Ceramic artist Megan Ryan lets nature guide her work, drawing from her childhood memories and making it a recurring theme in her portfolio. Ryan utilizes a variety of methods and materials like transparent ashes, ash and underglazes with selective color in cone-six oxidation firings, carving, mishima and surface design. Her techniques allow for natural characteristics to emerge, creating layered depth in her pieces. Ryan also focuses on functional art by creating pottery that can be used in everyday life.

When Megan first moved back to Illinois in 2024, she was on the hunt for a great fit at a local studio, one that would be welcoming and warm. “I felt like I was essentially starting over in the ceramic world as I had found a great community in Colorado where I previously lived and worked doing ceramics,” she says. “I was searching for something similar to what I was a part of in Colorado. When I found Water Street and went there for my interview, everyone I spoke to was so welcoming, and the clay lab seemed like it was filled with joy [with] that great sense of community I was looking for.” Ryan became an instructor in August of that same year at Water Street and, recently, she became a clay lab coordinator, a role she is excited to explore and grow in.

Her penchant for creating functional art gave her a sense of joy and accomplishment in 2025, especially, when she completed sets of ramen bowls, a project that exemplifies her talent and style. “Each set had a bowl, small side plate and a spoon all made out of porcelain and painted with cobalt,” she says. “I think this project was a good representation of me as an artist because it has taken a lot of small things I have learned over the years into one project. I have spent a lot of time drawing filigree and botanical drawing to work on my designs for my pots and have been practicing painting with cobalt on ceramic for a few years now. It was wonderful to see this project finished and it was very rewarding to see my work turn out the way I had planned.”

This year, Ryan hopes to challenge her skillset by shaping larger, more complex pieces like carved vases. “I think that throwing larger vessels is something I want to accomplish this year because I don’t often make large things,” she says. “I also love how elegant and complex vases can be.”

When it comes to challenging projects, Ryan expresses the process of making urns for her grandparents as an unexpected journey in her artistry and life. “I haven’t worked on something this close to my heart and something so emotional in a very long time,” she says. “I threw these pieces in porcelain. The shape is elegant and larger than I normally throw. I then carved them with flowers that represent peace, respect, grieving and love. I am in the final stages of this project.”

Ryan started these incredibly personal additions to her work in December 2025 and after they go through the glazing process, they will be finished. “I think they have been challenging for me in many ways, both technically speaking in making them and challenging emotionally,” she says.

“I have been incredibly honored making these vessels for my family and proud of myself. They are probably some of the best pieces I have ever made in my ceramic career to date.”