I am a graduate student at the University of Texas at Austin. I am working towards at Ph.D in nanomanufacturing in the Cockrell department of engineering.
I have been doing pottery since I was 14 years old when I found a love for it at Booker T. Washington Highschool for the visual and preforming arts in downtown Dallas.

I left Booker T. as I wanted a more STEM focused education to prepare me for a degree in engineering. Therefore I transferred to Bishop Lynch Highschool in Dallas. However, my thirst for a creative outlet was not satisfied until I began pottery throwing classes at CAC Dallas.
With an excellent teacher I fell in love and the rest is history.

After several years of classes at CAC I decided I was ready to work on my own. I was gifted a pottery wheel from one of my neighbors, and purchased a kiln off of eBay.

This was the foundation of Anthill pottery.

I sold ceramic pieces on ETSY for several years, but as I went to college, balancing my school work and operating my ceramics business became very difficult (as they were in different cities). Then the studio I had built in Dallas went unused for several years… that is until my father retired from his very successful career as a neurologist and opened the doors again.

He now manages the more demanding tasks of the studio including operating the kiln, glazing the pieces, and throwing the majority of the pieces. I however still have access to a throwing wheel (which is on the balcony of my small apartment in Austin) and am able to craft a decent amount of pieces which I transport back to the main studio in Dallas periodically.

– Andrew Tunell

After retiring from a long medical career, Gary Tunell discovered he enjoys the heat of the kiln more than the pottery wheel. He now handles firing, glazing, and studio operations to support Andrew’s creations.

-Gary Tunell M.D.