For ceramic artist Monica Broere, time with clay has often meant choosing a different kind of vacation. Rather than stepping away from making, Monica seeks out places where learning, focus, and shared work can happen side by side. She approaches clay with an interest in developing a personal voice while allowing material, surface, and firing to play an active role in the outcome — a mindset that has brought her back to Touchstone repeatedly over the years. In the 2025 Touchstone Members Exhibition, Monica presents a recent vessel that reflects a long-standing relationship with clay and fire, and a belief that the act of making matters as much as the finished piece.
Read more about Monica’s work in this interview by Erica Nuckles, PhD, Touchstone Communications Committee member and Director of Learning, Engagement and Partnerships at The Westmoreland Museum of American Art, Greensburg, PA.
What is your Touchstone story? How did you first hear about it and what drew you to be involved?
When I go on a “vacation”, I want something interesting/educational/rewarding to do! Being around other focused adults/artists- bucolic, relaxing, sharing, friendly atmosphere is a welcome addition! In 2007 or 2008 a potter friend told me a colleague would be teaching a workshop at Touchstone, so I checked it out – a lovely campus in the country, a well-known pottery teacher/pro, other pottery people, other artists (metals, painters, etc.), great food, comradery, etc.
I was very impressed with the experience, then found out, some other wood fire potters connected with wood firing at Baltimore Clayworks had connections there too! So, I returned every few years, mostly to wood fire there and most recently, to do an independent residency (2023).
Can you tell us about your journey as an artist—where did it begin, how has it evolved?
Long and varied… let’s go back before the internet and access to everything — EVERYTHING WAS DIFFERENT! After college (1976), I worked in the printing and advertising industry doing paste-up, mostly black-and-white print work. I rebelled against that by making actual prints in my sparse free time, including linocuts, woodcuts, and classes in intaglio and etching.
In 1989, I changed work status to become a state-certified art teacher, just as computers and the internet were beginning to enter the art world. Teaching art in Baltimore City Public Schools created opportunities to evolve artistically. I began experimenting with jewelry using pieces of my copper etching plates, which led to a deeper interest in metal techniques and years of jewelry making and classes. At the same time, I was designing and sharing multicultural, art-history-based curricula with other educators.
Ceramics entered my life in the mid-1990s when I was assigned to teach it — despite having no prior experience. I began taking classes and workshops and quickly became hooked. Clay offered endless possibilities: different clay bodies, firing methods, temperatures, forming techniques, glazes, slips, and cultural traditions. While I still occasionally carve stone, sew, or experiment with other materials, clay has remained my primary focus. Wood-, salt-, and atmospheric-fired functional pottery continue to be the core of my practice.
How do you describe your work(s) in the Touchstone Members Exhibition? Where did you find inspiration?
A recent vessel, wood/soda (salt) fired. It is thrown, altered and joined with slab pieces. I generally glaze only the interiors. To exploit the subtle changes (curves/angles) within the form, I have pulled/stroked my fingers along the surface which was selectively dipped in a contrasting flashing slip. I intend for the natural depth and colors of the clays/glazes which interact with the reduction atmosphere created in high fire/reduction wood/salt kilns.
This piece is an extension/evolution of “lessons learned” during my independent residency in 2023 at Touchstone. I had the opportunity “spread out,” adjust and refine my forming techniques in an expansive work area (which I lack in my small home studio space) to create larger vessels I had been envisioning, while working on several at a time.
What’s something unique about your process, materials, or approach?
Years ago, I came across an idiom by the jazz musician and educator, Clark Cherry, which became a guiding principle in my art making and teaching – “Imitate, Assimilate, Innovate.”
I think my pieces present as informed, well-made and distinct in appearance and aesthetic.
What does it mean to you to be featured in an exhibition at Touchstone?
I am pleased that my vessel has been chosen to be shown with other (juried) artistic works that meet high aesthetic and qualitative standards.
Do you have anything else you would like to share?
I enjoy the whole process of making; it’s not solely about the end “product.”
Visit the 2025 Touchstone Members Exhibition, on view through December 19, 2025, in the Bea Campbell Gallery at Touchstone in Farmington, PA. Click for gallery hours.
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