Barbara Hoffman has worked as a potter for over forty-five years, creating ceramic pieces from mostly high fire, reduction stoneware. Hoffman has also experimented with wood fire, salt glaze, and Raku traditions, as well as working with porcelain. Her home studio is nestled in the hills surrounding Occidental in western Sonoma County.

She says “Combining form with function, as well as my values as an artist, I am eager to make useful objects that might enhance the user's everyday life in some way. As with most artists, I am inspired by nature, natural earth pigments, texture and design elements common in ancient cultures world wide. I am honored to work in a medium that dates back to Neolithic cultures, when women made the cooking pots, the storage jars, and the richly decorated ritual vessels strong expressions of artistic humanity. I hope that I will always be experimenting with the many variables of clay, glaze chemistry and firing, thereby continuing my long self-education, and interest in ceramics.”