Sandra Penny Pots

I create wheel-thrown stoneware pieces at my home in Albany, NY.  Most of my work is functional: mugs, bowls, plates, vases, flower pots, pitchers, and platters. I also make wheel-thrown and augmented items like nature-themed carvings, piggy banks, Jack-o-Lanterns, and Christmas trees.

I love that pottery is never boring, and it shows in my work! I am constantly experimenting with new techniques, my interests and focus are regularly evolving, I change around my color palette frequently, and I am always pushing my limits to improve. For these reasons, you never quite know what is going to come out of the studio!  

In 2025, I have been working on slowing down and creating functional pieces that are meaningful to me. For example, I am an amateur mycologist (mushroom forager) and recently I have been working on a series of cups, platters, pitchers and more that depict the symbiosis between trees and locally-forageable edible mushrooms like chanterelles, morels, and boletes.

I take the quality of my finished product very seriously, and this attention to detail is difficult to capture in photos. All of my work reflects a high standard of build quality, I test every batch of my clay for vitrification (water absorption rate under 1%), I sand the bottoms of my pieces until they are perfectly smooth, and pottery with flaws in the make or glaze are never sold as first-quality pieces.

You can find my work at Hangin' Handmade on River St. in Troy (website and instagram).  I also attend about ten craft fairs a year throughout the Capital District. Hope to see you soon! 

A bit about me: I teach physics, environmental, and earth sciences at Russell Sage College and I parent two elementary-aged kids. I have a Ph. D in atmospheric sciences, and I lived in seven different states across the United States before I moved to Albany in 2012. My pottery journey started with a wheel class at the Albany Art Room in 2019, and it became a passion during the pandemic. Some of my other passions include teaching, mycology, vegetable gardening, environmentalism, and road cycling.  I'm happy to have found a long-term home in the Capital Region of New York!