Our Instructors
Mimi Daniel
I have been playing with clay for more than 20 years. There is no better medium, in my opinion. I love to throw and hand-build and go back and forth as the mood takes me.
I began just playing around and self-teaching but quickly realized I would better benefit from solid instruction.
I attended and received my BFA from the University of Arizona in 2011. I have continued to learn and teach.
When I found TCAC it felt too good to be true. This is a fabulous little community of clay people. I love to teach what I love to others but also feel it is vital to always be in a learning mode...we can always learn!
Lori Coan
I have thought of myself as an artist since early childhood. I love to draw, paint, collage, and explore materials. But nothing compares to the feel of clay.
After high school, I entered college to become a graphic designer, but graduated with a degree in ceramics and art education instead. I spent ten joyful years making art while teaching preschool and elementary school art.
Once I had my own children, I grew into teaching adults. I love interacting and conversing with grownups about clay. As I teach, I am deeply inspired by the questions and ideas of my students and fellow instructors.
I have spent many years hand building with clay, learning from workshops, instructors, friends. But nothing has expanded my own art practice like working alongside others in a warm and welcoming community like the Tucson Clay Art Center.
Matthew Valiquette
I have been making art of one sort of another for as long as I can remember.
Painting, Drawing and Printmaking are the media I concentrated on in college while pursuing my BFA. After graduating I became an Art Teacher and was certified to work with Pre-K, Elementary, Secondary, and Adult Education. For a short time I worked with adults living with Cerebral Palsy doing Art Therapy.
I have been exploring clay for over 30 years working in both private and group studios. The field is so vast and the knowledge base so broad that I am always learning from peers and students alike.
As a published illustrator and digital artist, I feel very fortunate to have experienced many artistic media allowing me a wide and diverse range of personal expression.
Raymond Loffredo
I began my love for pottery when my brother-in-law gifted me a wheel and electric kiln. I paint as well, and attended art classes at Seattle Art Institute. In 1999 I began studying pottery with ceramic artist Sam Scott, where I discovered my love of wheel throwing and developing high-fire glaze recipes.
In 2008 I built and opened ThreeRays Pottery. I sold high-fired reduction glazed porcelain tableware exclusively with Food 52. My pieces have been featured in publications associated with that company. I also taught wheel-throwing at the Spokane Potter's Guild. In addition, I enjoyed greatly introducing children to ceramic arts.
I am currently teaching adults to throw on the wheel at Tucson Clay Art Center, and I continue to strengthen my painting skills on clay.
