Mark A. Taylor

Mark and his wife, Ginny, moved to Hilton Head Island in 1985. Mark, a woodworker by trade, came to the island to remodel an office for his father's new business. Upon completion of the office renovation Mark joined his parents and sister as the new property manager for Shoreline Rentals, a vacation rental company. He spent 15 wonderful years working with his family until they sold the company in 1999.

In 2001 Mark returned to his roots and opened a cabinetshop and remodeling business. In 2012 he helped his wife open IDEA Studio, an instructional art studio offering a variety of art classes for adults and children. This endeavor created an opportunity for Mark to start throwing pottery again which he had not done since his early 20's. At the end of 2020 Mark and Ginny decided to "retire"...they closed the cabinetshop and decided to switch the studio focus solely to the medium of clay, thus the name Hilton Head Pottery. Hilton Head Pottery offers a variety of clay classes, raku workshops, summer camps for kids and studio memberships for clay artists needing a space to work.

Mark prefers the potter’s wheel and primarily creates traditional shapes. The artistic aspect of his work comes with the non traditional firing methods and the exploration of combining traditional techniques with new creative ideas. He works extensively in the “Alternative Firing” methods of horsehair, saggar, and raku pottery. These firing techniques produce pottery with unique and striking visual effects resulting in pieces that are truly “one of a kind”!

Mark teaches advanced throwing technique classes and along with his youngest son, Joey, they hold weekend workshops featuring "Alternative firings" in the gas fired raku kilns. More information about the process, classes and videos detailing these firing techniques can be found on Hilton Head Pottery's website.

Studio Address:
21 Mathews Drive, Suite 2
Hilton Head Island, SC 29926
(843) 342-5439