Suzanne donahue
Suzanne Donahue, clay artisan and owner of Westford Pottery, has been making clay items since she was 12 years old. She took her first pottery class at the Lowell Girls Club and was totally hooked. She continued her training in the art of clay at Lowell High School and Mount Wachusett. She also studied art and clay at UMass & Tufts University. Suzanne completed her studies at the Museum School at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston where she continued to explore her fascination with throwing clay on the wheel as well as sculpting with it.
Soon after she completed her studies at the Museum School, Suzanne opened her first gallery, Kirk Street Gallery, where she taught pottery classes as well as showed, and sold her work.
While expecting her fifth child, Suzanne moved to Westford where she brought nature into her work in her new studio. She pressed leaves, ferns and lace into the clay and began melting glass into her pieces as well. During this time, Suzanne also took her portable wheel to local elementary schools, playgrounds, nursery schools, East Boston camp days, Girl Scouts, Boy Scout shows and taught both children and adults how to throw on the wheel.
In 1992, Suzanne began a relationship with Roudenbush Community Center (link to Roudenbush here) that continues to this day. In connection with Roudenbush, she has taught the art of clay to hundreds of people, adults & children, from all over the world.
Some of her most fun projects have been working with other clay artists. She collaborated with Anthony Terrassi & John Marchese on a whimsical, clay wall sculpture for a restaurant and has worked on collaborative pieces that were later auctioned to raise funds for Boys & Girls Clubs, Montessori schools, scholarship funds, and more. She also enjoys teaching students at Westford Pottery with her favorite guest instructors, her daughter Jennifer and granddaughter Mila Rubini, who started teaching at age 4!
