About us .....

Debbie van Berkel grew up in Victoria, British Columbia and showed artistic signs from an early age.  She studied pottery in school, won local awards and fell in love with sculpting with clay.  She combined this with a love of the outdoors and taught Leave No Trace courses across Canada for many years. She also developed and taught backpacking and bear awareness courses and led guided week long backpacking trips, including the West Coast Trail on Vancouver island.  Having lived in Victoria, Abbotsford, Edmonton and Calgary has allowed her to explore every aspect of the abundant nature and the environment across Western Canada.

Debbie reflects her love of the outdoors and wildlife in her ceramic creations. These unique and one-of-a-kind creations are handcrafted, individually numbered and kiln fired in her studio in Calgary. Debbie says, "All the time that I spent in the back country and the places I have seen are a constant inspiration to me as I craft my creations".  Although she makes a variety of natural decorative and utilitarian ceramics, she especially loves making bird houses out of clay as it allows the bird population to flourish around the home - which is good for the ecosystem, the environment and our own well being!

Her pottery creations have been showcased in major malls, shops, markets and museums throughout Alberta and have also been available through Etsy.

After she built her own home studio from scratch and took on dozens of students to pass on her knowledge and passion for the pottery craft, she decided to set up this website and blog to capture all her many experiences and lessons learned.  Working with her other instructors allows them to share their combined knowledge and passion with the greater community.

Debbie, a mother of two children, now lives and works in Calgary, Alberta with her husband, two Golden Retrievers and a cat.