Susan Thayer

1957 Born New York, New York 

EDUCATION 

1982 BFA Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, Rhode Island 

APPRENTICESHIPS & RESIDENCIES 

Watershed Center for the Ceramic Arts, Newcastle, Maine 

PRIMARY WORK EXPERIENCE 

1982-present  Ceramic artist

BIOGRAPHY 

Susan Thayer is known for highly narrative one-of-a-kind teapots which she began to make in 1990, although she began her career as a production potter.  Each piece begins with a cast body to which the cast spout, handle, and lid are added. Thayer typically develops the finial on the lid to further the narrative of the piece. Often butterflies too delicate to be fired with the main piece are added post firing. The surfaces are covered with china painted (the decoration of glazed and fired pieces using oil-based glazes) images that relate stories from the past with contemporary ideas.

The nature of the china painting process and the complexity of the imagery used by Thayer often require a single piece to be fired more than 10 times. 

In 2010 Thayer began a new series of pieces including pitchers and amphoras. These pieces have intricately carved handles. Some are china painted in Thayer’s typical style others are thrown using earthenware with bodies finished with fine carving and glazing. The teapots from this time feature imagery of flora and fauna in carefully detailed environments. The curvilinear handles on these pots often extend high into the space above the body of the pot. Areas of all over design are also a part of the imagery in this series which is less obviously narrative driven. Thayer has added a base piece ranging from simple platforms to intricate plate forms to pillow forms to these pieces.