Brian and Reika met in 2015.
Brian makes pottery and builds houses. Reika sews, paints and sings. It was only a matter of time before they would combine their talents and passions to create a place of beauty where they can create together and share their love for art with others.
Brian Cully has been making pottery for thirty years. Early in his career he worked as the first full-time lab technician for the ceramics department at Cuesta College, San Luis Obispo. During this time he met and learned from masters such as Peter Voulkos, John Manly, Paul Soldner, Arther Gonzales and many more. He helped build and fire anagama and noborigama wood kilns with Rodney Mott and John Manly in Penryn, California. In 2017 he visited pottery studios in the famous Uji and Shigaraki regions of Japan.
Although he uses a variety of techniques, Brian has an instantly recognizable style. He is often cited as a master thrower and is most known for his elegant thrown scultpure work, large ceramic lamps for indoor and outdoor use, and pit fire techniques. His portfolio website is briancullypottery.com.
Reika Cully studied illustration at California College of Arts & Crafts, then graduated from Kyoto Seika University (Japan) with a major in Cartoon-Manga. She worked as a freelance illustrator for several years before jumping into the Kyoto music scene in 2009. As main singer and rhythm guitarist, she toured Japan and the U.S. with the Japanese band Pirates Canoe, who were featured in esquire and Rollingstone Magazine. She also has a solo album under the stage name Elizabeth Etta. After meeting Brian she began learning pottery, and loves to combine drawing and design with her pottery pieces.
Today she creates and sells a variety of items (pottery, dolls, coloring books, jewelry) and performs music in her local area in her new band Little Tyme. You can see her artwork at reikahunt.com.
Brian and Reika live with their daughter in their home studio, which they named Nesting Hawk Ranch, in the beautiful Edna Valley of San Luis Obispo, California.
Owen & Kyoko Hunt joined the Nesting Hawk team in December 2020.
Kyoko Hunt graduated from the Kyoto Dohda Art School and studied painting from several teachers in Kyoto, Japan. She has taught art in Kyoto, Japan, and the National Park College, Hot Springs National Park, Arkansas. Kyoko has taught privately for many years in Japan as well as the US. She is an award-winning artist who has exhibited in Japan and the US and her artwork hangs in private collections throughout the world.
Owen Hunt has artwork in the permanent collections of the New York Metropolitan Museum, the British Museum in London and in many private collections. He studied painting in Japan for four years under a Cultural Studies Program and has taught art and exhibited for over 30 years. He has a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Arkansas and a Masters in Education from the University of Southern Queensland, Australia. Owen has taught art for many years at Osaka University of Arts and Osaka College of Art in Japan, and the National Park College in Hot Springs National Park, Arkansas.
Owen and Kyoko moved to Nesting Hawk Ranch from Japan in the winter of 2020, where they still create and teach art, while spending time with their daughter, Reika, and her family.