Eshelman’s functional pottery is his cultural attempt, through the material of clay, to bring order and human dignity to the merely physical act of consuming food and drink. “As my pots are used daily, I hope that they carry measures of quiet and nourishment for body and spirit. I imagine people at a dinner table, workspace, or office cubicle where food and drink are served and humanized by hospitable, well-ordered pots.” Since 1988, Eshelman and his wife, Laurel, have been living and making pottery in Elizabeth, Illinois, a small farming community in northwestern Illinois.

Originally from Minnesota, Tom Jaszczak received a BA in visual art and a BS in biology with a minor in chemistry from Bemidji State University (MN). Jaszczak was an assistant to both Simon Levin and Tara Wilson. He was a summer resident and a long-term resident at the Archie Bray Foundation. In the fall of 2015, Jaszczak began a three-year residency with his wife, Maggie Jaszczak at the Penland School of Craft (Mitchell County, NC). In 2018, the Jaszczaks put down permanent roots in Shafer, Minnesota, where they live in a farmhouse and work in a barn-style studio.