Meet the Artist
Beth Hatfield
Ceramics
Beth Hatfield’s first encounter with the pottery wheel was over 20 years ago in Asheville, North Carolina, a mecca of incredible art and craft and the city where she grew up. Guided by a seasoned teacher and inspired by both the art and the landscape around her, Beth made cups, plates, bowls, and even a teapot. In the years after, between 2004 - 2016, she dabbled in hand building with clay, linocut printing, and other art mediums. Then, in 2022, after many years of focusing solely on her career work as grants director at the Portland environmental nonprofit Ecotrust, and on being a mother, she returned to wheel-thrown pottery. In doing so, Beth rekindled a passion for clay and resurrected her roots as an artist.
Since 2022, Beth has honed her skills in throwing and surface decoration, finding a happy balance between her passion for the wheel and a knack for exploring images through carving away negative space. Beth is also a lover of waterways and shorelines of all kinds, trees, plants, and the ecology of this cloud forest we call home. These elements show up in her work and inspire her beyond her vocation as a potter. Beth works out of a small private studio within the Morning Ceramics Studio in Central Eastside and sells her work at several markets each year, including the Oregon Potter's Association Ceramic Showcase – where she sold about 90% of her stock in 2026. Beth will be teaching a two-session surface decoration workshop at Morning Ceramics Studio this summer.
Materials and techniques used include light stoneware or porcelain clay to make vases, pitchers, mugs, bowls, cake stands, and more. Much of Beth’s work features natural elements such as dahlia flowers, poppies, and ferns, along with birds like herons or hummingbirds, all hand-carved in a woodblock style with a terracotta underglaze. In each piece, she seeks to bring delight to the user with varied textures and bright glazes.
Follow Beth on Instagram.