Mike Pugh learned to craft American pottery in the North Carolina tradition from Jerry Beaumont in Phoenix, Maryland. He earned degrees in Architecture and History, later doing graduate studies in Education. Before opening his pottery on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, Mike Pugh practiced architectural preservation, taught for DC and Baltimore City Schools, and even worked at a local grain elevator. In his work, he seeks to understand the rich vernacular of his surroundings in telling his own story through clay.