Leah Bowring (now Pollock, Oct 13, 2019) received her BA in ceramics and BFA in graphic design from Truman State University in Kirksville, Missouri in 2011. During her undergraduate study, she spent a year in Tokyo studying Japanese language, historical ceramics, traditional theater and architecture. She was a pupil of Koiichi Koyama, an accomplished Japanese potter under whom she developed Japanese throwing techniques. She conducted personal research studying traditional Japanese kilns and wares, traveling throughout Japan while she taught English in the time between her formal degrees. She recently received her MFA in ceramics in May 2015 and now lives in Oakland, California and makes her work in Berkeley. She currently is teaching ceramics at City College of San Francisco, Laney College in Oakland, CA, as well as in Berkeley at The Potters’ Studio. She has also worked with Nancy Selvin as her artist assistant for three years.
Since moving to the Bay Area in 2015, she has worked on projects through Piece of Clay, Co. such as commissions to Michelin star restaurants at Sons & Daughters, designed ceramic furniture in collaboration with West Elm for their new Oakland hotel, and she has been featured in Architectural Digest