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Clay Studio

The Potters’ Nook
Works by Rhonda Elston
Open same hours as Hoffman Gallery
Hoffman Center for the Arts | Clay Studio
 
 
 

Handmade Ceramics by Rhonda Elston

Rhonda’s work is shaped by a lifetime of listening, both to people and to the earth. For 38 years as a mental health therapist, She has sat with others in the full range of human experience: grief and hope, rupture and repair, loss and renewal. Her work as a ceramic artist grows from that same sacred space. Clay reaches the deepest parts of ourselves. It is organic, alive with memory, and formed from living matter. It carries the story of seasons, pressure, endurance, and return. It comes from the earth and, in time, returns to the earth, a place where soul and substance meet.

The process of working with clay mirrors the therapeutic journey. It requires presence, breath, patience, and trust. The material responds to touch, holds marks of its making, and reveals its truth through fire. She honors these marks rather than erasing them, believing that resilience is found not in perfection, but in what has been shaped and healed through experience.

The ocean is a central source of inspiration in Rhonda’s work. We come to the sea to breathe, to remember rhythm, to release what we carry, and to be restored. Her platters, Waves of Hope, reflect the movement and stillness of the water and the cycles of life itself. The starfish forms she creates speak to regeneration and renewal, reminding us that healing is possible even after loss.

Rhonda’s art reflects her own journey and the many journeys she has been privileged to witness. Through raw material, breath, and presence, what begins as earth is transformed into gift. She hopes her work offers a place of connection, inviting others to pause, breathe, and recognize their own resilience within the ongoing cycles of life and their capacity for healing.

Click here to view or download exhibition flyer.


  •  February 19, 2026
     12:00 pm - 5:00 pm
  •  February 20, 2026
     12:00 pm - 5:00 pm
  •  February 21, 2026
     12:00 pm - 5:00 pm
  •  February 22, 2026
     12:00 pm - 5:00 pm
  •  February 26, 2026
     12:00 pm - 5:00 pm
  •  February 27, 2026
     12:00 pm - 5:00 pm
  •  February 28, 2026
     12:00 pm - 5:00 pm
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Potters Nook

Venue:  

Address:
594 Laneda Avenue, Manzanita, Oregon, 97130

Description:

Situated on the main street in Manzanita just a few blocks west of Highway 101, the Hoffman Center Art Gallery is located across the street from the North Tillamook Library.