Blaine M.  Avery apprenticed with well know potter Sid Oakley and has worked as a full-time studio potter over eighteen years. His pots are heavily influenced by the folk art of several ancient cultures, Blaine's pieces combine traditional forms and decorations with an intuitive sense of the contemporary, a process that takes the pieces to a level beyond their given function. Drawing from early American folk art for inspiration, Blaine also enhances his shapes, using slip- trailing and hand painted patterns inspired by textiles, animal additions as handles, knobs, and spouts. His work is a harmonious relationship of past and present, of traditional ideas and new expressions.