Joan Glidden is a native of New Hampshire, having grown up in Ashland and raised her own family there. She is an operating room nurse by trade and a potter extraordinaire. She has been making pottery for over fifty years. Her work is both decorative and functional.  

The plants in her gardens, fields and woodlands illuminate the textures of organic material in clay. She enjoy the mystery of the glazes and how they overlap and meld together during the firing process. The textures of the leaves, herbs, and stems are often the centerpiece of her work. She works in her own studio using the wheel and building pieces by hand. Her yarn bowl, which looks like a sheep, is a popular item in the gallery.