Dana, the Founder of Parkdale Pottery, is an accomplished ceramic artist working in both handbuilding and wheel throwing techniques. Her expertise lies in surface design, where she seamlessly incorporates her fashion and textile design background. Her work is characterized by layered florals and botanicals, creating unique and captivating ceramic pieces.

Bella is the Studio Manager of Parkdale Pottery and an artist working in multiple mediums including ceramics, painting and photography.

Jess Riva Cooper is a Toronto-based artist and educator who merges color, drawing, and clay in her sculptural and installation work. She holds an MFA in Ceramic Sculpture from RISD and has exhibited across North America and Europe. Cooper has attended prestigious residencies, including Brandeis University, Medalta,Archie Bray, and Kohler Arts/Industry. She currently teaches in Sheridan College’s Bachelor of Craft and Design Program.

Mimi is a Toronto-based ceramic artist and instructor with a Bachelor of Craft and Design from Sheridan College (2021). In addition to teaching pottery and working as a studio technician, she actively pursues her own artistic practice. Her work is deeply rooted in material exploration, using traditional hand-building techniques like coiling and pinching to create organic forms.

Mimi creates both functional wares and larger sculptural pieces, including furniture-inspired forms that blur the line between utility and art. Inspired by the textures and movement of nature—particularly sand and water—her pieces embody a tactile and meditative quality.

Mariana is a Mexican sculptor based in Toronto. Her body of work is based on the stories of where she comes from and who she is as a woman and as an immigrant. She uses references to pre-hispanic symbols and Mexican popular culture to represent these stories in figurative sculptures. Focusing on art with a social purpose, she works as a facilitator in community programs with children, women and newcomers around Tkaronto and the GTA.

Emma Bickers seamlessly melds illustrations with substantial earthenware vessels, crafting poignant visual narratives. Initially drawn to illustration, she serendipitously discovered ceramics through an introductory course. Today, a recent graduate in ceramics from Sheridan College's Craft and Design program, Emma thrives as a full-time resident artist at Harbourfront Centre.

Valentina moved from Toluca, Mexico over a decade ago, however she still maintains a deep connection to her Mexican roots. She has earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Concordia University (2006) in Montreal, specializing in painting and ceramics. Valentina went on to further develop her skills while working at Mosaika Art & Design. After working for 15 years in Montreal and more than 9 years doing ceramics in public art,  Valentina decided to move to Toronto, to work on her passion in a fresh new environment. She is currently working as a pottery instructor and studio technician, for several studios located in Toronto.

My inspiration comes from architecture, nature, all things living. The human and animal form, their behaviour and relationship are the most intriguing to me. These are the features that I try to express in my narrative pieces.

Natalie Waddell is a Canadian ceramic artist and educator based in Toronto. Her practice is driven by the love of process and the exploration of heritage and memory through clay.

A student of the Sheridan College Ceramic Craft and Design program (2003), she is known for her functional and sculptural work and active participation in local ceramic and arts communities and associations. Natalie was invited to participate as a judge in the CBC tv show The Great Canadian Pottery Throw Down.

Years after graduating from OCAD University and earning a degree in Philosophy at the University of Toronto, Darren rediscovered his passion for the visual arts in the form of pottery. Darren’s earnestness and enthusiasm is evident in the style of his instruction and his desire to help foster a community of potters. As for Darren’s playfulness, he strives to embody an old adage: “maturity consists in having reacquired the seriousness one had as a child, at play”.

Darren currently teaches 2 hour wheel throwing classes and multi-week wheel throwing classes.