Diana Johnston
Pottery ninja, mad scientist welder, big boss, and head chef in the kitchen.
The matriarch of the family and the business. Find Diana “Coo” (if you know you know) loving her time in the studio– on the wheel, painting, and welding. She’s always cooking up something delicious and doling out hugs on the regular (when not in a pandemic). If you’ve made a purchase lately and gotten a little card, she’s the woman behind it!
Email: info@brewerypottery.com
Tom Johnston
Math man, slab roller extraordinaire, kiln firing captain, and shipping & packing coordinator.
The patriarch of the family and the business. You’ll find Tom “Keno” (if you know you know) in the pottery studio, chatting to people in the gallery, golfing in the summer, helping the family with all their small construction needs, and loving his weekly zoom poker date with his friends and son, Parrish. If you’re local you’ve probably seen him taking his daily walk down Shake Rag and back too. Be sure to wave hello!
Email: brewerypottery@gmail.com
Claire Johnston
Tech support, social media lady & website management
The daughriarch of the family. She does pottery production work in the studio and corals the internety parts of the business together. She has a fondness for wearing messy top knots, definitely feels a kinship with her cantaloupe loathing friends, enjoys doing 365 day art challenges, and admires the use of a cleverly executed pun. She lives across town in an old miners cabin with her cats, dog, flock of chickens, and the occasional visiting yard fox.
Email: leopardtuxedo@gmail.com
Barley
Cuddling expert, head of the “tricks & treats” department
The dogriarch of the family. He’s an extremely charismatic and devilishly handsome beardtia (bee-aard-ia, the “t” is silent) who enjoys a good belly rub, has ears the size of satellites, adores a good stick, and excels at meerkating. Because of his keen sense of knowing just when you sit down to watch a movie, he’ll let you know he’d like to go outside now. All in all, 10/10 the very best dogboy.
Email: dogsdontemail@obviously.com
Tom, Claire & Diana in 1989 
Tom, Claire & Diana in 2014
We make all the pottery, in house, here at Brewery Pottery. Brewery Pottery is located in an old 1850’s limestone brewery, where we live upstairs and work downstairs. We enjoy the quick commute down a flight of stairs to get to work, especially during the cold Wisconsin winters.
We’ve (Diana & Tom) been creating art and making pottery together full time since the 1970’s. During that time, one of the things we’ve come to love the most about making functional pots, is knowing that our pots are being used and loved by people from all walks of life, from all over the world, and being used to enrich their everyday lives.
Once the pots leave our hands a new story begins. Those cups of much needed morning coffee. Family meals around the dinner table. Bowls of popcorn while watching your favorite movie. A glass of wine at the end of a hard week. Something with familiarity and meaning to make each day a little nicer.
We love the human touch, authentic stories, and passion behind pieces made by hand, one at a time. Bringing together work by people who put themselves into their work continues to be our mission at Brewery Pottery. Knowing the artists behind the pieces, telling their stories and making a connection between you and these artists is a pleasure we enjoy each day.
As you enjoy your pottery, savor knowing its story, and by extension, ours. Relish in knowing your pot was born in a brewery, by artists who’ve poured their hearts and hands over each piece, and nurtured it to life- just for you!
In a world where disposables are the norm and cheap mass production is around most corners. Dare to be different.
Life is short. Buy the art. Eat the cake. Love your neighbors.
