Aces of Trades: Chell's passion for pottery translates into natural creations

She loves to create.

“Growing up, I developed a passion for ‘making’ early on,” recalled Louise Chell. “I grew up creating with every material I could find − sewing, drawing, painting, knitting, stick houses. I dreamed of being an artist.”

Today, Chell is a potter with her Yellow Creek Pottery .

“I make nature inspired functional pottery,” she explained.

“Yellow Creek Pottery was founded in 2018 with my family’s support,” she added. “I wanted to start this business for multiple reasons − pottery is my creative outlet, I get to utilize the skills I developed in college and I get to work from home.”

She thought painting was her path, but it wasn't

Chell grew up near Akron and moved to Wooster at high-school-age. She graduated from Wooster High School in 2002, then graduated cum laude in the spring of 2007 from The University of Toledo where she majored in art education with a concentration in pottery and printmaking.

“I tried pottery in high school but thought I would follow the path of painting,” she said. “In college I discovered my passion for pottery. I found that I think predominantly in 3-D. Since then, I’ve grown to love my medium even more because it forces me to creatively problem solve.

“Before I made pottery my profession,” she added, “I taught pottery classes at Dunham Recreation Center in Cincinnati. I held that position for five years until 2017, when my family and I moved to Marion.”

Yellow Creek Pottery, by the way, is named after the creek that ran through Chell’s yard growing up in Bath Township. It’s a feeder creek into the Cuyahoga River.

She 'translates her love of nature into pottery'

Candice DeWitt is a friend and owner of Stitch and Skein.

“Louise is such a creative individual and friend of mine,” DeWitt said. “I love how she translates her love of nature into her pottery, and her pieces are both pretty and functional. I own several of her pieces, some of which she’s custom made for me − a painter’s cup and a cat-themed yarn bowl, for example – and they’re some of my favorite pieces in my possession.”

“I make pottery because I love to create," Chell noted.

For more information about Yellow Creek Pottery, visit Facebook .

Aces of Trades is a weekly series focusing on people and their jobs — whether they’re unusual jobs, fun jobs or people who take ordinary jobs and make them extraordinary. If you have a suggestion for a future profile, let us know at news@marionstar.com .

This article originally appeared on Marion Star: Aces of Trades: Chell's passion for pottery translates into natural creations