Eric Serritella is a nationally exhibited ceramic artist specializing in hand-carved trompe l’oeil vessels transformed into birch and weathered logs. He discovered the artistry of clay in 1996 when he took a hobby pottery class to find a new creative outlet and bring more balance to a busy corporate career.

“I expected to simply discover an enjoyable pastime. Instead, clay dug its way into my very core.”

He began Muddy Paws Pottery, a functional pottery production business, in an effort to bring a new spirit and satisfaction to his work life.

Serritella has a BA in Communication from Ithaca College. He also studied art history there as well as in London. His primary applied art training came in the form of two artist residencies studying with masters in Taiwan. It was there that he was taken with the historic Yixing teapots and introduced to the Japanese wabi philosophy.

The result was Serritella’s one-of-a-kind tromp l’oeil ceramic art that has been awarded and exhibited in galleries and museums from coast to coast and in Asia. His work is included in permanent museum collections, including the Everson Museum of Art’s world-class ceramics collection. Many esteemed private collections contain his work, including the Kamm Teapot Foundation – the world’s largest private teapot collection.

Serritella’s work has appeared in Ceramics Monthly, Clay Times, Pottery Making Illustrated, Ceramic Art (Taiwan), NICHE as well as several books and calendars on pottery and ceramic art. He has given workshops in the USA, Canada and Taiwan.

Serritella creates his work in a country studio overlooking rolling hills and farm fields just outside of Ithaca, NY. He starts each work day with Taiwanese Oolong tea brewed Kung-Fu style in an Yixing teapot. “Sipping it, I listen to the morning and enjoy beautiful views of rolling hills, forests and meadows. This and other connections to nature are expressed and shared in my works.”