Our Mission
The Oki Doki Studio provides a safe and open place for ceramic artists, of all levels, to explore atmospheric firing methods. We provide studio based workshops for students to experience firings led by established and emerging ceramic artists who ignite a passion for life-long discovery. We are committed to providing an intimate and interpersonal workshop experience where participants and instructors work together to celebrate the ceramic process and the creation and furthering of a caring community in the arts.
Who We Are
A Letter From Our Director
Susan Kotulak
Greetings from the Director:
These last few years have been a period of major change for myself as a potter, and for the OkiDoki Studio as well. It has been a long road and I want to give you a sense of my history with it, and also share some wonderful new developments of late.
On a personal level, I took my first pottery class over 40 years ago, and maintained a studio in NYC while pursuing a corporate career. During those years I did raku firings on weekends in upstate NY and sold all my work through A Show of Hands Gallery, an upper-west side Manhattan institution for fine crafts.
Upon retirement, we moved to Clermont (between Rhinebeck and the city of Hudson). I quickly built a gas kiln for myself, a twin to the Peter’s Valley soda kiln, but then promptly fell in love with wood-fired work. I did the migrant stoker thing for several years, including several long stays in Japan to fire with John Dix, as well as workshops locally, before I bit the bullet and had my own anagama built.
The next ten years of Anagama workshops led by myself, and many others, resulted in the evolution of a core team of 8 people that lived in our home for 2 weeks during firing and unloading, joined on occasion by invited stokers from Japan, Australia, Canada as well as Workshop Leaders. Hosting those enjoyable, but demanding, endeavors at our house came to a clear end due to Covid. Looking back, during the quiet of the quarantine, it became clear to me that my focus on my own work suffered with the effort of trying to be a full blown live-in facility.
Next Phase ! What’s New:
In 2019, in an effort to make a more intimate, quieter wood firing experience possible, I had a small Train kiln built that can be fired by as few as two people in a few days. Anagama firings will continue but in a new format as commuter firings for those nearby, while those from a distance will be helped to find housing and prepared food in the area. The Hudson Valley is truly a wonderland of B&B’s and farm-to-table dining, and options at all prices abound between Hudson and Rhinebeck’s many establishments!
But lastly, and perhaps most importantly, I am delighted to announce the establishment of the new Oki Doki Studio Program Manager and Workshop leader position, capably filled by Andrew Sartorius, a skilled potter and wood-fire expert who has quickly evolved to be a good friend, and a wonderful collaborator. He will now create and personally lead an expanded Program of firings in all three kilns, with occasional guest Workshop Leaders. He will select and direct a rotating cadre of Studio Assistants who will help with preparation of wood harvested from the property, kiln maintenance, and workshop assistance. I look forward to seeing what Andrew will create and hope you will join us in this new incarnation of the Oki Doki family of kilns!
See you all kiln-side!
Susan Kotulak, Director
@sumonodesign on instagram.
Andrew Sartorius
Program Manager and Instructor
Andrew grew up in the red clay rolling hills of West Virginia, and completed his undergraduate studies in English literature at The College of Wooster in Ohio. Andrew lived in Kochi, Japan for four years as a high school English instructor, and pursued an intense interest in pottery fueled by Japan’s rich ceramic traditions. He moved to up state New York in 2010 to complete an eighteen month wood firing focused apprenticeship with the internationally known ceramic artist, Jeff Shapiro. After his apprenticeship Andrew built a small wood, gas, and salt kiln for Inlet Studios on the North Fork of Long Island. In the spring of 2019 Andrew completed his MFA in ceramics from SUNY New Paltz. His research focused on integrating local materials into his work, and leading firings of the college anagama three times a semester.
Andrew met Susan shortly after graduation, and they have been aiding one another’s creative pursuits in the Hudson River Valley since then.
Andrew’s studio practice focuses on the enthusiastic exploration of local materials, and the continual exploration of atmospheric firing methods.
@asartoriusceramics on instagram.
Hunter Cady
Studio Technician and Instructor
Hunter Cady grew up in Barkhamsted, Connecticut. As the eldest son of Kathy Cady, a ceramic artist and teacher, Hunter drew upon his mother’s skill and passion and clay became an inseparable part of his life. His current work explores soda-fired surfaces which inform the vessels he makes. Hunter received his Bachelors in Fine Arts from Alfred University in 2020. While at Alfred, he was awarded the Marcianne Maple Miller Fellowship to attend a summer workshop at Haystack in 2019. During his senior year, he was honored with the Val Cushing Award. He continues to maintain a full-time studio practice in Barkhamsted, CT. Hunter currently teaches classes and workshops focusing on soda firing at multiple studios.
@huntercadyart on instagram
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Sarah Fox
SECOND YEAR STUDIO ASSISTANT
@sarahfoxpottery on instagram.
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Daisy Goldstein Cross
STUDIO ASSISTANT
@daisy_goldstein on instagram.