small grey stoneware plate with dark rust edges

about the maker:

Ashley Trout’s interest in pottery began haphazardly, when she applied for a photography class that was full and was placed in pottery instead. Greatly influenced by a college professor who focused on Japanese ceramics, her work is inspired by the tenets of the mingei movement in Japan that emphasized beauty in everyday objects and how regularly used works of art can make each mundane moment of the day a reason for beauty and thought.

After a decade-long hiatus due to jobs, family and lack of studio space, her practice renewed with the opening of the Refinery, a community pottery and art studio in downtown Walla Walla that provides diverse art experiences and nurtures artists at all skill levels.