Joe Cole

A native of Washington State, Joe began making pottery in 1999 at Cornell College. He went on to make pots at Haystack School of Crafts in Maine and the Rochester Folk Art Guild in Rochester, NY before beginning a two-year apprenticeship with internationally renowned wood-fired potter Mark Hewitt in Pittsboro, NC. After his apprenticeship, Joe worked as a journeyman potter for Dover Pottery and King’s Pottery in the historic pottery community of Seagrove, NC. He also worked with local materials clay and glaze development at STARworks Ceramics, Materials, and Research, and taught wood-firing and kiln building at Central Carolina Community College. Joe has designed numerous successful wood kilns. Since moving to Wisconsin, Joe has shared his extensive knowledge of wood firing with many ceramics students here at Windy Ridge and at nearby art centers. He also is a talented self-employed carpenter, dad, road cyclist.