Studio Potters Ray & Susan Allen

Popcorn Studio Pottery began as a family pottery in 1979 in Murfreesboro, the geographic center of Tennessee. Since we began, we've dedicated ourselves to designing and hand crafting pots that reflect our goals of preserving the traditions of the past while making functional pottery that is beautiful, contemporary and meant to be used on a daily basis.
  • Between the two of us, we design and hand craft about 50 different items using the potter's wheel, slab construction and some slip casting. All our pots are available in six different glaze combinations ... glazes that we have developed ourselves.
  • Ray makes all the wheel thrown pieces, glazes and fires the kilns. Susan does the slab work, packs and ships pots, does the website, designs our promotional materials and takes care of the office work.
Ray Allen
RayRay making a garden hose pot.
"Quite by accident, I became involved in art."
   After having worked as a professional photographer for a number of years I decided to return to college. I needed to declare a minor. Being a Business Ed major, art was the last thing I thought I could declare. Well, I was wrong, and thank God I was wrong!

     When I was introduced to ceramics for the very first time in 1964, I knew that I had found my life's work. It was a moment I will never forget. I still have my first pot to remind me of that day.

     The years flew by. I studied at Penland School of Crafts for two summers and changed my major to Art Education. I slowly began to learn my craft (I'm still learning) and met some extraordinary artists who helped shape my thinking about clay. 

     After meeting an absolutely wonderful woman, who became my wife, Susan and I moved to Wisconsin for graduate school. After earning an M.F.A. in art and the birth of our two children, I continued making pots. I traveled all over trying to sell them. It was definitely a struggle. Teaching jobs here and there helped considerably during those early years.

     We moved to Tennessee in 1978 and the work started to take on a more mature nature and became more focused. Susan began working with me and our path was set. Popcorn Studio Pottery was established in 1979.

     As a team, Susan and I have been working at our craft full time traveling the country selling our wares, meeting wonderful people and, hopefully, making lots and lots of folks happy. To please God and make others happy are our goals.

     We strive to make the best work possible. We are concerned that our work always show the touch of the artist, the mark of the potter, so to speak. It is important that we maintain personality within our work. We hope that you feel somewhat connected to us when you use our pots.

     This is a craft that presents endless challenges. I strive daily to meet these challenges with a strong desire to make that perfect pitcher.
Susan Allen
SusanSue finishing up another chip & dip.
"Clay is the most incredible material imaginable."
 Ray & I had been married for 11 years and I had never felt any desire to work with clay. One day in 1979, when he was preparing for an art fair, he asked if I could help out by making some of the slab plates. Well, I figured that I could do that ... just this once.

I fell in love with the material first. Clay is a substance unlike any other. As I spent more and more time hand building and my technique improved, I started to design new pieces. Invariably, they were pots that I needed in my own kitchen. I love the fact that everything we make is intended to be used on a daily basis. Going to art fairs to sell our work reinforced the knowledge that others enjoyed hand made pottery in their lives as well. 

Even after all these years I have never gotten bored making production pots. At the end of a long day in the studio, I get such satisfaction looking at the ware rack full of pots that I have made with my own hands. I look at those pots that are still wet and unfired and know that each one of them will bring pleasure to the people who will eventually use them in their home.

You should know, though, that all aspects of making a living making pots are not as much fun. To go from making the clay and glazes ourselves to getting those pots to their respective homes involves a lot of business. Somehow I slipped into that niche. Luckily, our business grew slowly enough that I was able to pick up the skills necessary for organizing and keeping track of the many facets at the business end.

We started out when there wasn't any money to waste, so we built most of our own equipment, studio furnishings and art fair displays. My B.A. and M.A degrees in technical theater have served me well when it came to building and lighting our art fair display. After all, what's a display if it's not a small set for a traveling show that can be set up and taken down in a short period of time and all fit into a van along with 30 some boxes of pottery? We continue to be DIYers as there always seems to be something to rebuild or repair! 
WE are a team and definitely compliment each other. It's a joy to work together and meet the challenges and solve the problems. We can't think of another job we would rather do. We are both grateful for each other and for the path down which we have been led to make a living at a craft we enjoy that brings happiness to others.