top of page

Studio History

It all started in 1986...

The Tortuga Ceramic Studio has been part of the Petaluma community for over 35 years, offering collaborative studio space in a rustic barn on the outskirts of town. 

​

In 2019 three Tortuga members, Kathleen Brown, Paul DeMarco and James Okumura formed an LLC to purchase Tortuga  Studio. We are delighted  to carry on the Tortuga tradition.

​

Tortuga was originally started by Dorothy Winer.  Dorothy is a ceramic artist specializing in pit firing, who set up the studio and started teaching there. When Dorothy moved out of state, Tortuga was taken over by Diana Crain from 1997 until 2019.  Diana remains available to give classes and workshops.

 

Watch this site for notice of occasional special Workshops  given at Tortuga by Diana and others such as Gerald Arrington and Bill Geisinger.

bottom of page