About
Denise Jordan

Born in Roanoke Rapids and raised in Raleigh, Denise was always the artist! Her first experience in clay came while attending Governors School East between 10th and 11th grade. This galvanized her pursuits!  Without a high school ceramics facility, Denise headed to East Carolina University where she earned her BFA In Art Education with concentration in Ceramic Art. It was here that Denise met and shared her studio space with Ben Owen III of Seagrove.  She worked at the Seagrove pottery on school breaks and anytime that life would permit, and thereby developed a reverence for utilitarian pottery. Denise was recognized as The Most Outstanding Senior in the Ceramics Department and also received the same recognition from the Art Education Department upon her graduation in 1990. 

Very few years have passed without involvement in pottery, but life is full of surprises and adventures not to be missed!  25 years ago, the birth of her twin sons brought her back to the art education world as she taught adults pottery at the Greenville Parks and Recreation ceramics studio as well as teaching in Primary and Intermediate schools in Greenville, NC. 

But the water called and Wilmington became her home for the next 15 years.  Here she taught at Orange Street Pottery for the late Hiroshi Sueyoshi of the Cameron.   In 2008 she opened Clay Goddess Studio at Chandler’s Wharf in downtown Wilmington.  This was an open ‘working’ studio with group and individual classes taught.  Our gallery shows were ceramic 3-D explorations of notable 2-D visual artists.  Imagine Gustav Klimpt or VanGogh surface treatments on decorative and functional pieces!  

While it was interesting, the need for a “beach looking” glaze treatment was missing, and Denise began playing with notes from glaze calculation classes in college and formulating her distinctive turquoise satin glaze.  This glaze combination has adorned her utiltarian and decorative wares that she continues to spread along the NC and Virginia coast.