David Roswell

David Roswell is a studio potter based in Durham, North Carolina, and owner of Studio Maypop, a small shop where he makes pots and sells his and four other craftspeople’s work. He throws functional pots on a treadle-style kick wheel using North Carolina wild clay, and fires them in his soda kiln.

David began working seriously in clay in 2015, when he started an apprenticeship with Rusty Sieck. Since then, he has completed residencies at Starworks (2019) and Baltimore Clayworks (2022), and had the opportunity to study with many insightful and generous potters. In 2023, he assisted Guillermo Cuellar’s workshop at Penland School of Craft. David shows his work at craft shows, including the Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Show, the American Craft Council Show in Baltimore, MD, and the Potters Market at the Mint in Charlotte, NC. His work is represented by the Schoolhouse Gallery at Starworks, Piedmont Craftsmen Gallery, Baltimore Clayworks, and the Mint Museum Store, among other shops and galleries. When David is not making pots, he is usually attending an organizing meeting, tending to his bees and garden, or baking bread. 

Process drives my creative journey. I love the feeling of a form rising from a ball of clay, the raging uncertainty in the atmospheric kiln, and the joy of pulling out a successful piece, still cooling, and learning its story. My work brings that sense of curiosity, excitement, and pleasure to the user—getting it right into their hands. I make pots for everyday use, so that people take pause and care for the things and people around them.

I use locally-dug wild clay, connecting me with millennia of potters making work to serve their communities and inspire their imaginations. I draw inspiration from the sun-glinted ripples in water, the patterns and disorder of clouds, and the surfaces of weatherworn, lichen covered rocks and logs in the forest.

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