Shawn Inslee didn’t set out to become an artist—he was simply searching for something he could hold in his hands. By day, he works remotely in financial software. But it was the absence of something tangible that nudged him toward an entirely different craft.
His artistic journey began in fine woodworking at Red Rocks Community College. But after binge-watching The Great Pottery Throw Down, he switched mediums—ordering a wheel, clay, and a small kiln—and then taught himself to throw in his garage.
“I love ceramics because it keeps me humble and endlessly entertained,” he says. “Every step, from wedging to glazing, has its own little trap waiting for the overconfident. It’s equal parts science, chaos, and therapy.”
Now president of the Arapahoe Community College Clay Club and vice president of the Arapahoe Ceramics Guild, Shawn splits his time between functional wheel-thrown pieces and the large, hand-built coil vessels he’s best known for; forms inspired by Korean onggi, moon jars, Puebloan pottery, and Chinese dynastic silhouettes. “They remind me that good pots are both humble and transcendent,” he says.
But it’s the unpredictability of clay that keeps him hooked. “Just when I think I’ve got it figured out, a pot collapses or the glaze runs. Clay is like a moody friend; it always gets the final say.” He jokes that opening a kiln is “Christmas morning meets a horror movie.”
His work is for sale at the Arvada Center, Fellow Traveler restaurant, and the Arapahoe Ceramics Guild in Littleton. Though he insists it’s still a hobby, there’s devotion in every curve. In clay, he’s found not perfection, but presence.
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