Ann John began working with clay in 1995 at Mercer County Community College in Trenton, NJ. Five years of study there with Michael Welliver helped her develop skills as a potter and influenced her ideas of what constitutes a satisfactory pot. During that time she also developed a vision of what she would like to express in clay and faced the more difficult challenge of actually creating the forms she envisioned.In 2002 she became a member of Clayworks studio, now Cone 10 Studio in Charleston, SC where she worked alongside professional potters from a variety of backgrounds who produced a wide array of work. This association propelled Ann to redefine and continuously refine her work. Ann John’s work has two aspects. Functional ware, which is thrown and glazed with consciousness of how the pot will be used and handled; and pots in which shape and curves are emphasized and at times exaggerated. "I am concerned with the form of the object, it’s shape and weight, and the relationship of each curve or angle to the whole. This relationship is particularly expressed in a teapot. With each pot I strive to create a pleasing weight and balance; a pot in which the appearance and the sensation when the vessel is held are integrated and satisfying." -- Ann John