Clay Space... a creative arts center in Eugene

Friday, December 7, 5-8pm

Saturday, December 8, 10am-5pm

Sunday, December 9, 12-5pm

Help us start off our Holiday Sale with cheer!

Friday Night Social & Meet the Artists

Come on Friday Night, December 7th,

for an appetizer & beverage potluck social!

Bring your friends — mingle with your favorite instructors, fellow students and artists at Clay Space — share stories & your latest work!

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Metal Clay Settings 

For Dichroic Glass

Donna Yutzy

Wed, March 13 | 5:30pm to 8:30pm, & cont. on

Thurs, March 14 | 5:30pm to 7:00pm   

Learn how to set glass creations in Metal Clay. You will have 10 grams of clay to work with. Glass cabochons will be included. Students might create one larger pendant and bail or a set of earrings. Tools and textures will help feed your creativity!

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Friday, February 15 | 6pm to 8pm or

Saturday, February 16 | 6pm to 8pm

Take a Spin on the Wheel! 

Have you ever wanted to live out your very own romantic pottery-making scene? Your dreams can come true! Come take a wheel throwing lesson with us and your favorite person. Couples, singles and friends are invited to join us for a night of getting dirty and falling in love with clay. You will be guided through the basics of throwing on the potter's wheel.

Pre-registration is required. 

For adults aged 18 and over.

more information

Helen Kaufman is one our private studio artists. She has shown her work at a number of places — currently her work is showing in Oregon at Earthworks in Yachats. In June, Helen will be showing work at the Guardino Gallery on Alberta St. in Portland, with an opening on Thursday, May 31^st.

Helen’s love of clay dates back to the 1970’s when she spent ten years as a studio potter and the co-owner of Clay Pigeons in Riverdale, NY. After years in the studio, Helen returned to graduate school and spent the next ten years as student and Art Therapist. She feels that her experience as a clinician has deepened her appreciation of the relationship between creativity and healing. 

In 2015, Helen, with her husband George, moved from New York to Eugene. Having spent time exploring the studio options in Eugene, it was clear that Clay Space was a perfect place for her to continue her work with clay.

"Upon entering the studio, as I uncover my work, my mind’s eye sees the next step in its emergence. I reach for the tool that will define the contour… slowly carving, moving more rapidly as the process takes over and I leave my everyday self behind."

Full artist statement

The work of both Karen Perkins and Helen Kaufman is offered for sale at Earthworks in Yachats! 

Stop by when you are visiting the coast.

Karen has been working with clay for nearly 40 years. She has exhibited work sporadically throughout those years with more of a focus on exhibiting since retiring from public school teaching.

Karen taught middle school and high school art for 30 years. Many of her projects with students centered around public service and public art projects. Before and during this time, Karen taught ceramics through Maude Kerns Art Center, Lane Community College and Amazon Community Center. Karen was involved in helping Clay Space with some of our original class and studio plans. She began teaching occasional and specialty classes at Clay Space when she retired in 2011. We're glad to have her working with us!

Viz City interview with Karen for KLCC Radio on January 24, 2018.

Karen's pieces are wheel thrown forms, subsequently manipulated with hand building processes. By stretching and compressing after the piece comes off the wheel, each form emerges spontaneously, defining its own character. Frequently working with loose sketches, she often moves from original intent, following a trail that tangents the original idea. It’s a wander through the world of form, one piece evolving from the last.

Most pieces begin abstract in intent, with her interest following the grace of line or curve. The clay working process often yields a sense of story. Karen's many interests (horseback riding, kayaking, gardening and music making) are present in the forms of her work. Gathering curve imagery from following the movement of a horse’s withers or jaw line; tracing the flow of a tree branch. She loves to create lift in these pieces, working the feet to create lightness and a precarious relationship to the earth.

Pieces that reach out, suggesting gaping mouths, are at times bird-like, gestures of yearning, of request and of offering. "It pleases me to watch my images alternate between the absurd, a flowing form, and a croak, as I find strength in learning not to take myself too seriously." (Karen)

Full artist statement