About
It all started when…
Founder James Carlevatti felt a need for more accessibility to ceramics in the city of Charlotte. Our teaching philosophy is based on quality vs. quantity, both in practice and scale. We aim to educate our students in the art of hand crafted pottery, goods and art, allowing them to take their knowledge to the greater community. The Little Studio is your neighbor - full of friends, kinship and community. We are truly family.
what makes us different?
We keep things small. With classes of five students only, this enables our students and instructors to get more hands-on assistance. Though we are “little,” our studio still packs a punch with all the bells and whistles of a larger studio with six pottery wheels, a slab roller, a wedging table, eight primary studio glazes, three ceramic kilns, seven student shelving units and much more!
Instructors:
James Carlevatti, Founder and Head Instructor
With a Bachelors in Fine Arts from Columbus College of Art & Design, James concentrated in 3-D studies. Now he focuses on pottery, slip casting and ceramic sculpture.
Jordan Campbell
Jordan is the owner and potter behind Dove Pottery. Having been raised around his grandparent’s studio, in 2015 he began his artistic pursuit, and in 2017 took the helm of Dove Pottery. Jordan is drawn to working with clay for its versatility, utilizing this to create an array of different housewares. For him, the path of discovering the form is as much fun as actually making it!
FB: Dove Pottery
INSTA: @dovepottery
Tamara Conrad
Jenny Gaiko
Jenny is an architect by profession and a potter by hobby. Her education is in architecture at Western Kentucky University and Virginia Tech. Her passions include her faith, design, running, and her dog Fenway. She began at TLS in its founding year, learning ceramics from James and fellow potters. She loves ceramics that are functional, form-focused in pursuing the craft of throwing, and always creating with others in mind. For Jenny, the creation of a piece with friends is as important as the friends to whom they are designed for.
@gaikoceramics
Arias DeRienzo
Arias (aka Ari) came to clay off the precipice of a creative hunch years back and continually falls for ceramics. Primarily self taught and the owner of Two Ships Pottery, he lets instinct and experience through failure be his guides while finding motivation in the tactile, creativity of clay. Arias’ work uses clean lines that are broken and accentuated by raw texture and organic glaze flow. He hardly, if ever, takes himself too seriously and hopes to share that joy through creating and teaching.
Insta: @twoshipspottey
Danielle Carelock
Danielle is a practicing and exhibiting ceramic artist, educator, and writer and teaches accessible ceramic workshops in the Charlotte and beyond. Danielle received her Bachelors of Fine Arts degree at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Danielle creates functional ceramic art and has been showcased in Greenhill Center for NC Art, SOCO Gallery, Saltstone Ceramics, and Charlie Cummings Gallery. Danielle has been published in Ceramics Monthly, The Studio Potter, and Contemporary Black American Ceramic Artists, a book set to release in stores nationally in the fall of 2022 by Schiffer Publishing.Danielle maintains her studio practice locally in Charlotte by creating her own work and bringing her vast knowledge to The Little Studio Family.
Insta: @daniellecarelockstudio