For Thelma Matthews, art has always been a passion. Growing up in Bellefontaine, art and people have been a big part of her life, she has always called Logan County home, even though she hasn’t always lived here.
As a young lady, she attended The Ohio State University, after high school. There she fell more in love with art when she took a pottery class. That was all it took, she was hooked! A few short years later Matthews graduated with a degree in Special Education and Art.
Matthews went on to get married and raised her children (both biological and adopted). Teaching here and there, she always was integrating her love for art into her life and potting where she could. Until one day she found her children had grown, and then she knew it was time for something more…
Matthews decided to chase a dream … opening her own studio. Cracked Pot Studio in Union Station is located in Bellefontaine. What started out small, has grown exponentially. One room or two and a kiln, has expanded to more than 5 rooms with several kilns. Cracked Pot Studio is a pottery studio known around the nation as a place where artists, potters, and those inspiring to be, come, learn, share, and practice their craft.
Matthews talks more about her studio and what makes it such a vital part of the community:
Matthews often hosts famous potters from around the United States at Cracked Pot Studio. People from around the world fly into the Bellefontaine to learn from her potters, everything from style to technique, to different glazes.
Sold-out events are a regular for Matthews too, as she is host to teaching classes for people who are looking to dabble in pottery and even offers novice potters who glaze premade clay items. There is something for everyone at Cracked Pot Studio. Even if people are not a potter, but are an admirer, she has a shop where local potters sell their crafted items.
Matthews is a huge part of the community, where she is involved heavily in several programs across Logan County and loves to welcome visitors to the studio. You can see more information on Matthews’s studio HERE.
We are so blessed to live in a community where we have the most unique things.
Stay tuned for my next lifestyle story, where I’m cultivating community, one story at a time.
