my daily rituals in a way I never expected.
★★★★★
What sets Elena apart is the integrity. You can feel the hours in every piece. In a world of disposable everything, her work is a quiet rebellion.
Bring handmade into your home
Browse the current collection or reach out to discuss a custom piece.