THE MAKER

Audrey White McCumber

I'm Audrey White McCumber, the founder of Red Bear Pottery. I am a one-woman studio in Ruston, Louisiana, making ceramic work for interiors that are built to last.

My journey started in high school, where I spent two years taking ceramics. I loved every hour of it — but when it came time to choose a major, I chose finance. I earned my degree, worked as a banker, and later moved into private equity as a financial analyst, all while keeping a wheel in a spare bedroom and making pots on evenings and weekends.

Eventually I reached a crossroads in my career. A turning point in my life brought me to Ruston, Louisiana, and gave me the room to start fresh — to blend the discipline I built in finance with the material I had always come back to. Red Bear Pottery is what came of it.

The studio began with functional pottery — mugs, bowls, everyday objects for the table. Over time, the work grew: larger vessels, then sculptural pieces, then commissioned tile and lighting for homes that treated ceramic as a finish, not a souvenir.

Today, Red Bear Pottery serves interior architects, designers, and luxury home builders who want the tactile presence of handmade ceramic in the rooms they design. Every piece is made in a home studio in Ruston, Louisiana — one pair of hands, one clay body at a time, in small batches.

ethos

Crafted for Cultivated Living

My work explores contemporary refinements of historic forms and the understated strength of presence. Through restrained forms and tactile surfaces, I create ceramic objects that expresses grounded femininity and a deliberate, modern sensibility.