Meet Our Instructors

Instructor Bios:

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Maddy Bertrand-Gerndt (Ceramic Studio Manager) has been a part of clay studios since she was 8 years old, beginning in Duxbury, MA. with Linda Capone studios, fascinated by the wheel. She continued her clay journey with Steve Branfman at Thayer Academy, at Skidmore College with Regis Brodie and Toshiko Takaezu, where she earned a BS in Studio Art. She has lived in Spain, Seattle, WA, St. John, travelled to many tropical islands, sailed close to home and once off-shore, taught art K-8 at The Antilles School in St Thomas, ran her own business as a clay artist on Vashon, WA., developing a wholesale line as well as thrown fine art pieces. She was a member of The Vashon Potter's Tour, taught for the Vashon Allied Arts, and currently have a seasonal space in Morrisville, VT as was a past a member of the Vermont Studio Tour, long term art sub at Thatcher Brook, as well as teaching and gallery space at the Old Moscow Road Pottery. Business continued for Maddy as General Manager of Harvest Market in Stowe for over 24 years, after returning to the East coast to be closer to family. Painting on clay is her passion, altering wheel thrown pieces. She looks forward to getting back to the clay studio, creating with young minds to spark a new generation of clay artists.

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Britton Blanchard is a ceramic artist based in Brooklyn, NY. Her work centers on creating functional wares designed to bring everyday joy to those who use them. Through underglaze mark making and sgraffito, she explores the bounds of surface design, merging her background in painting and drawing with her evolving pursuit of clay. Whether she's making art, doing yoga, skateboarding, or cooking, Lizzy approaches daily life as an extension of her creative practice, and is always open to where it might lead her next.

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Lizzy Barrish grew up in Southern Vermont and now lives in Chittenden County, where he creates all his pottery. With a BA in studio art from UVM, Britton has been working with clay for over 10 years. His main focus is wheel-throwing functional wares, but he also has experience in hand-building sculptural work. Britton is the manager of UVM’s School of the Arts Ceramics Co-op in Burlington, Vermont.

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River Capell is an artist and teacher originally from Chantilly, Virginia. They recently graduated from Vermont State University with a B.A. in Art Education and multiple minors. Capell’s work consists of a multitude of media, including but not limited to film photography, ceramics, colored pencil, acrylic paint, and found object collages. Outside of the art and education world, they are a lifelong scout who loves volunteering with the youth and spending time outdoors. Capell has exhibited work in a few galleries around Rutland, VT. They also commissioned a piece for the 2023 Scouts BSA National Jamboree, creating a collaborative banner to unite scouts from across the country. They are excited to be working with The Current and connect further with the rest of the art community throughout Vermont.

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Ben Eberle is a studio potter, kiln builder, and educator living and making his work in western, MA. After finishing his BA at Skidmore College in 2003 he began a year-long apprenticeship with ToshikoTakaezu. She urged him to seek an MFA which he did, completing a 3yr MFA at San Jose State University. In 2014, he moved to the hilltowns of western MA where he has immersed in the two pottery tours and the broad ceramics community ever since. He built a community wood-fired soda kiln called the “Karma Kiln” in 2022 and enjoys hosting a few groups a year for all the excitement that soda firing brings. beneberleceramic.com​
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Nate Hemmer is parent, emergency doctor, and tinkerer.  He likes the thrill of bringing an idea to life.  And he loves to spark the imaginations of others.

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Patty Hudak is an artist living in Underhill VT, and has practiced mokuhanga  (Japanese woodblock printing) since 2016. Trained in Japan, she is now teaching mokuhanga workshops throughout Vermont. She collaborates with the international print collective, Mokuhanga Sisters, to develop projects, find support, and present exhibitions to the public. Her grants and awards include Vermont Arts Council's 2023 Artist Development Award, the International Mokuhanga Conference 2021 Awagami Paper Award, Vermont Artists to Watch in 2020, 2018-2019 Vermont Arts Council Creation Grant, 2015 Being 3 Gallery’s Geography Project Award (Beijing, China) and 2015 Artist Grant from the US Embassy in China. She has participated 2023 Haystack Open Studio Residency; Mokuhanga Innovation Laboratory in Kawaguchiko, Japan (2016, 2017, 2019), “Walking Birds’ Mountain”, Eco-residency in Sligo, Ireland (2018, 2019), and Baby Forest in Skibbereen, Ireland (2018).  pattyhudak.com

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Bethanne Knudon founded The Jacquard Center, where she taught classes, and she cofounded The Oriole Mill, where she created original, Jacquard woven fabrics. Bethanne teaches art, design, fiber processes, and Jacquard weaving. Bethanne continues to build a new life in Vermont, more than a year after evacuating from Western North Carolina.

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Robert O’Brien has been painting in the watercolor medium for over fifty years. Since moving to Vermont in 1977, he has focused his work on landscape and architectural studies. Vermont, with its distinct four season climate, provides the artist with a wealth of subject matter and ever changing light effects. The artist finds beauty in the ordinary, subtle reminders of everyday life in rural New England. In his own words, he is driven “to capture the vanishing landscape in my paintings” before they disappear forever as a result of the steady hand of “progress”. Since 1998, Robert O’Brien has traveled often to Southern France where he now has a home. The region’s sun-splashed landscape and timeless quality of light has added a new dimension to the artist’s paintings. robertjobrien.com​

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Sara Opel is a parent, daycare teacher, and crafter. Her children started taking classes and two years ago she decided to take a clay class.  She became a facilitator in our clay studio, and in the summer of 2024, she taught several of our summer camps, focusing mostly on our pre-k programs.  She loves working with children, having driven a school bus for 15 years.  She has 3 children, 3 cats, over 20 chickens, and a wonderful husband who supports all her different art projects.  Her mother taught her to sew when she was 5 and is continuing to teach her even now.  Her children enjoy giving her interesting Halloween costumes to make, like a yellow garden spider, Doc Oct from the spiderman comics, and a Dalek from Doctor Who.  Her favorite art things to do are handbuilding with clay, macrame, tie dye, and sewing.  She is excited to tackle any form of art and share her passion with children and adults.  

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Joe Smith is a native Vermonter currently residing in the small town of Hyde Park. Smith recently received his B.A. in Art Education from Northern Vermont University. Most of Smith’s work derives from his personal journey growing up in a beautiful and rural area. Along with filmmaking, he is also interested in various forms of multimedia and design. His artwork has been exhibited in the Vermont Congressional Art Show and Johnson Studio Center. Smith takes pride in assisting young filmmakers in constructing their own visions and sense of life into their work. He is currently involved in social justice work and travels around the world to assist communities and explore their social, political, and cultural dynamics. Such travels have landed him in Detroit, Michigan, Managua, Nicaragua, and Zurich, Switzerland. Smith is honored to serve his local communities and has worked in a wide-variety of school settings, all which allow him to advocate for student voice and equity. 

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Haley Weathers received her Bachelor of Art Education from the University of Kansas and her K-12 teaching license from Otterbein University in Westerville, Ohio in 2017. She taught K-5 art in Columbus, Ohio for six years while serving as the exhibitions chair for the Central Ohio Art Education Association in which she facilitated and hosted the annual K-8 student exhibition. She relocated to Washington, DC in 2023 and began pursuing a Master of Art in Arts Management through the University of Oklahoma and taught summer camps at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Arlington, VA. She joined The Current as the education program assistant in 2024. She’s passionate about teaching youth the transformative power of art and enjoys contributing to art education programs built on inclusivity and a sense of belonging for all. Her favorite form of art to teach is papier mâché, as it offers accessible ways for youth to create through everyday materials that extend beyond traditional materials for artmaking. She believes art can be made about anything and out of anything and strives to introduce diverse media, concepts, and techniques to students. Her personal artistic endeavors include drawing, painting, and mixed media art. She enjoys hiking, camping, cycling, and reading horror and thriller novels.​

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