Andrew Sartorius grew up in the rolling red clay hills of Parkersburg, West Virginia. He graduated from the College of Wooster in Ohio with a BA in English literature and fictional writing. Andrew moved to the southern coast of Shikoku, Japan as a high school English teacher in Kochi prefecture. While in Japan, Andrew traveled to many historic ceramic centers and taught himself how to throw on a potter's wheel while immersing himself in the history of Japanese ceramics. He returned to America after four years of living in Japan to apprentice with the internationally recognized wood fire ceramic artist, Jeff Shapiro. As an apprentice Andrew mixed clay, prepared glazes, cleaned kilns, prepared wood, and helped with firings. After completing his year and a half apprenticeship Andrew moved to Long Island, New York and built and fired a small salt and wood kiln and assisted with management at Inlet Studios in Mattituck, New York. In the spring of 2019, Andrew graduated with a Master's in Fine Art focused in ceramics from State University of New York at New Paltz. Andrew is currently the Program Manager and Lead Instructor at The Oki Doki Studio in Germantown, NY. Andrew lives, works, creates and teaches in Germantown and loves managing an educational program focused around his life's learning in atmospheric firings. He continues to create functional and sculptural work that explores the processes of wood and soda firing locally harvested materials.
