Sandra Johnstone

Sandra was one of two guest artists at our first Clay and Wine, in 1982, along with David Middlebrook. The workshop was held in the cafeteria at the college, but the above pots were part of the exhibit that accompanied the workshop, at the Robert Mondavi Winery.

(For larger views of these pots, go to Clay and Wine, 1982.)

Sandra was a major influence on many students at Napa Valley College. She taught and gave many workshops at the college between 1983 and 1990, and these pictures were taken during one of those workshops. On the left, she is demonstrating what she did to thrown forms after they are thrown; on the right she is finishing a teapot. She once commented that a reviewer in the central valley of California wrote that her pots were "pleasantly lumpy," because she often worked her pieces from the inside when they were soft leather hard. In January, 1991, Sandra died of a stroke.

We miss her.