Ken and Melody Shipley pausing for a moment in their studio during Melody’s class on Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026
For The Love of Clay
Drawn together in their 23 year marriage, cemented by a love of pottery, horses and one another, Ken and Melody have defied the odds.
Ken and Melody Shipley have been married for 23 years. They met at Austin Peay State University when Ken was teaching pottery and Melody, 23 years his junior, was a graduate student completing her Masters in Art in Ceramics. Drawn closer together by a mutual love of horses, pottery and a shared creativity, they married in 2003. Ten years ago Ken and Melody followed their dream and bought a farm in Montgomery County, now home to their three horses and a thriving pottery studio where they have been teaching and instilling a love for pottery in their students. From that beginning they nurtured a community of artists meeting at the farm, and a year ago extended their reach to River City Clay, their new pottery studio on Franklin Street in downtown Clarksville. Here they teach pottery and display the works of this community for sale. They have one daughter, Silbey, 22, the pride of their lives, who is completing her masters in marine biology.
Ken Shipley “throwing clay” to form a bowl on his potter’s wheel in their River City Clay Studio ob Franklin Street, Clarksville on Friday, Jan. 23, 2026
Ken feeding his horses grain on the Shipley farm, From the left, Shaker, Snove, and Jamana. Sunday, Feb. 15, 2026
Melody stands with her 17 year old gelding, Shaker on their farm the day after marking the passing of her mother Eloise Freeman at the age of 76. Sunday, Feb. 15, 2026
Ken Shipley entering their farmhouse after feeding their horses on the evening of Sunday, Feb. 15, 2026
Ken coats the bottom of clay bowls to prevent glaze adhesion when they are kiln fired. The Shipleys do this yearly for the “50 Bowls” project promoting hunger awareness among the homeless. Thursday, Jan. 29, 2026
Melody Shipley(L) instructs Macaelagh Coyle in the correct amount of hand pressure required to center a mass of clay on a spinning potters wheel at River City Clay studio. Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026
Melody Shipley forming a clay vase on a spinning potter’s wheel in their Franklin Street Studio on Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026
Ken Shipley’s clay “Face Jugs”, a popular folk art in the south, await gazing and firing in the Raku manner on Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026
Melody and Ken Shipley sitting watch in their barn, awaiting their gas-fired kiln to reach 2000 degrees Farenheit. Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026
Melody and Ken watch the temperature gauge as it approached 2000 degrees F. They are already wearing welder’s aprons for protection against burns when they open the kiln. Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026
A ceramic jug viewed through a vent port at the top of the Shipley’s gas fired kiln, The temperature was just reaching 1000 degrees F, only half way to the temperature required for Raku firing. Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026
Melody removed the first ceramic piece from the kiln to place it in a bed of sawdust which will infuse the glaze with organic colors in this ancient Japanese process introduced into the US in the 1950s. Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026
Glazed pitcher glowing hot from the kiln sits in a nest of hay on the Shipley farm, igniting the organic material and infusing the hot glaze with Roku color and design. This Japanese technique is over a thousand years old, introduced in the US in the 1950s. Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026
This face-jug has been raku fired, removed from a 2000 degree F kiln and placed directly into a bed of sawdust.
