About

 Welcome!

My interest in pottery started in my early teens when I was introduced to a local ceramic artist who encouraged me to take up pottery. It's been a very long journey since and a path that I continue today. I took ceramic arts at SIAST and worked in the lab at Plainsman Clays Ltd. This provided me with an in-depth look at the process of mining and developing clay bodies and glazes. 

I want my functional work to reflect my environment, be thoughtfully designed, and visually pleasing, an elevation to everyday rituals.

I am curious about human nature, how ideas and culture evolve and change. With the increase presence of AI and our attachment to technology I feel a need to be reminded about what it means to be human. Our ability to create, to use our hands, to be close to nature, separates the mundane to an elevated experience of presence. I have also developed an interest in photography and how it captures aspects of our environment and culture. 

MudKat Studio is a small pottery studio located in the Canadian town of Medicine Hat, Alberta. Work is created by Kat Valenzuela, who uses clay as her medium for both functional and sculptural work. She creates work that is inspired by the prairie environment and the people that surround her. Her thoughtful design reflects her own joy of cooking and gardening and how it relates to people's daily rituals. "I feel like pottery is such an intimate craft; people are using the work daily, they touch it, drink from it, and eat from it; and I keep this in mind when I design the work. I want my work to be both pleasing functional and visually.