Rachael DePauw is a New Orleans–based ceramic artist whose work explores the intersection of functional pottery, drawing, pattern, and color. Working primarily in stoneware, she has spent more than twenty years developing a visual language rooted in surface decoration and the handmade object.
Angular Spectrum Mug, 2026, stoneware, wheel thrown with Mishima texture inlay
A graduate of Newcomb College at Tulane University, DePauw has maintained a studio practice alongside a career in arts education, including ten years teaching at Isidore Newman School. She now works full-time from her home studio in New Orleans.
Much of DePauw’s work employs sgraffito, a technique in which she carves through layers of colored clay to reveal the contrasting clay beneath. Her imagery ranges from botanical forms and Southern flora to structured, repeating patterns. Her newer body of work expands this exploration through Mishima, using incised geometric designs filled with contrasting color. These pieces introduce a brighter palette and increasingly abstract vocabulary while maintaining her longstanding interest in line, repetition, pattern, and the evidence of the hand.
DePauw is particularly interested in the way handmade pottery becomes embedded in everyday ritual. She sees the cup as an intimate format: an object held in the hand, used and revisited daily, while also providing a small surface for drawing, pattern, color, and experimentation.
@Depauwpottery
