Ronan Kyle Peterson

                                                Nine Toes Pottery

    Ronan Kyle Peterson grew up in Poplar, NC, a small community deep in the mountains of western North Carolina. He attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and in 1996 received a Bachelor of the Arts degree in Anthropology, with a minor in Folklore. His interest in Folklore led him to John C. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown, NC, where he began taking classes in ceramics and other media.  After working for two years with two potters in the area of Asheville, NC, he attended Penland School of Crafts. Initially, he intended to stay for a two month Concentration in Wood and Soda Fired Pottery with MacKenzie Smith, but two months turned into four years.  After Concentration, he applied for and was accepted into the Core Student program. During the two-year intensive work exchange program, he had the opportunity to study with a number of internationally known artists and craftspeople.
    Currently, Ronan maintains Nine Toes Pottery, a ceramics studio in Chapel Hill, NC, which produces highly decorative and functional earthenware vessels. His work is drawn from processes of growth and decay in the natural world and translated into a ceramic comic book interpretation of both real and imagined phenomena.  His ceramic vessels have shown in local and national exhibitions, including the 2008 Strictly Functional Pottery National in East Petersburg, PA.  Ronan was also invited to participate in the 4th and 5th Annual Potter’s Market Invitational at the Mint Museum in Charlotte, NC, held the first weekend in September and includes some of North Carolina’s most talented ceramic artists and potters.  His work has been featured in both Ceramics Monthly and Clay Times, and the books 500 Bowls and 500 Plates and Chargers, which includes an image of his plates on the back cover.
Ronan’s work is included in the Permanent Collections of the North Carolina Pottery Center in Seagrove, NC and the Governor Morehead School in Raleigh, NC.  Also an educator, Ronan teaches or has taught adult ceramics classes at Claymakers and the Durham Arts Council Clay Studio in Durham, NC, Jordan Hall Arts Center in Cary, NC, Pullen Arts Center in Raleigh, NC, and the Artscenter in Carrboro, NC.