Special thanks to our 2025 Empty Bowls artists!
Interested in donating your bowls next year? Email us for more information.
Al Huffman
Al is a local woodturner who has donated many pieces to this year’s Empty Bowls.
Ann Cobb
If Ann Cobb ever had a brick-and-mortar store, she says it would be called "One of a Kind." Ann is not the typical potter. She once had a young student who struggled a bit and remembers telling her that her pieces were a bit "wonky" but "wonderful." This is how she hopes people see her work. Ann is a retired RN and has found pottery – wheel-thrown or hand-built – is the best and cheapest therapy for life's little surprises. Her other passion is bees. Ann is a backyard beekeeper and harvests beeswax and honey. Among the clay pieces, you may find beeswax vessels that are decorative as well as functional. It brings Ann joy to play in the dirt and hang out with the bees. She is hopeful that the end results will also bring you joy.
Beatriz Alcocer Rodriguez
Beatriz Alcocer Rodriguez is a Mexican-born ceramist with over 28 years of experience as an artist and educator. Raised along the south Texas border, she pursued fine arts studies at the University of Guanajuato in Mexico and the University of Texas at Brownsville. For the past seven years, Beatriz has been an adjunct instructor in the Department of Design and Visual Arts at Drury University in Springfield, Missouri. Her work reflects a harmonious blend of her Mexican roots and borderland upbringing, establishing her as a distinctive voice in contemporary ceramics.
Brian Izdepski
Brian is a returning artist to the Empty Bowls event. He has generously donated his woodturned bowls for several years to help feed children facing hunger.
Chris Holland
Chris Holland is a retired engineer who spent over 50 years in engineering and construction. He now enjoys making things out of dead trees!
Dan McKinzie
Dan has been blessed with many opportunities to learn woodturning from the very best artists and woodturners in the world. From these artists, he has learned techniques to take a piece of wood bound for the landfill or fireplace and turn it into an object of art or an item of functional use.
Darrell West
Darrell has been working with his hands and with wood for most of his life. He has progressed from home construction to building display cabinets and furniture. In 2013, he discovered the joy of woodturning. Darrell lives in Willard and can be found working with wood or fishing most days.
Debbie Powell
Debbie Powell is a 76-year-old novice woodturner. The natural edge walnut bowl she donated to this year’s Empty Bowls was created jointly with master woodturner Brian Izdepski.
Dennis Cooper
Dennis Cooper is a local woodturner who donated his work to this year’s Empty Bowls.
Don Nelson
Don Nelson is a retired physician who continues to enjoy helping others, but now through the enjoyable hobby of woodworking.
Harold Clobes
Brenda Sword generously donated these walnut bowls and candlesticks that were handmade by her grandfather, Harold Clobes. Harold was a farmer in southern Minnesota and crafted his pieces from walnut trees from his farm. He took up woodworking after retiring from farming. If he was not tending to the garden, you would likely find Harold in the basement of the house he built, working on his wood projects. From Brenda, "I think he would be very proud to have some of his work given to this worthwhile charity. I hope the next owners will appreciate the skill and love he put into every piece of wood he touched."
Isabella Chambers
Isabella learned pottery at Branson High School and joined IronHorse Pottery Studio this summer between high school graduation and starting college. IronHorse Pottery owner Kat Egly says Isabella has made some really nice pieces, brought friends and family to enjoy the experience with her, and donated a lovely bowl for the Empty Bowls fundraiser.
Jerry Senteney
Jerry is a woodturner who donated a sturdy black cherry bowl to this year’s Empty Bowls fundraiser.
Jess Demastus
Jess is a skilled artist in many media including clay. She is a working member of the studio in Rogersville, and creates beautifully carved and sculpturally decorated pieces, including her signature herb stripper bowls. Every piece she makes is unique and inspired by nature.
Jim Heck
Jim Heck's philosophy of art includes an understanding that an artist is influenced by his environment, and his creative output is an imperfect report of what he observes, absorbs, and retains.
Jim Kramer
Jim is a member of the Woodturners of Southwest Missouri – a local chapter of the American Association of Woodturners. The purpose of the club is to publicly promote woodturning, strengthen the woodturning community, and assist and encourage individuals to a higher standard of excellence in woodturning.
Kat Egly
Kat is the owner of IronHorse Pottery in Rogersville. The studio has been open for just over two years and is a safe place for artists of all ages to express themselves. Kat's favorite thing is throwing on the wheel, but she also enjoys hand building and has started dabbling in poured ceramic molds as well. Kat teaches and mentors students from beginners on up and wants everyone to have the opportunity to feel the clay on their hands.
Kyle Bird
Kyle Bird is a ceramic artist who first got into pottery in college while studying studio art and fell in love with the medium. In 2020, he started Craftwork Ceramics, handmaking each pot with functionality and quality. His work begins on the pottery wheel using porcelain. Then, the pieces are finished with richly colored high-fire glazes to create durable, functional ware.
Ladd
Ladd is a woodturning artist who has been turning for about 10 years. She loves the challenge of making each piece different. The punkier the wood the happier she is. Some say life is too short to turn bad wood, but Ladd believes that the damage, scars or inclusions in a piece makes it more beautiful. The process of turning wood highlights the damage in the tree and turns it into something beautiful.
Liv Smith
Liv Smith is a ceramic artist originally from Kansas City, Missouri, but has resided in Springfield for the last 10 years. They manage Creava Studio where they teach pottery classes and continue their studio art practice. Their current work is inspired by healing crystals, rock textures, and bright, joyous colors.
Loren Winter
For Loren, woodworking is about creating a useful item that reveals nature’s hidden beauty in an aesthetically pleasing way. He enjoys making bowls, tables, trays, lamps, clocks, candle holders, gnomes, Christmas ornaments, vases and more. But his favorite woodworking is making unique bowls on a lathe. Loren never sells any of his pieces, so if you aren’t family, the only way you can acquire some of Loren’s woodcraft is from Ozarks Food Harvest’s “Empty Bowls” fundraiser.
Marian Chamberlain
Marian Stahl Chamberlain holds a Bachelor of Art in Studio Art and a Bachelor of Art History, as well as a Master in Art Education. She has been working as an artist for over 20 years, primarily focusing on pastels, printmaking and wood. She was also an art educator for 10 years, primarily with middle school students, but also teaching elementary, high school and adults. Marian has studied under other artists including Tom Parker, Jacqueline Warren, and Todd Lowry, as well as art historian Tom Russo. Now based out of Springfield, Marian has taken influence from living in various locations in Missouri and the southern United States, as well as her travels throughout the country and abroad. Her love of art history has led her to be an avid art collector of works spanning from the 15th century to today. Marian is also the President of the Woodturners of Southwest Missouri. Living in an environment comprised of studio and shop space among artworks from throughout the centuries drives and inspires her creative process.
Mari Moore
Mari, also known as MudBug Creations, is a ceramics artist in Springfield, focusing primarily on wheel-thrown functional works with a penchant for whimsy and bright colors. She loves to create fun, happy ceramics, while also ensuring her pieces are comfortable and ergonomic for daily use.
Megan Thurman
Megan says she doesn’t think of herself as an artist. She likes to work with her hands, be visual and create things. She spends endless amounts of time alone in her pottery shack listening to music and creating bowls, mugs, and other things that people can have, hold and enjoy for years after she’s created it. Studio time is always a happy time for her. There’s nothing about that she doesn’t love.
Mike Ilkiw
Mike has been crafting wooden bowls, plates, platters, spoons, ornaments and goblets from reclaimed trees for 20 years. Mike created Bowls for Breasts after his first wife passed away from breast cancer. The Breast Cancer Foundation of the Ozarks helped his family in many ways during such a challenging time, so Mike has made it his mission to help others affected by breast cancer. Learn more about his work at bowlsforbreasts.com. Thank you to Mike for also supporting the Weekend Backpack Program with his work.
Randy Darden
Randy Darden is a retired electrical engineer living with his wife, Laura, in Ridgedale, Missouri. Being a hobbyist woodturner, most of his works are given as gifts or donated to charitable causes.
Richard Moist
Richard started woodturning and woodworking at the age of 13. He works mainly with local woods that have been cut for various other uses.
Rowen Egly
Rowan is co-owner of the IronHorse Pottery Studio, along with Kat (known to Rowan as "mom"). Rowan has been a potter since a relatively young age and it shows. Many fantastic, beautiful and original pieces in the studio have been made by their hand. Rowan is technically skilled in multiple media, and, coupled with their incredible creativity, they are unstoppable. Anything they think of, they can make.
Sharon Casada
Sharon was one of the first students at IronHorse Pottery Studio in Rogersville and has since graduated to having her own home studio. She makes beautiful and technically perfect pieces, which are also delightfully functional. Sharon is also a dog trainer and even helped IronHorse Pottery owners Kat and Rowan teach their pups some tricks at the studio.
Susan Dollar
Susan has been a woodturner for about ten years and enjoys turning different projects from found wood. This year she donated candle holders and cutting holders for those that enjoy a more rustic aesthetic.
Terry Fecho
Terry has been woodturning for 15 years. He generously donated several of his pieces to this year’s Empty Bowls fundraiser to support the Weekend Backpack Program.
William Woosley
William has practiced woodworking for more than a decade. He created a nut bowl – his first one – for Empty Bowls.
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