About Joy
My childhood in eastern Tennessee was full of music lessons and exploring the natural world through hiking and camping with my family. I found my creative focus when I discovered working with clay in college in 2000, while growing my interest in photography and exploring with my camera in hand. In 2004 I received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Ceramics at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. Then I pursued a Resident Artist position at the Odyssey Center for the Ceramic Arts in Asheville, North Carolina. In 2007 I established my own clay studio near Penland School of Crafts in Bakersville, North Carolina.
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View Resume
Pottery & Art
Immersing myself in the beautiful mountains has greatly inspired my work and my life. In 2010, I was awarded a summer residency at the Watershed Center for the Ceramic Arts in Newcastle, Maine. I was also a Resident Artist at the EnergyXChange in Burnsville, North Carolina. In 2013 I created a new home studio space, named Wood Song Pottery in a beautiful valley surrounded by mountains in Bakersville, NC. I was one of the founding members of Mica Fine Contemporary Craft Gallery when it first opened. My pottery is sold in my online shop, in regional and national galleries, and local pottery shows and studio tours every year. When I’m not making pots, I enjoy being outside in nature in my garden, hiking with my family, doing yoga, cooking, and playing the piano.
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Joy Tanner Yoga
Yoga
My whole life I've been engaging creatively with whatever I feel drawn to, whether it was playing imaginatively in nature as a child, learning to play musical instruments, cooking, gardening, photography, making pottery, or teaching yoga. These are all creative outlets for me to express myself. Lately I've discovered through teaching yoga that it is just the same as making pottery- it is a reflection of the nature of my true self coming out through what I do.
