Fran Jolly
Specialty: Clay
Working with clay is my passion. My waking hours are filled with thoughts about shape and color, and how they would work on pottery. I usually work in porcelain. I love the feel, the process, and the product. It is an amazing feeling when someone enjoys and displays in their home, pottery I created.
Currently I work in my own studio where I fire porcelain to cone 6 oxidation. Occasionally I switch to stoneware, but always come back to porcelain. I make some of my own glazes and use some commercial glazes.
Fran’s Biography
Fran started working with clay in high school, and hasn’t stopped. She enjoys both sculpture and wheel throwing. Fran has been a lifelong learning in ceramics, studying in many different venues with many different professionals. She did some sculpture work at Penn State University later doing more wheel work at Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild back when it was in an old house on the North Side. She took classes at the Carnegie, worked in Nancy Smith’s studio, and took workshops at Touchstone Center for Crafts. She took many classes at Fireborn Studios with Dan Vito, who has had a major influence on her work.
Fran led the after school pottery club at the Western Pennsylvania School for the Deaf for many years. She sells her work at local shows to include Three Rivers Arts Festival and A Fair in the Park.