Lucy Fagella, a gifted Massachusetts artisan creates unique and beautifully detailed handmade pottery. In 2004 Lucy began specializing in elegant and graceful cremation urns as an addition to her functional pottery for everyday use. In 2009 she started her new line of biodegradable urns for “Green Burial” Lucy also offers pottery classes for all levels in Western Massachusetts out of her Greenfield studio.

Lucy's work can be seen locally and nationally at galleries, and shops and from her studio in Greenfield MA. She has been recognized on the national level in 2004 winning a juror's choice award in the, “Strictly Functional Pottery National”. In 2005 her work was published in “500 Cups Explorations in Utility & Grace” (Lark Publications) and in 2006 she was published in “500 Pitchers, Contemporary Expressions of a Classic Form” (Lark Publications). November 2008 Lucy’s Urns were featured in The Crafts Report magazine, and in the Studio Potter Journal, Winter 2009.

If you are looking for handmade porcelain ceramics that is functional, with a simple elegance, look no further than Lucia Pottery.

Bio
I grew up in Levittown, N.Y. in an Italian Catholic family, where Sundays were filled with church, visits from cousins bearing Italian pastries, and an afternoon dinner of pasta. Our dinner table was large, accommodating six children, Nana, parents, and whoever else was visiting. I distinctly remember, the large floral platter of anti-pasta, and the large pink glazed pasta bowl being passed from one family member to the next… my little hands, accepting that bowl with delight. It was here that the seeds of pottery as a celebration of family and food took hold in my consciousness.

I never remember a time that I didn’t draw, sculpt, or build sand castles with the sand from nearby Jones Beach. By the age of nine I mastered the art of toothpick sculptures and knew then and there that being an artist would be my life work.

My skills of drawing and sculpture were refined as a young adult when I attended Alfred University College of Art and Design, earning a BFA in Ceramic Art, with a minor in Art Education, 1985.

After graduation I became a full time potter, selling my work at local gallery shops and craft fairs. Also at that time I began teaching at a local art and craft center. Liking teaching a great deal I decided to teach art full time at the High School level.

In 1993 I moved to Western Massachusetts. The beauty of the natural surroundings and the many artists throughout this region drew me to the area. At this point I put my career on hold for a bit to raise two beautiful sons. I continued to teach pottery classes two nights a week during this time to keep my sanity.

I have watched these sons of mine grow into strong athletic teenagers, who now carry in my 2000 lbs. of clay when it is delivered, help out with studio chores and wedging clay. Now, my days in the studio are more than full time, making pottery, promoting it, packing it, maintaining a Face Book Page and blog, and of course teaching! It is all good!

"The sheer physical nature of pottery making fills many aspects of my being. It satisfies both the artist and the athlete in me. Pottery is a constant quiet motion; the rhythms are like meditation, moving meditation. I compare it to riding my bicycle through the beautiful hills and farms where I live. As I ride I become one with this beauty that surrounds me: as I make pots I become one with the clay and beauty that is unfolding. It is a great gift to bring beauty into this world. As a potter I have the opportunity to bring the extraordinary into the ordinariness of our daily lives. This clay... this stuff of life: so ordinary yet so extraordinary as it passes through the potter's hands. I am blessed that my hands become co-creators in this great mystery of creation in constant process."