Create a one-of-a-kind clay fish wall hanging in this workshop led by Betsy Saurdiff, a recognized potter whose work has been featured in the RiverPlace gallery. In this hands-on session, you’ll design and shape your own fish from a clay slab, explore texture and pattern, and apply vibrant underglazes to bring your piece to life. You’ll also learn the art of sgraffito—carving through layers of color to reveal striking designs beneath the surface.
Your finished piece will be clear glazed, kiln-fired, and ready to hang. Participants will be notified when their artwork is ready for pickup at a later date.
Seats: 16 | Ages: 16+ | Cost: $55
Meet Your Instructor
BETSY SAURDIFF
Flowing, undulating patterns of blueberry vines, pine boughs, coneflowers, deer antlers, and vintage scrap quilts influence Betsy Saurdiff's pottery. She fell in love with the art form 40 years ago, and to this day, she is still amazed at the transformation of a simple ball of wet clay into a beautiful, hand-crafted vessel — always designed to be used: sipped from, served from, and enjoyed.
Raised on a dairy farm near Ponsford, Minnesota, Betsy works out of her garage studio near Grygla, Minnesota, where she hosts regular open studios for the community to gather, chat, and browse her works.
Betsy's artistic inspiration is the rural life in northern Minnesota. She often pays homage to her grandmothers and mother in her work, while also drawing from local plant and animal life. Her favorite medium is porcelain, and her techniques include altering wheel-thrown work, adding texture or brushwork, and sgraffito, a technique in which underglaze is scratched to show the clay underneath. She often sprays her glazes to create soft gradients.
Betsy has been a part of many Northwest Minnesota Arts Council (NWMAC) exhibitions and spring shows, Steven Hill's Journey Workshop final exhibits, Bemidji's Watermark Art Center It's Only Clay exhibitions, and the inaugural exhibit at Warroad RiverPlace. Her solo show, Celebrations (2022, Northland College, Thief River Falls, Minn.), included special pottery to help celebrate special occasions, a nod to getting together after the pandemic halted such celebrations. In the summer of 2025, Betsy had her pottery on view at RiverPlace in the Rural Traditions exhibit with Debbie Dahl Aune (watercolorist). Betsy also has several pieces in the Margaret Harlow Collection, a permanent teaching collection at Bemidji State University.
Highlights of her career include two McKnight Fellowship Awards, two Merit Awards at a NWMAC exhibit, being named NWMAC's 2018 Art Advocate of the Year representing the seven-county region, and in 2024, receiving the NWMAC's Northstar Award, a lifetime achievement award.
Betsy studied ceramics at Bemidji State University and the University of Minnesota, where she studied under master potter Warren McKenzie. She takes workshops to continue her ceramic education.
She is now retired after a career of teaching visual art and German at the Grygla and Goodridge Schools, where she was named Teacher of the Year three times and was awarded numerous grants for her art and equipment. Betsy continues her love of teaching by sharing her knowledge with adults and students through community education classes and as a guest artist for students in area schools.
Betsy and her husband, Lee (aka General) — a great studio assistant in his retirement — have three adult children. Hannah and her husband, Kyle, have two sons, Henry and Lenny. Jake and his wife, Alyssa, are expecting their first child, a girl, in August. Sadie is Betsy’s full-time assistant at art festivals and also her much-needed tech support, credited as the developer of Betsy’s website (bettspottery.com). “I love them all and appreciate their support!” she says.