Biography

Artist Sue Parker is a native of Colorado and works out of her home studio in Palisade, Colorado. She’s been making artistic and functional pottery since 1987.  Palisade is the heart of Colorado's fruit and wine country, famous for Palisade Peaches. Surrounded by peach, pear, apricot and pear orchards, Sue started making "Fabulous Fruit Bowls" with holes that allow air to ciruclate around the fruit in the bowl, which helps the ripening process.   “I make beautiful and artistic pottery that can be used to eat, serve and cook with,” says Sue.

Sue loves gourmet cooking, and began making custom-designed pottery to serve her own meals on. Soon, she was custom-designing dish sets for others. A friend recommended that Sue visit Krabloonik Restaurant; as a 4-star, gourmet restaurant specializing in wild game dishes, Krabloonik was always looking for unique and special serving pieces for their tables. Krabloonik Restaurant serves their home-made preserves and jams in a custom-designed small bowl, and places the bottle of wine on the table on a custom-designed wine saucer. From there, Sue developed a reputation for her custom-designed stoneware.

Sue recently began making pottery for several restaurants located in Ritz Carlton hotels, including the new Ritz Carlton Club, located at the base of Aspen Highlands Mountain, in Aspen, CO. Sue’s been an avid skier of Aspen Highlands for many years and said, “I was delighted to be selected as the potter for this new Ritz Carlton, which is located in my own back yard and also at the bottom of my favorite ski area. When I make a pottery delivery, I get the added bonus of skiing!”   

Sue loves working with people to design that special, custom piece of pottery. “I take a lot of care when designing a set of dishes for someone. Many things are important to keep in mind – the type of cooking one does, colors that go with both food and the décor, size and depth of the cupboards, and dishwasher fit.”