Kate VandenBerg

When I was a child and my family would walk in our forested woods of Central Illinois, my mother would always encourage us to look for the faeries who surely made their homes under the Mayapples. While my sister and I did not encounter any faeries, we did develop a deep appreciation for the magical small wonders of the Forest Floor. There are few ways I love more to spend my time than a silent, slow walk in the woods. With children of my own now, we walk as quietly as their excitement allows, pointing out the bright fungi that surprises us, taking notice of the cushioned, mossy paths and the lichen creeping along the bark of our favorite trees.

When we walk slowly we see the magic that is alive beneath our feet. Fungi and lichen in all shades are working their superpowers to maintain the forest lifecycle. Moss is the forest’s gentle protector, absorbing and slowly releasing moisture and nutrients while stabilizing the soil.

Toggling between a delicious brown stoneware and silky porcelain, I pull from my experiences in the forest as my inspiration and guide. All of my work is unglazed on the exterior to provide the most natural texture and visual imagery of the nature that inspires it. My work is vitrified to prevent leaks but it should be handled carefully with clean hands, which also serves as a reminder to handle our forests carefully. I hope to honor the small wonders of the forest with my art. To pay tribute to the often overlooked marvels that keep our natural areas healthy for generations of children. I hope you, too, take time to look for the faeries.

I grew up the daughter of an accomplished pastel artist, watercolor and oil painter. I was given every possible opportunity and Dick Blick art supply to try my hand at painting. Despite the wild encouragement, I instead loved to form pots in the mud and build with play-doh. This love for working with my hands eventually turned into baking for fun during high school and college with a goal of opening a coffee shop “in retirement.”

That retirement coffee shop dream transpired much sooner than expected and I found myself quitting my stable post-college bank job to run my new coffee shop “Eli’s” full time at the age of 26. As life progressed, I was an exhausted mom of two young children with an employee who was ready to take the reins of the shop. After I sold the shop I decided to finally pursue my childhood love of playing in the mud and signed up for a pottery class at the local art guild. I was hooked and could not get enough. My feeling towards pottery was not unlike a new relationship. I thought about pottery all the time. I watched YouTube videos of pottery techniques any chance I had. I stole time away to get to studio open hours whenever I could.  

The distance to the group studio proved to be a challenge with young kids at home. My wildly supportive husband and I transformed our garage attic into a lovely pottery studio of my own. With the purchase of Morton Pottery in 2019 we were able to buy a high end kiln to fulfill all of my studio dreams.

I have been lucky to find a few potters willing to take me under their wing and answer all of my questions while encouraging my endeavor. In 2019 I had the amazing opportunity to take not one but two Steven Hill workshops.

I love getting my hands in the clay. I turn on the wheel and everything else turns off. My time on the wheel is the closest experience to meditation that I have ever experienced. I love sharing my wins AND fails with people and encouraging others to make art whenever they can.