Melissa Weiss is an Asheville, North Carolina potter and a true handmade maker. Each pot she makes contains clay that she digs up on her land in Arkansas. From there, she drives the clay back to her studio in Asheville where she cleans it and incorporates it into her clay bodies. Melissa makes a variety of ash and celadon glazes and fires her pots in a gas reduction kiln. Melissa teaches classes in handbuilding at intervals throughout the year, including at the famous Penland Art School and the North Carolina Pottery Center. She also operates an 8,000 square foot art cooperative called Southside Studios that houses studio space for twenty potters. Melissa participates in shows in Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago and exhibits her work in galleries from New York City, to Fayetteville Arkansas.